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I said, “You have my full attention; what do you want?” I was too tired for his bullshit.
I wasn’t following the rules; I was looking right at him and my attitude was anything but obeying. He didn’t like it.
“You owe me fifteen laps.” His usual loud voice was back.
“Are you kidding? You almost killed me out there today. I can’t do fifteen more laps; you can kiss my a*s.”
He raised his eyebrows in surprise, then stepped closer, towering over me with his height and closing me in with his abs.
“That’s enough, Rivers.”
Neil Armstrong would be able to hear Mason’s voice without having to strain his ears if he were on the moon right now.
“Because it’s your first day, I’m going easy on you. But you disrespected me, so you need to finish your fifteen laps or you’ll get in trouble.”
I looked at the track, which was very long and scary. I would definitely be out here for another hour.
“I can’t do it. I’m too sore and dirty. I need to take a shower and go to bed.”
My voice sounded desperate when I spoke. I begged, thinking that he was definitely going to win this “I’ll show him who’s boss” game.
“You can only shower at four hundred hours. You have to finish the laps; I can’t back out of a punishment.”
I really didn’t think I could do it; my legs felt like they weren’t connected to my body. He was asking for the impossible.
“I’ll run with you,” he said, and for some reason, I thought that would be even worse. I nodded, letting him take control of me.
I ran, but my legs didn’t move much. People watching me right now would think I was moving in slow motion.
Mason yelled from a few yards ahead, “Pick up the pace, Rivers.”
“I can’t do it,” I said, taking a break on my third lap. He walked back to me.
“It needs to be finished. We’ll walk.” He motioned for me to start again, and it hurt to move my feet against the ground.
He walked right next to me for a whole lap, and we didn’t say a word to each other.
“Ten more to go,” he said with a smile. I groaned, and I swear I saw him smile somewhere in there.
“Bootcamp isn’t that hard, you know. It’ll be easier when you’re in better shape, but for the love of God, learn the rules or you’ll always get punished.”
I didn’t answer him because his voice bothered me.
I wanted to go to bed.
“Don’t look at anyone. Always keep your head down unless you’re standing at attention, in which case you should look straight ahead.”
I instinctively looked at him, and he shook his head in disbelief.
It’s just human instinct to look at someone, so I can’t be taught.
“Don’t answer back,” he said again. “Say “Sir, yes Sir” to everything. Always wear your full uniform when you’re around ranked officers. Don’t break the rules. Do you have any questions?”
I looked up at him again, and his eyes glowed with anger because I couldn’t just do what he told me to do. But I had a question on the tip of my tongue, and I wanted to see how he looked when I asked it.
“Is it true that you can’t f**k the new guys?”
“W-what?” He backed down, clearly not expecting my question. He turned red all the way up to his ears.
I asked again, “Did you really promise not to sleep with the recruits?” He ran his finger along his short stubble and then straightened his face to show no expression.
“I’m not talking about my personal life with one of the soldiers,” he finally said, keeping his voice steady. He acted bored, which was a reaction in and of itself, especially since he was blushing.
“With one of the criminals you mean?” My lip curled up into half a smile and his eyes narrowed at me.
“Seven laps left. You can run the rest and clear out when you’re done. I’m signing off now.” I saw him cross the track, and his heavy boots made a thudding sound with every step. I left the track and went back to the living quarters without finishing my last laps. I waited until he was far away before I left.
“I heard the private talking to the general about the bar a mile west of here. I thought this was a rural area, civilization ceased for miles around.” Amber was telling Maddie.
“I could really use a drink after today,” I said as I flopped down on my bed, which didn’t feel good at all.
The girls laughed like I had told them a joke, and I propped myself up on my elbows to look at them.
Maddie said, “We can’t leave campus, Riley.”
“Yeah, but we’re criminals. When have we ever followed the rules?” They looked at each other in shock, as if they’d never thought of that before.
Amber asked, “What would we wear?” I smiled because I knew I had brought a whole suitcase full of useless clothes.
“Pick one,” I said, pointing to my trunk. “I’m going to check out the staff showers. I have a feeling they’ll be a lot better than ours.” I grabbed my shower stuff and left.
A security guard was sitting in a small office next to a fence. It kept the criminals and the officers apart, but when I was limping back from the track earlier, I saw a hole in the hedge that would let me sneak through.
They didn’t have sheds; instead, they had small cabins. There was a main shower and toilet block, which made me think that the small cabins were just for sleeping. I quietly made my way to the shower block and slipped inside without anyone seeing me.
There were real doors instead of curtains, and it was much cleaner than ours. There was only one shower room. It had a shower cubicle and a nice dressing area with a big mirror, a sink, a hair dryer and a unit. I opened the door to the left of the showers because I was curious, but all I found was a toilet, so nothing too interesting.
I stepped into the shower and looked at the lever. It had a choice of hot or cold, and when I turned it on, the warm water bounced off my skin and relaxed all of my sore muscles. It was like heaven.
I took my time washing my hair with the shampoo and rubbing the soap on my body. I liked the little bit of pampering I had found at this terrible Bootcamp.
After that, I got out of the shower and blow-dried my hair, which straightened out and shone beautifully.
I opened the door and stuck my head out to see what was going on before I really left. It was dark outside now, and everything was quiet, so I quickly left, ran through the bushes, and got to my own place in no time.
When I opened the door to my shed, girls were throwing clothes around, standing in their bras, and putting on makeup. They were excited, and we had more than just Maddie and Amber on our one-bar crawl.