"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," she called out, just before stepping into the room. Her eyes were full of suspicion, looking from me to Sgt. Cruz, then back to me again.
Luckily, he had moved ever so slightly away from me, and I grabbed the first thing I saw and acted as if I were still stacking things back into my wall locker.
Sgt. Cruz cleared his throat. "Make sure you keep your wall locker secured whenever you are out of the room, you understand that?"
"Yes, Sgt. Cruz," I answered feebly, making Angelica narrow her eyes at me.
I watched him stride toward the door, his big, strong hands dangling on the side of him before he placed his cover on his head just as he made his way outside. I swallowed hard, amazed that we had done what we had done without a care in the world for the burdensome consequences that could have followed our getting caught.
Angelica sat down on her bed, her lips puckered as she watched me move about the room. I didn't want to look at her, not because I was afraid of what she might have to say, but because I couldn't wipe the smile from my face at the thought of what took place, and what could have taken place, had we been in a different location with more time. As much as I knew that our interaction could cost both of us greatly, I was knee deep with longing, needing to get a taste of Sgt. Cruz to crush that feeling.
Friday morning came with little to no sleep. Flashbacks of Sgt. Cruz's hands and lips enticing my body were all I saw every time I closed my eyes, and I showered at least twice in the middle of the night, trying desperately to calm the urge to have him inside of me long after he left.
I had planned to do a cram session for our first test that was scheduled for today, but that never happened. Every word I read from the manuals was read to me in his voice, sending me to a place that rendered me mindless. I knew for certain that the only way to get things back on track would be for us to finally fulfill what we both wanted so badly. But with that, and the rules of the Marine Corps, came an entirely different set of problems.
I awoke from about two hours of sleep, quickly making my way to the bathroom and washing my face, hoping to appear well rested even though I was quite the opposite. Angelica must have been up early because she was already dressed in Service Charlies, the uniform of the day. Her short sleeved khaki shirt with rank insignia on the side of her arms was matched with green pants and shiny, black shoes. Her service ribbon sat on the left side of her chest as she held her green cover in her hands. She had been up for a while, and thankfully looked to be on her way out.
"I'm off to the chow hall for breakfast. You slept too late, and I wasn't sure if I should wake you," she said, standing in the mirror checking over her uniform.
"It's cool. I'll eat something on my own," I answered coldly, still irritated with the fact that I was all but certain that she had deliberately sabotaged me the night before.
She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her binder, then walked out of the room, leaving me standing in the bathroom and staring at my disheveled appearance in the mirror. I needed to get it together before I had to see him again. I was carrying around a heavy bag of mixed emotions. On the one hand, I couldn't wait to see him, to drink in the sight of him and revisit what it was that he was capable of doing to me. On the other hand, I didn't want to have to hold myself back any longer, and the more that I saw him, the more difficult that was becoming.
After fixing my hair into a perfectly styled bun, I dressed in my uniform and grabbed my binder, making my way out the door and down the stairs when I saw Allen walking out of his.
He looked back, catching my gaze on him and smiling wickedly. Luckily, Dalton came strolling out of his room shortly after Allen and I made eye contact. He looked between the two of us, his eyes flooded with worry as he made his way over to me.
"You okay? He hasn't done anything else since that night, has he?"
"I'm fine. Just keeping my distance, that's all."
We started walking, unfortunately passing Allen as he stood there, waiting for us to make our way past him. I looked up into his eyes as we walked by, showing him that I was neither afraid nor intimidated. He didn't say anything, just smirked as our eyes locked, revolting me even more. I had no clue what his problem was with me, but I was determined to make sure that he knew that I wouldn't be a pushover for him and his self-conscious ego.
Standing in the courtyard of the schoolhouse, I laughed with Dalton and the other two Marines who had been at the bowling alley, Pfc. Amanda Lane and Pfc. Michael Hutchins. We were still laughing when Allen and his crew began yelling out, disrupting every other conversation taking place that morning.
"Yeah, fuckin' chicks need to know their fuckin' place. Behind a Goddamned desk is where I see em'-- if we have to let em' in the military at all," he yelled out, he and his crew laughing like it was the funniest line ever spoken. I rolled my eyes, knowing that I was on his mind as he made the statement.
"Don't even worry about him, he's harmless. Just talks a lot of shit," Dalton said, placing his hand on my shoulder.
I looked at Lane and Hutchins, whose baffled stares made me smile.
"I know. I'm just sick of his shit. I've never done anything to him."
"I know. He's got his issues. I already told you that."
"What issues?" Hutchins asked, looking overly concerned. "I live next door to him."
Just as I was about to explain to him what had happened that night in Dalton's room, all of the instructors stepped out, calling for attention and prompting us to assemble ourselves in formation.
"You are taking your first test on the information that has been presented to you over the course of this last week. Hopefully you all studied because from here on out, the information will only come faster and will grow more and more difficult in succession," Jensen yelled, his characteristic bulldog persona on full display.
Sgt. Cruz stood there, scanning the crowd with his eyes, but holding his head steady so as not to gain any undue attention. When he spotted me, he licked and sucked on his bottom lip, putting my conscience on high alert as I tried inconspicuously to see if anyone else had caught on. No one seemed to notice until my eyes locked with Sgt. Castillo. Her eyes seared me as she looked between me and Sgt. Cruz, trying desperately to figure out what was going on between the two of us.
Before long, the formation was calling out, "Yes, Sergeant," and I missed it all because I was lost with my mind elsewhere.
The formation began breaking down with everyone moving to their respective classrooms. Dalton made his way over to me before turning right for his class and folded his arm, placing his elbow on my shoulder.
"Transformers is showing at the base theater tonight. You coming with us?"
"I hadn't even thought about it, I'll let you know," I replied since I had no idea what it was or what it was about.
Footsteps pounded the ground, bringing a strong presence closely behind me.
"You should be thinking about the test you're about to take," Cruz said lowly, surprising both Dalton and me as he stood firmly behind me, looking at Dalton.
Dalton's eyes enlarged, almost as if the fear of God had been put into him. He stepped back quickly, surprise and fear thickly laced in his eyes. I couldn't see Sgt. Cruz's face as he stood behind me, but from what I could read from Dalton, Cruz wasn't taking too kindly to his movie invite.
"Yes, Sgt. On my way now," Dalton said, giving me an inquisitive look before turning to make his way to his classroom. He looked back at me as he walked away, still puzzled by whatever had just transpired.
I slowly turned around to meet Cruz's all-encompassing stare, flames flaring up inside of me as I stood so close to him but unable to actually touch him. An internal battle struck as I had to remind myself that I couldn't just reach out and touch him, even though it was all my tingling hands wanted to do. The imaginary barrier placed between us, courtesy of the Marine Corps, had a strangle hold on me, causing my breath to hitch.