“Really?”
“Sure. How’d you find me anyway? Are you stalking me now?” I ask with a grin, hoping I can make her forget about the damn video game.
She purses her lips. “You were supposed to meet me in the library twenty minutes ago so we could review your plan for the afternoon.”
Right. I totally forgot about that. Or maybe I was subconsciously revolting against being told what to do every freaking second of the day.
“Luckily, Cadet Floyd told me she saw you come in here. Obviously, it’s a good thing she did,” Paige says, waving her hand toward my computer.
“Why? You don’t want me expanding my knowledge with online classes?”
“You do know lying is a violation of our Honor Code, right?”
My eyes roll, despite knowing it drives her crazy.
“Stop that,” she says. “Next time you do it, I’m assigning you laps.”
My eyes automatically look to the ceiling, ready to complete another spin around my skull, when I catch myself. Instead, I settle for a sigh.
“Lying is a major offense here,” she says. “If you lie, I will have to report it to the dean, who will assign you detention. Do you want to change your answer?”
Shit. It’s one thing to have Paige and Jernigan assign me some stupid punishment, but if the dean gets involved, then my lawyer will probably hear about it. I don’t want him to know I’m getting into trouble, especially after our phone call. “Yes, it was a video game.”
“It wasn’t blocked?”
“Apparently there was a glitch with the firewall.” I don’t bother telling her I was the glitch. She doesn’t need to know that detail.
“Hmmm … I see. You’re not allowed to play video games at Wallingford. Don’t do it again, or I’ll have to take disciplinary action.”
“Such as?”
She shrugs. “Whatever I find appropriate.”
“Laps?” It might be worth a few laps to have a couple of hours of normalcy.
“Maybe. Or scraping the gum off the bottom of all the tables in here. Or cleaning the cinder-block walls with a toothbrush. Or providing IT support to fellow students during personal time since you seem to be so technologically savvy.”
Shit.
She obviously realizes there’s more to the story. Of course, I seriously doubt there’s any gum under these tables. Everyone here is too perfect to do something like that. And the walls are spotless. And in the time I’ve spent in the computer lab, I’ve never seen a student need IT help. She really needs to put more thought into useful punishments that would actually benefit the school.
“Okay,” I say, not really feeling all that dissuaded. I’ll just change seats so if she comes back, I’ll see her before she can plop herself next to me. “Anything else?” I ask.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s all. I’m headed off campus, and I expect you to be on your best behavior. Have you finished your homework yet?”
“Yes.”
“Your workout?”
“No.”
“Make sure you finish that. Then read a book or something. There’s no reason for you to be in the computer lab if you don’t have homework.”
“Okay,” I reply, tapping my fingers on the tabletop, waiting for her to leave so I can get back to my game. “Anything else?”
“I’ll check in with you before lights-out to see what you’ve accomplished today. Meet me in the library at nine. Don’t forget about it again.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” I say with a fake salute.
“I’m not a captain,” she replies with a frown. “Lieutenant Commander. And you’re uncovered. Why are you saluting? You should know all this by now.”
“It was a—” I’m about to say “joke,” but it’s not even worth it. “Right. Aye, aye, Lieutenant Commander. I’ll be a good boy today. Scout’s honor.”
“Were you a Boy Scout?” she asks, suddenly showing more interest in me.
“Um … no, not really.”
Her head tips ever so slightly to the right and her lips turn down. “You need to read our Honor Code today.”
“I read it yesterday.”
“It obviously didn’t stick. Try again and focus this time.” Without another word, she turns around and heads for the door.
I roll my eyes and then give her back another salute, this time with one carefully selected finger. A guy near me quietly chuckles. “That’s such a bad idea,” he whispers, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes make it clear he enjoyed the moment almost as much as I did.
CHAPTER 6
PAIGE
It’s Sunday afternoon, and Leah and I are in our room, changing back into our uniforms after going off campus.
My phone rings, so I look at the screen. I blow out a long breath before answering it. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, pumpkin. How are you?”
“Good. Leah and I just finished a hike. Can I call you back in five minutes, after I change clothes?”
“Sure. Talk to you soon.”
We hang up, and Leah gives me a sideways glance as she pulls on her pants. “Have you told him about the Air Force Academy yet?”
I groan as I finish buttoning my top.
“Uh-oh. Why do I have a feeling you’ll be making a call from Colorado to tell him?” she asks.
I can’t wait until I start at the academy. He’d disown me for sure. “I’m waiting for the right time.”
“I think the right time was when you applied.”
With a shake of my head, I say, “I disagree. What if I don’t get in? There’s no sense getting into a major fight with him over something that might not even happen.” After all, I still need to pass my CFA—candidate fitness assessment—and I worry about being able to do so.
“You’ll get in,” she says, not sharing my concerns. “And I think he’ll be angrier the longer you take to tell him.”
I groan again and sit down on my bed to lace up my black boots. She’s probably right about my dad. Still, I don’t want to have the confrontation unless it’s necessary. She doesn’t get what it’s like living with him. Her parents are easy and supportive of whatever she wants to do. My dad is the opposite of hers. Maybe he feels like he needs to go overboard since he’s a single parent now, like being controlling will somehow make up for not having a mom around these past eight years, but honestly, I think he had my Navy future mapped out from the moment I was born. Why else would he have me swimming laps at age three and running a 5K by age five?
“It’s still the military,” Leah says as she finishes braiding her hair. “He’ll be proud of you whether you’re a Navy pilot or an Air Force pilot.” She attaches her phone to a portable speaker, and asks, “What do you want to listen to?”
“Surprise me.”
She scrolls through her phone for a moment before a fairly heavy rock song starts. I’ve never heard it before but start humming along almost immediately. “Who is this?”
“It’s a British band I like. This is their newest song.”