Page 24

Mason rolled over and did push-ups on the floor. I lay on his bed and watched him.
After he finished working out, he made two bowls of cereal and gave me one. He then lay down on the bottom of his bed.
“I hope it’s okay that I let you stay here last night. You fell asleep on the couch, so I put you to bed.” He said this while shovelling cornflakes into his mouth. I nodded eagerly.
“Good food. Bed is good. Business? “Debatable.” I got him to laugh. “You’re not going to make me do the generals’ stupid punishments, are you?””
He tipped the bowl to his mouth and drank the milk. Then he looked over the porcelain and smiled. “You need to learn to behave, Rivers, and you’re not ready for the fitness test yet. You can’t lose. “You fail, and you’re done.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever learn how to act,” I said. He stood up and grabbed his toothbrush from the sink, putting a blob of toothpaste on it.
“You’re right,” he said before brushing his teeth.
I got out of bed and put my bowl in the washbasin. Then I watched him make his teeth shine.
I bumped him out of the way with my hip after he was done and took his toothbrush. I put more toothpaste on it and brushed my own teeth.
This time he looked at me and I could tell he was having fun, but he tried to look mad about it.
“I need to take a shower, and you need to get dressed. What will you say to your roommates when they ask where you are?” He began to make his bed, pulling it so tight that there was no room for error.
“I’ll tell them I’m sleeping with the Lieutenant and that I spent the night at his place making mad passionate love.” He dropped his pillow.
“What?”He screamed with all his might. As soon as I started laughing, he calmed down.
“I’ll tell them I’m messing around with one of the generals.” They’ll believe it; it happens all the time. I walked over to the bed and watched his face screw up in annoyance because he couldn’t quite get the sheet straight on the right hand corner.
“It does? Which ones? Who?He asked in disbelief.
I laughed and said, “I’m not a nark.”
He kept pulling the bedsheet straight because he wanted to make his dad happy, even though he wasn’t there. He ran his hand over the flat surface to get rid of any bumps in the material.
“Mason?”He looked up from the sheets on the bed.
I pulled the whole duvet back by the edge, ruining all of his work. He stared at me, not understanding what had just happened. I sucked in my lips to hide my smile. The look of pure confusion on his face made me laugh so hard.
“It doesn’t have to be perfect just because he says it does. Just do something wrong for once in your life; you’ll feel good about it. “Leave it a mess.” He immediately started to straighten the sheets again.
“Riley, get out of here! You’re a bad influence!”He joked and waved me away with his hands. He watched me walk across his living space and out the door.
“Oh, and by the way, you’re doing the generals’ extra punishments,” he told me. I groaned and gave him the middle finger without turning around.
“Now you’ve added three more!””He yelled at me, and I left him with just the sound of his door slamming.
My arms hurt, my fingers were stiff, my legs didn’t feel like they were part of my body anymore, I had bruises and cuts, my clothes were dirty, and I’m pretty sure some of my bones were broken.
Yes, Lieutenant Arsehole made me do the generals’ punishments, and I think he liked it.
I stood in line for my plate of slop. I will never understand how everyone eats this junk. The kitchen staff filled my plate, and I moved on, looking for my friends in the cafeteria.
“That looks really good. I think I’ll get a pizza for myself tonight. Two pepperonis and extra cheese. “Maybe I’ll get a cake on the side,” Mason’s voice teased from behind me.
“I hate you,” I said quietly as I looked down at my unappetising plate. “Did you make your bed this morning?”He straightened his lips to keep from smiling.
“I’m not going to talk to you about my personal business, Rivers,” he said in his Lieutenant voice.
“Oh, you coward!”He laughed, but then he quickly remembered himself and stopped.
I sat down next to Amber, Maddie, Sierra, Raven, and Jake. They talked about s*x, which is what they always talk about, and I just played with the mush in front of me.
I looked over at Mason and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that he was looking right at me. I shook my head at him in amusement and smiled. He bit his lip to stop himself from smiling, because God forbid he show any real happiness on his face.
The kitchen alarm went off, and within seconds, the sprinklers in the ceiling began to pour cold water.
At first, everyone in the room was quiet for a moment, and then there was movement and even some loud screams. I looked up at the sprinkler above my head and smiled.
“Yeahhhh!””I yelled, throwing my arms up in the air.
I took a cup that was full of water and poured it over Jake’s head.
He got up and grabbed an empty tray. He pulled it back at the top and let it go, which made it ping in my direction and spray water all over me. Within seconds, the whole cafeteria was in a water fight.
The officers who stood at attention around the room looked at each other with blank stares, not knowing what to do. It was clear that they were waiting for Mason to give them orders. He watched me closely, weighing whether to end this or let it go on.
I picked up my tray and waved it around in the air, splashing Jake with all the water. Then, as he tried to throw another cup of water over my head, I ran away.
I picked up the closest cup, held it under the sprinkler for a few seconds to fill it, and then threw it right in Mason’s face.
I thought the room had stopped fighting and was now waiting to see how he would react. Everyone who was paying attention held their breath and prayed to God for forgiveness.
Mason stood still while the water dripped down his skin. Then he slowly wiped his face. His eyes were dangerously hooked into mine. The irises of his eyes darkened, a million shades of brown mixing together, with the threat and promise of grave danger.
There was more silence in the room, and most of the people who were fighting stopped to see how he would react. I slowly backed away from his intimidation, never taking my eyes off of his.
But then he suddenly moved and grabbed a full salad bowl and tipped it over my head. I screamed as cold water ran down my back and stuck to my skin. Mason laughed loudly, so I picked up a tray and sprayed him with the water.