Page 26 of Brighter Shades of Light

His eyes narrowed, though I saw the humor in them. “Why, Mr. Miller, are you trying to gain insider knowledge of the exam? Not very sportsmanlike.”

I snorted. “Nah, just trying to make conversation.”

Dr. Vale didn’t smile, but I got the feeling he wanted to.

“Would you rather sit with your friends?” He watched me for a moment before looking back to the journal.

“Nah. You’re more interesting.”

I sensed he was paying more attention to me than whatever he was pretending to read.

“Surely an engaging young man such as yourself has a pretty girl to sit with.”

“I get the feeling you’re trying to get rid of me, Doctor.” I grinned when he quickly glanced up. “Besides…it wouldn’t be a pretty girl that’d have my attention. More like a pretty boy.”

Any notion that the good ol’ doctor was emotionless was put to bed real fast. His normally indifferent expression turned to outright shock before he quietly cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.

There was something oddly satisfying about watching his walls crumble a little.

I bit into my burger, moaning as the juices exploded in my mouth. Food-gasms were a real thing. When I looked at Dr. Vale, I noisily swallowed the bite and stilled.

He was staring at me. More specifically, staring at my mouth. His gaze lifted, and if I hadn’t been already sitting, I would’ve gone weak in the knees.

Had he always had such an intense stare? Even through the lens of his glasses, I noticed his normally light-green eyes looked darker.

I’d never had someone look at me like that before.

A moment passed where we held eye contact, me trying to remember how to breathe while he appeared as collected as he always did. I wondered if, behind the calm exterior, his heart was beating as hard as mine.

“Hey, Cody!”

The spell broke, and I looked to see Marcus and Keith sitting a few tables down. They were with a large group of people, mostly girls, and were wearing their uniforms, too.

“Be right back,” I said to Dr. Vale. I stood up on slightly shaky legs and went over to say hi.

Marcus talked some shit, as usual, and Keith added to the remarks. They played off each other like that. Normally, I would’ve stayed longer, but I was eager to get back to Dr. Vale. Whatever had been happening before the interruption had been electrifying. Like he was undressing me with his eyes and mentally fucking me.

Or was I reading too much into it?

A minute or so later, I told my friends I’d talk to them later and returned to the table.

Dr. Vale had stood and was zipping his bag. His sandwich only had a few bites taken off.

“You’re leaving?” A stupid question, since it was obvious he was.

“Yes. I need to get back.”

“I hope I didn’t chase you off,” I said, slumping down in my chair. “I can sit somewhere else if I’m bothering you.”

He stopped and looked at me, his eyes softening. “You’re not bothering me, Mr. Miller. But I do need to get to my office. Perhaps another time.”

I doubted that time would ever come, but maybe it would. I never thought I’d see him in the dining hall, either, and there he was. Anything was possible.

***

Drill lab was once a week, every Wednesday, and it was the best thing ever. It lasted for two hours, and there was a different activity each session. Sometimes a guest speaker came in to lecture—which was less exciting, but informative—and other times we did martial arts training, close-order drill practices, and learned fire team tactics.

The previous week, we’d had a combat veteran come speak to us. It had been powerful. He had served as a joint terminal attack controller with a Marine Special Operations force in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars with eight years of service under his belt.