Back To You (6 page)

“Absolutely not.”
I laughed and waved my hand. I was used to this question where Spencer was
concerned. No one ever believed that a guy and a girl could just be friends.
“Spencer doesn’t ‘date.’ He sleeps around. We’re really good at being friends.
Neither one of us wants to mess that up.”

“I see.”

“Besides, I
actually have a boyfriend. His name is Tim. He just started school up in
Sacramento, or else he’d be here.”

Olivia looked confused,
and started to respond, but a middle-aged woman sitting halfway down the row
reached over to get her attention. I turned away, giving the two women some
privacy. I really wished Spencer’s dad had come, but took solace in the fact
that he would be there tomorrow. He wasn’t the easiest person to get along
with, but it would be good for Spencer to have his support.

A man came over
the speaker system announcing the start of the ceremony. I immediately forgot
everything I had just been thinking about and focused my attention on the
Parade Deck in front of me. I could barely hear the music over the excited
cheers of the crowd as the Marines came marching into view. The precision of
their movements was something of an art. I counted seven groups of men, each
lead by a Marine holding a red flag. The flag had platoon numbers printed in
yellow, and I squinted as I tried to find 2109. I located the group of men that
Spencer was in and watched as they continued to march in formation until the
platoon was centered right in front of my section on the bleachers. At the
direction of the Drill Instructor closest to the group, the Marines turned to
face the crowd and were met with an even louder cheer than before.

Chapter Six

Spencer

My eyes were
zeroed in on the back of Mills’ head like so many times before. This time was
different, however, because on the other side of Mills’ head was a crowd of
people cheering for us. Even though it was Family Day and we weren’t
technically graduating until the following day, I felt more pride in that
moment than I ever had.

A few days before,
we had completed The Crucible. It was three days of hell that tested us on all
of the skills that we had learned throughout boot camp. At the end, we were
rewarded with the Warrior’s Breakfast and a ceremony in which our Drill
Instructors had awarded us with a pin in the shape of the Marine Corps emblem.
At that ceremony, after we received our pins with the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor,
we were officially Marines. Many of my peers had gotten choked up during that
ceremony. There we were – sweaty, covered in mud, sleep deprived, and
absolutely starving – being awarded the right to call ourselves United
States Marines. That was one of my proudest moments. And now, as I stood in
formation in front of a screaming crowd, I couldn’t feel any better.

The rest of the
ceremony went by in a blur. I hadn’t heard a word that was said over the sound
system, though I knew it was a motivational speech given by a Lieutenant
Colonel. All I could think about was getting released from the formation and
having some freedom. Even though I wouldn’t be able to leave base until after
the ceremony the next day, I was pumped to be able to spend the afternoon
without getting screamed at by a DI.

The command that
brought us from Parade Rest to Attention came. I dropped my arms from behind my
back and snapped my feet together. The rest of my platoon made the action at
the same time. Having seen other companies practicing for graduation, I knew
that the effect of seeing that many men move in sync was a really powerful
sight. My chest swelled with pride and excitement as I thought about what would
happened next. After a short pause, the DI gave the order for us to be
dismissed. My platoon about faced in unison, and the crowd went wild.

Mills slapped me
roughly on the shoulder. “We did it! This hell is finally over!”

“Congrats, man.
You did great.” I grinned and grabbed my friend into a quick hug.

“Thanks, you too.”
Mills looked over his shoulder and I followed his gaze. The family members were
making their way off the bleachers to greet the Marines on the Parade Deck.
“I’m nervous as fuck.”

I laughed. “You’ll
be fine, bro. I still think you’re crazy, but I’m happy for you two lovebirds.
Here she comes, I’ll meet you by the restaurant?”

Mills nodded
shakily. “Yeah, the plan’s still on. See you there.”

I watched as Mills
made his way toward his girlfriend, or soon-to-be fiancé. Ellie was supposed to
meet up with Mills’ family, so I searched the faces in the direction that I had
just seen Olivia. I saw her through the crowd and my stomach flipped painfully.
I had known that my feelings for her had grown to be more than merely
friendship, but seeing her after all that I had been through over the past
three months seemed to cement those feelings for me.

I made my way
through all of the embracing families and paused when I was right in front of
her. She was smiling up at me. I could feel my heart beating a mile a minute.
Not able to stand there a second longer without touching her, I reached out and
pulled her into a tight bear hug, lifting her feet off the ground. She laughed
in my ear and squeezed me tightly in response. I set her down gently, but
didn’t break the hug. I couldn’t get enough of that feeling.

After a moment
longer, she pulled away. There was a hint of something in her smile that I
couldn’t place.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your dad’s not
here. He’ll be here tomorrow though, I promise.” Ellie said, a look of concern
crossing her face.

I shrugged. “It’s
fine, it’s actually a good thing that he’s only coming for one of the days.
That way we don’t have to hang out with him any longer than necessary, right?”

“Right,” she
agreed. Her frown was replaced with a wide smile. “So, congratulations! I’m so
proud of you!”

“Thanks,” I
replied, feeling that overwhelming sense of pride again. “I’m pretty badass
now, just so you know. More than I was before, even.”

Ellie laughed and
rolled her eyes. “Great. Your head has gotten even bigger.”

The crowd was
starting to thin around us, and I remembered that we were all supposed to get
off the Parade Deck once we found our families. I put my hand on Ellie’s lower
back and started to lead her in the direction that the rest of the groups were
headed.

“We’re going to
lunch at the restaurant on base, if that’s cool with you. There’s a lake or
something over there and that’s where Mills is
gonna
propose to his girl,” I explained as we walked.

“She seems really
nice. I’m happy for her, she said they’ve been together for like five years.”

I scoffed
good-naturedly. “Yeah, they have, but they’re still only eighteen. I told him
he’s a fucking moron for getting married this young. Or at all.”

“You’re like a
happiness Nazi. Just because you’re content on being a slut for the rest of
your life doesn’t mean that other people are ‘morons’ for wanting to settle
down.” Ellie’s stare held a challenge in it, as if she was daring me to
disagree.

“Speaking of, have
you dumped Tim yet?”

I saw through
Tim’s ‘perfect boyfriend’ act to the douchebag that hid beneath it. I would put
money on the guy being a liar and a cheat, and the fact that he was hours away
in college while Ellie was still here was a recipe for disaster. I had always
known that Ellie was too good for Tim from the perspective of a friend, but now
that I had these new feelings for her, my urge to see him out of her life
seemed even more important. I worried about her on a new level now. Not just
the normal protectiveness that I’d always felt. Something deeper.

“No, and I’m not
planning to.” Ellie stared straight ahead as she responded, and her stiff
response told me that she was getting annoyed. The last thing I wanted was for
her to be pissed at me after going so long without seeing her, so I figured
that I would just have to come up with a better way to get through to her. Later.

We arrived at the
restaurant and got in the long line for the buffet. I was really sick and tired
of standing in lines for chow. I reached into my sock to fetch my ID card and
cash.

Ellie stared at
me, eyebrows lifted. “Did you just pull money out of your sock?”

“Yeah,” I
confirmed with a shrug. “Apparently it looks better to pull something out of
your sock than to have anything in your pockets when you’re in uniform.”

“That makes no
sense at all.”

I laughed. “You’re
telling me! There are so many little rules that are just absurd when you really
think about them.”

“Like what?”

“Well, in civilian
clothes, your pants always have to fit at the waist so that you don’t need a
belt.”

Ellie lifted a
brow. “That sounds pretty straightforward to me.”

“That part is, but
if your pants have belt loops on them, you have to wear one. Which is dumb
because at that point it’s just for decoration since your pants don’t need to
be held up.”

“That just seems
nit-picky.”

“Yeah, I mean, I
know it all comes down to us looking presentable whether we’re in uniform or
not. There are a lot of rules about how we look. We have to have a clean shave
every day, a new haircut every week, and if our shirt has shirt tails, it has
to be tucked in.”

“Even if you’re
rocking the jeans with a button up look?”

“Yep.”

Ellie shook her
head. “What else?”

“We can’t chew gum
in uniform.”

“Good, it would
take away from the look.”

I snorted. “What?
That doesn’t even make sense.”

“You chew gum like
a cow. It’s not attractive at all.”

“So, if I’m in uniform,
you’re saying I’m attractive? As long as I’m not chewing gum, of course.”

Ellie flushed.
“Moving on. What else?”

“Hmm… If we’re in
uniform and on a cell phone, we can’t walk.”

“You have to just
stop in your tracks if you get a phone call, and you’re like… trapped in place
until you hang up?”

I nodded.

“Good to know. I
might call you sometimes and just blabber on. It’ll be like my own version of
‘red light, green light.’”

“I might just
ignore your calls then.”

She eyed me
playfully. “You would never do that.”

We’d reached the end
of the line and started to fill our trays with food. “You’re right, I
wouldn’t.”

Walking out into
the bright sunlight, I scanned the crowd looking for the table with Mills and
his family. We weaved and bobbed through the packed outdoor pavilion. Round
white tables with white plastic chairs dotted the area, and I was grateful that
the Mills family had decided to sit outside after being in the stuffy
restaurant. When we reached the table, Mills stood and grabbed Ellie’s free hand,
shaking it fervently.

“Ellie, it’s so
nice to meet you,” Mills said, his dark brown eyes alight with his good mood.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Your letters smelled really nice, by the way.”

I glared at my
friend. “It was only that one letter that she sprayed, Mills.”

Mills winked at me
and turned his attention back to Ellie. “Call me Matt, by the way. And I
believe you already know the love of my life?”

Olivia laughed and
greeted Ellie again.

“I haven’t met her
yet, Mills.” I said, faux hurt playing across my face.

“Yeah, and for a
good reason, buddy. Come, sit, I’ll introduce you both to the rest of my
family.”

The remainder of
the lunch went really well. I felt at home with Mills and his family and was
grateful to them for welcoming Ellie and me. I caught myself feeling down about
how happily dysfunctional Mills’ family was compared to my own. Or what was
left of it. On the bright side, it didn’t take much to bring my mood back up,
though. I was sitting at a table where I could take as long as I wanted to
finish my meal and there were no DI’s breathing down my neck. Not to mention
the fact that Ellie looked amazing and was finally right in front of me. Her
smile could always brighten my mood.

I was pleased to
see how well she and Olivia got along. They would be seeing more of one another
if Mills and I were stationed in San Diego like we hoped. That was a long shot,
but the odds were better since the two of us shared the same job within the
Corps. If I didn’t wind up getting stationed in San Diego, I wondered where I
would go instead.
Hopefully not too far.

Ellie leaned
toward me and whispered in my ear. “When is he going to propose?”

“It should be any
minute,” I responded, my mouth inches from Ellie’s ear. “He’s going to ask her
to take a walk with him.”

As if on cue,
Mills turned to his mom and nodded. She winked in reply, and started telling a
story to the rest of the group in an animated voice. They were hanging on her
every word and laughing hysterically. I knew that Mills wanted his family to be
distracted when he snuck away with Olivia. They all knew he was planning to
propose at some point that weekend, so he didn’t want one of them to blow it before
they even left the table.

“Take a walk with
me?” He asked Olivia in a hushed voice, staring into her eyes. He was taking
advantage of the distraction his mother had caused with the rest of the family.

She looked all too
eager to get some time alone with him. “Definitely.”

Mills helped her
up from her chair in a show of chivalry, and then took her hand. He led her
through the tables, toward the edge of the water. The sun shone off the surface
of the small lake behind them.

I looked down at
Ellie. She was watching the scene unfold with stars in her eyes. I didn’t
really think marriage was for me, and I definitely didn’t believe in marriage
at eighteen, but I had to admit that Mills was as sure as he could be about
this. He’d been relentlessly bending my ear about how much he loved Olivia for
the last three months, so if anyone could make this work, they could. The
entire pavilion erupted into applause, and I smiled at Ellie’s white knuckled
reaction when Mills dropped to one knee.