The Girl and The War

Chapter Twenty Two- Sam

         In thirty seconds I watched my relationship with Kayla crumble. The look on her face when she caught Margo and I kissing, filled me with a sense of shame that I had never felt before. I had tried to chase after her but she was gone. I picked up the necklace she had thrown at my feet. I slipped it off n my pocket.

"Sam-" Margo said "I'm...I'm sorry I-" I walked off before she could finish. It wasn't completely her fault, I had kissed her back, but I was upset at the entirety of what had just occurred. I returned to my dorms and laid my head on the pillow. I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned for the remainder of the night.

  The next day I avoided Margo at all costs. The last thing I needed was to be seen with her by anyone even remotely close to Kayla. With Charlie gone, Kayla who probably wanted nothing to do with me, and my distance from Margo, I was painfully aware how lonely I was here. I thought about calling my grandmother, just to hear a friendly voice, but the cost to make a phone call home was far too pricey for me. At lunch I thought about possibly stealing from one of the more wealthy recruits when my thoughts were interrupted:

"You look lonely." Said a familiar voice. I turned my head to be surprised by Lieutenant Jackson. I expected him to punch me, on behalf of Kayla and her father, but he just took a sit at the empty spot in front of me.

"To what do I owe the please sir." I said more sarcastically than I meant to. Lieutenant Jackson fiddled with his cuff links.

"I'm looking for your friend. The redhead." He recoiled. I laughed internally remembering how he had slept with Margo but didn't even remember her name.

"Well clearly she's not here, maybe you will have better luck somewhere else. Sir." I said. "Why exactly do you need her?" I added.

"I believe she took something of mine Private Watts. I don't take kindly to thieves. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" He folded his hands on the table. It was surprisingly clear that Lieutenant Jackson had a darker side to him that I didn't want to discover.

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about sir." I lied. Margo has hidden his I.D somewhere at the base, but I had no idea where. Hopefully it wasn't anywhere that he would know either. "But maybe if you have something precious to you, that is that easily stolen, then you should be more responsible." I added. He stared at me coldly. I half expected him to shoot me with his handgun that he had strapped to his waist.

"The only reason I asked is, It appears that you two like to spend so much time around each other, especially after curfew, and maybe you had something to do with it. Or maybe your friend is just a slut" he responded. It took everything in me not to wrap my hands around his throat. Kayla had told him or at least her dad, that I had been out with Margo during the night. That could be trouble in terms of us accomplishing freeing the Gilman's. I didn't respond.

"Not that I'm judging." He continued. "I mean your friend is a pretty girl and all, but choosing her over Kayla? Well you must be out of your mind. It's okay though, cause I'll be there to comfort Kayla while you are off playing around." He winked at me and got up. "Take care of yourself Watts." He grabbed the untouched piece of bread on my plate, took a bite, then threw it back on my plate. Then he sauntered off.

I immediately went to find Margo. I walked around for at least thirty minutes until I found her in the dorms. "Margo." I said walking up to her.

"Hey, there you are, I think we need to talk-" she started.

"Lieutenant Jackson knows his I.D is missing, and he thinks it's you. More specifically he thinks it's us working together." I interrupted. She sat silently for a moment.

"Don't freak Sam, the I.D is hidden safely, and besides, he has no proof." She said, more trying to reassure herself, instead of me.

"There's more, he knows that you and I were out after curfew last night."

"Did he know..did he know where we were?" She whispered.

"I don't think so. He just said he knew what happened...with Kayla." I ran my hands through my hair, this was all becoming too dangerous.

"I was thinking Sam. It was a little odd that Kayla was down there anyways...I mean do you think it's possible that she knows about her parents and maybe was faking it to you." Margo said hesitantly.

"Well if she does, she's the best actress I've ever met." I mumbled. Margo was right. It was a little odd that Kayla had been by the stairs in the middle of the night. But I also recalled how genuinely sad she was when she talked about her parents. "I really don't think she knows Margo. Maybe it was just really bad luck on our part."

Margo stared at me for a moment, then spoked. "Well, while your here, I thought about a possible diversion we could use to get the Gilmans out. A week from tomorrow is the monthly ball. Everyone will be there. It would be the perfect time to get them out, with the least chance of being seen." She said. It was true a lot of people would be there, but not the guards.

"That won't work Margo, I mean it might be a good night to try something, but most of the guards will still be out patrolling the base. We have to find a way to get them there too." I explained. She nodded, agreeing with me.

"I don't know how to pull this off by ourselves Sam." She whispered. "We need more help."

"We need someone smarter than us." I added. A plan finally forming through my head. "Someone who knows everything about the base." Margo widened her eyes, reading my thoughts.

"Oh no Sam, we can't trust her, especially after last night. She probably hates us."

"We have to get Kayla to help us." I said.

"We would have to tell her everything Sam, and also, how do we know she won't confront her dad, even if she really doesn't know the truth about her parent." Margo argued.

"Because," I said "if she doesn't help us, we will have to kill her, and she will know that."