The Girl and The War

Chapter Eight- Sam

   I would be lying if I said I didn't feel guilty about lying straight to Kayla's face. Of course I would have wanted to take her to the dance, even if her father hadn't wanted me to do so, but all the same, I still denied her the truth when she asked. The General had told me to go down to the bases garden and ask the lady working there  for pink roses. He said they were Kayla's favorite. The General even gave me the money it cost to pay for them.

   I had asked Kayla right after lunch, and everyone was already back at the training facility by the time I returned. I snuck in behind the rest of my peers while Sargent Redwall was instructing us how to use a battle knife. I prayed he hadn't notice my absent. Thankfully he didn't, but Margo did.

"Hey where were you? What was up with lieutenant Streeter?" She whispered.

"It was nothing, the General was just apologizing for last night." I lied.

"Oh," she said, "well you were gone for a long time."

"Yeah, I decided after talking to the General, that I wanted to ask Kayla to the Ball so I went to find her." I said

"You decided.. or he made you?" She asked. Mental note, Margo was a lot smarter than I thought.

"I decided of course." I lied again. I couldn't risk her telling Kayla.

"Oh ok." She looked sad. I'm sure she had wanted me to ask her. I made another mental note to convince Charlie to invite her later on, so that she would have a date.

After training we headed to dinner again. While in line behind Charlie I began my convincing.

"Hey man, you should ask Margo to the ball on Saturday." I said.

"Me?" He said "I don't know man I thought you were going to ask her?"

"I was but I overheard her talking to one of the other Privates about how she wanted to go with you, besides I'm going with Kayla."  Yes that was another lie, but Charlie wouldn't find out.

"Really? She said she wanted to go with me?" I nodded. "Damn okay I'll ask her then."

Sure enough after we found our seats Charlie asked her the big question.

"Oh um," she looked at me then back at him "okay." She didn't sound that enthusiastic, at least not like Kayla had. I thought about how Kayla had  hugged me after I asked. She smelled like the sweetest flower on earth and her hair was soft. I wondered what she even did all day. I mean obviously she doesn't train, I wondered how she spent her time.

  Finally after the long day we made our way back to the dorms, we had about thirty minutes before lights out. Margo told me she was going to go to the boutique to find a dress for the ball. She invited Charlie and I to come with her to see if we could find our suits, but we both denied her. The last thing I wanted to do after my long day was go shopping. After she left I pulled out the Purple Hearts the General had given me. I thought about how in about a year, I was going to be out on that field too, fighting in hopes of a different outcome then my parents.

   My mind then shifted back to the thought of the Man and the Woman in that cell in the dungeon. What did they do to get there? Who were they? They had said they had been there for eleven years. Why were they even alive? I wondered if the General knew about them. Of course he did he was the top command, I'm sure he knew every little thing about this base. It gave me an uneasy feeling knowing that all that was going on right under my feet.