by Julia Crane
“What? I thought we were going to Sri Lanka.” Keegan opened the refrigerator, hanging on the door as she searched for something to drink.
“It’s too unstable there right now. We haven’t been on a cruise in a while. You know that’s your brother’s favorite and it’s his turn to choose.”
“Well, Italy sounds cool. When are we leaving?”
“Thursday since you have some time off from school for the holidays.”
Keegan suddenly got an idea as she grabbed the orange juice and closed the door. She carefully avoided her mom’s eyes as she grabbed a cup from the cabinet and said, “Can Donald come with us?”
“Of course not,” Emerald answered sharply. “Have you lost your mind, Keegan?”
“Why not? You let Rourk go away with us.”
“That was under different circumstances. Besides Rourk is your chosen, not just some boy you’re dating. You are not eighteen yet.” Her mother went back to typing on her computer, dismissing Keegan.
“You are being so unfair, Mom. He could stay in Thaddeus’s room. It’s not like we’re doing anything.”
“I said no, Keegan, don’t ask again.”
Keegan was getting cold as a familiar anger began coursing through her veins. “He’s not just some boy, Mother.”
“He’s no different from the countless others you have dated.”
Keegan glared at her mother. “Donald is important to me. You need to accept it.” She crossed her hands over her chest and rubbed her arms, her body becoming increasingly colder.
“He’s not going, so just forget you brought it up.”
“You are such a hypocrite…” Keegan started, only to stop speaking as she stared, her mouth gaping open. Her mother was frozen to the computer like a huge block of ice. “Mom, Mom! I’m sorry!”
Keegan ran to the stairs and yelled, “Thaddeus, help me!”
Something in her panicked voice must have gotten through to him because he ran down and almost stumbled over his own feet as he slid to a stop next to Keegan and his mother. “Damn it, Keegan. I told you to keep your anger in check. What were you fighting about?”
“She won’t let Donald come on vacation with us.”
“Imagine that. She doesn’t want her teenage daughter to go to another country with her new boyfriend. Shame on her. Such bad parenting skills.”
His sarcasm struck her painfully, and she started crying. “Thaddeus, what is wrong with me? I feel like some kind of freak. Our mother is frozen and I don’t know how to get her unfrozen.”
Thaddeus stared at his mom for a few moments. “What did you do last time?”
“Donald helped me. He just told me stories about myself to make me feel better.”
“Any story I could think of right now would not make you happy.” Thaddeus gave her a dirty look. “Call Donald.”
Keegan was skeptical but she picked up the phone and dialed his number. She filled him in on what had taken place, and he laughed.
“I’m glad you want me to go with you,” Donald said, “but your mother is right. That is asking too much from her.”
“You don’t want to go?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I would love to go. But we are still in high school and taking your boyfriend on vacation with you isn’t something most parents would approve of. To be honest, I don’t even think my parents would allow me to go.” He paused. “How long are you going to be gone for?”
“I don’t know. I got angry at her before I found out the details.”
“Even if you were only gone a day, I would miss you.”
“Aww, you are so sweet.”
From his post beside his mother, Thaddeus rolled his eyes.
“Are we still on for tonight? I’m looking forward to beating you on our dance off. I know how you love Dance Dance Central.”
Keegan laughed and Donald started singing in her ear.
“Of course, we’re still on. I was going to have Anna, Lauren and their boy toys join us.” Keegan said with a smile.
A loud crackling noise filled the room and her mother broke free from the ice.
“Keegan, this has got to stop,” she snapped. “You need to stop having little fits for no good reason. I swear, you act like you are three sometimes.” She brushed the ice off her. “I’m going to take a hot shower and change.”
"Donald, I have to go," Keegan said quickly before she hung up the phone. Her mother stood to walk out of the room and Keegan reached for her, horrified. "Mom, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."
Emerald just eyed her silently for a moment, then left.
"Keegan, you never make things easy," Thaddeus said. He rolled his eyes and walked out of the room.
She was disgusted with herself. Falling into a chair at the table, she stared down at her cell phone, her cheeks hot.
***
A couple of hours later everyone showed up at Keegan’s house. Anna brought pizzas, Lauren brought soda, and the guys just brought themselves. The six of them headed down to the basement. It was a large space set up like a game room even though it rarely got used.
“Who wants to go first? Dance battle mode. Oh yeah!” Donald did a little Michael Jackson spin and looked at them expectantly. He was obsessed with the new Xbox Kinect game Dance Central.
“I vote we eat first,” Josh said and everyone agreed.
After everyone had eaten, Donald couldn’t be put off any longer.
“Let’s see what you got, Donald.” Keegan turned on the TV and Xbox.
“Yes! You are so going down Keegan. We’ll start with an easy one, FunkyTown.”
Within minutes they were all cracking up. Keegan didn’t stand a chance. She laughed so hard she was crying. What made it even funnier was the fact that Donald was so serious about it. He was good even though he did look ridiculous. It just made him even cuter in her eyes. Xavier was taking a video and said he was going to put it on YouTube with no sound.
They were sweating by the end of the song and Donald was still dancing when Anna and Xavier went. Keegan pulled him down on the couch with her. “That was fun.”
“I told you.” He reached over and gave her a quick kiss.
Keegan and Lauren were loudly singing, “Can’t get you out of my head,” while Anna and Xavier fumbled around with the steps. The game was no joke.
Josh didn’t stand a chance against Lauren. All of her years as a cheerleader meant she could pick up dance moves quickly. They decided Lauren and Donald should have a big dance off with a level five song, “Satisfaction.”
Lauren won. Donald was impressed with her skills. He said he’d have to do some more practicing and have a rematch.
***
Richard came home and Emerald filled him in on what had happened with Keegan earlier.
“I wish there was something we could do to help her.” Emerald stood up and got her husband a drink.
“Maybe we should just let the boy go with us. I could threaten him and I doubt he’d do anything inappropriate.”
“Richard, we can’t just keep giving in to her.”
“Listen to them all downstairs. How long has it been since we’ve heard her laughing like that? Maybe he is good for her.”
“What about Rourk?” Emerald wanted to know.
“Rourk is a big boy; he can take care of himself. And he is the one that decided to leave. Of course, I would much rather Keegan be with Rourk than a shapeshifter. However, the bottom line is it’s Keegan’s choice not ours. She’s not a little girl anymore. She will be eighteen before we know it. Maybe if we act like we approve of Donald she will get over him quicker. You know forbidden fruit is always sweeter.”
“You’re probably right. I just wish we could figure out how to get her bond back.”
Richard reached across and grabbed his wife’s hand. “Emerald, we are so lucky to have her alive. I really just want her to be happy and enjoy the chance she has been given.”
“You always know the right thing to say. It’s one of t
he reasons I love you so much.”
“I love you. So are we in agreement?” He raised his eyebrow.
“I guess so. I hope I don’t regret this.”
***
Donald stayed after everyone else left, the two of them sat close together on the couch in the basement. While they talked Keegan’s father yelled down for them to come upstairs.
“Okay, Dad, we’ll be right up,” Keegan called. She glanced over at Donald and noticed he looked nervous.
“Don’t worry; I’m sure it’s nothing. My mom probably just wants me to clean up something.”
When they got upstairs, Keegan saw her father sitting at the table and thought, Oh no.
Nothing good happened when her parents called for her to meet them at the kitchen table.
“So I heard about your little incident today, Keegan.” Richard had his hands clasped on the table top. He was still in his uniform from camp. With the camouflage and his size, not to mention the bushy beard, he looked threatening. Keegan could feel Donald’s nerves beside her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.” Keegan sighed and sat down at the table, leaving Donald standing by himself.
“Have you been doing the breathing exercises I went over with you? You’re not supposed to do them just when you are angry. You can do them throughout the day.”
“Not really. I always forget.”
“You need to remember. This cannot happen out in public Keegan. I’m sure you don’t want us to pull you out of school because you can’t control your temper.”
Panic raced through her. It was her senior year she couldn’t imagine not finishing school with all her friends. “I’ll work on it, I promise. Please, don’t take me out of school.”
“Donald, I heard my daughter wants to bring you on our little vacation. Do you think your parents would allow it?”
Donald stared at Richard. It took him a minute to compose himself. “I’m not sure. To be honest we don’t have a lot of money, so I’m not sure they would.”
Richard stood up and walked over to Donald and put a hand on his shoulder. “We would never take a cent from you or any of Keegan’s friends. She often brings Lauren or Anna on trips. If your parents will let you, we would like you to join us. I think we need to get to know more about the person that has caught our daughter’s attention.”
“I’ll talk to them tonight and let Keegan know.”
“Donald, I don’t think I need to say this out loud. We trust you not to do anything inappropriate with our daughter. She has not yet left this house.”
“Of course not, sir. I hope you don’t think that is why I’m interested in Keegan.” Donald’s face flushed a deep shade of red.
“You would be a fool not to be interested in Keegan, she’s a terrific girl. Call me Richard. I hate being called sir.”
Keegan ran over and hugged her dad. “You are the best dad ever!” Her squeals echoed off the walls as she jumped up and down, “We’re going to Italy. I can’t believe we are going to Italy! When are we leaving? How long are we going to be gone?”
“Thursday night. You’ll have to miss a day of school, but I’m sure you’ll get over it. We’ll be gone ten days I believe. Seven nights on the cruise and a couple of nights on land. Your brother is very excited. Now that you are bringing Donald, I’ll have him invite Sam. This might actually be a good trip. Hopefully, we won’t have to hear you and your brother arguing.”
“I think we can manage. Ack, I can’t believe you are letting Donald go! We’ll be good, I promise.”
“Famous last words.” Richard tried to be surly but he was smiling. His daughter’s happiness was infectious.
“Donald, you need to go home and ask your parents. Make sure you text me right away. If they need to talk to my parents, just call my phone.” Keegan practically pushed him out the door.
“Where’s mom? She’s okay with this?” Keegan asked after she’d waved Donald down the driveway.
“She’s not thrilled, but I convinced her. You owe me one.”
“Sure, Dad.” Her mind shifted gears. “Hopefully Mom wants to take me shopping. I love shopping for new trips.”
Keegan ran up and hugged her dad again and then barreled up the stairs. She had to text Lauren and Anna to let them know. She was so excited she could hardly stand it.
She jumped online and searched Italy, even though she wasn’t even sure what part they were going to. She should have asked more details but she was just too excited. Cruises were a quick way to add more countries to her list, so she loved taking them. Keegan walked over to the map on her wall and ran her fingers over all the pins that stuck out. Ever since she was little her parents had kept a map of all the places they have visited. Soon, she would have a pin on the big boot.
Keegan headed down the hall for her mom’s room so they could talk about the trip.
Chapter 15
Seven weeks had passed since Rourk started basic training.
His days were long and somewhat irritating because he often didn’t agree with the instructors’ methods of teaching. Even more irritating was the fact he had to sit back and act like he was learning all of it for the first time when he could probably teach it better himself.
He had managed, however, to stay out of trouble and go virtually unnoticed, which was his goal. Well, maybe not completely unnoticed. It was hard to stay invisible when he consistently finished first in everything.
On the diagnostic PT test, only four trainees scored a 300, Rourk being one of them. In both unarmed combatives and pugil stick fighting, Rourk was undefeated. On the rifle qualification, Rourk and one other soldier scored a perfect 40 out of 40 hits.
Tommy on the other hand had not been so lucky. He was always doing stupid things to draw attention to himself and there was only so much Rourk could do to help him. Truth be told, he would be shocked if Tommy made it past the first nine weeks.
The kid wouldn’t shut up about his girlfriend and how wonderful she was, which was starting to irk Rourk. Every time Tommy mentioned his girlfriend it was a reminder to Rourk that Keegan was no longer his.
Rourk’s thoughts were constantly centered on Keegan. He was unable to escape the memories of their short time together and constantly wondered how she was doing. Through Anna and Lauren, he tried to check on her a few times but the three girls were never together.
He needed to practice more restraint because he was starting to feel like a stalker.
As he pushed himself from where he rested on his bunk, he vowed that he would not check up on her any longer. His heart sunk at the idea.
Rourk headed to the shower and quickly hosed off before the water turned cold. When he came back to his bunk, Tommy was sitting on his bed crying. Now what… “What’s wrong, Tommy?”
“My girl broke up with me. In a god damn letter. She said she had met someone else and didn’t think she could wait for me.” Another sob ripped from him, and Rourk couldn’t help but understand his pain. “I wish I knew who the jerk was, I would beat the shit out of him.”
“I’m sorry, Tommy,” Rourk said, standing awkwardly over him. “I really am. Don’t waste your time being angry at the guy. It’s probably better this happened sooner than later. Now you can focus on your training.”
Tommy looked down, picking at the blanket and unable to meet Rourk’s eyes. “Rourk, I could give a shit about this training. I feel like quitting and running back to her. Maybe she’ll give me another chance if I don’t join the Army.”
“Tommy, would you listen to yourself? You want to give up on your dream for a girl who hasn’t even waited a few weeks for you. If she cared about you, she would have waited. You need to make a choice. You can quit now and run home with your tail between our legs or you can act like a man and finish what you started.”
Tommy wiped his nose with the back of his shirt, pleadingly looking up at Rourk. “I’ve wanted to be a Green Beret since I was a little boy but do you really think I can even make it? I keep messing up and getti
ng in trouble.”
“If you want to make it you can, Tommy, but you need to decide here and now if this is what you want. You can throw it all away for a girl who cheated on you or you can move forward with your life-long dream. That is your choice to make.”
Tommy laid back on the bed and kicked his feet up on the metal bar. “I want to stay. As much as it sucks, you’re right. If she hadn’t cheated on me now, she would have sooner or later.” He became quiet, and his jaw hardened. “I just really love her. I thought we were going to get married. When we graduated, I was going to buy a ring.”
“That’s good that you want to stay. Now you need to direct your anger towards your training. I know it’s easier said than done. Do this for yourself. I can tell you one thing, a Green Beret would not run home crying because his girl left him. You need to change your mentality starting right now. Let this lesson harden you. Use it to your advantage.”
“You sure talk funny, Rourk. I don’t know what I would do if you hadn’t been here. If you see me off crying in the corner, hit me.”
Rourk laughed. “I hope I don’t have to do that. Now let’s get prepared for tomorrow. Sleep on top of your blankets so you don’t have to make it in the morning. Go jump in the shower now so you are not fighting in line in the morning. When you get back, we’ll make sure you have everything in order.”
“Thanks, Rourk.”
Rourk watched as Tommy headed off to the shower, his shoulders slumped and his head down. The boy needed a lecture on perception. He should be holding his head high and back straight, no matter what was going on in his heart and mind. Rourk couldn’t help but feel bad for him; he knew what it was like to love someone and not have the feelings returned.
They only had two more weeks of basic training. Rourk would be glad when it was over, although he still had a long way to go before it was really over. They had lost a few guys--some to injuries, some for reasons like Tommy’s, and even one who had been considering suicide--but most of them had managed to last.
Thinking of the guys who had left to return home to their women, Rourk thought, it’s crazy how much a girl can mess up a guy’s plans. The more he thought of it, he realized even most wars were started because of a woman. Tommy had made the right decision. At least now he had a goal which would help keep his mind off the pain.
