Chapter 3: First meet

The moment I heard the door knock, I woke up and went to check who was disturbing me from my sweet sleeping moment. I opened the door with red eyes and an annoyed face. "WHAT!?" I shouted. My eyes went wide when I saw colonel Richards standing there with a shocked expression on his face.

I looked down with an apologizing face and simply said," Sorry, sir".

"It's fine, Captain, I understand you just woke up, didn't you? Now, go on get ready the guests are going to arrive within an hour. Don't forget that you are going to give them a tour" He said and left quickly ignoring my shocked state.

We all got ready and went out to welcome the guests. We stood there waiting for them. After fifteen minutes or so we saw a car with a familiar logo. We all assumed that was the right car.

" Jake, go tell Colonel." I whispered to Jake.

Tyler and I fixed our uniforms and hair then moved closer to the car to welcome them. In our battalion, seeing girls is occasional. I opened the door and saw a guy my age or maybe a little bit older than me and behind him, there was another guy, who looks older than both of us. I saluted and greeted them introducing myself. He said he is Brandon meaning he is the main inspector. The man behind him was his assistant, Louis.

I went to the other side of the car and opened it for the girls. I just said "Hello" and introduced myself. One of them told me her name is Natalie and she also told me that her friend's name is Mia. She looked like a sweet girl with manners.

"I can help with that, ma'am," I said and stretched my arm in an attempt to take the luggage from her hand, which is holding the suitcase firmly. "Thanks? I can do it myself. And my name is not 'ma'am'. Like Natalie said my name is Mia. Got it?" She said and left not wanting to listen to my response.

I stood there frozen with my hands still stretched out. To cover it up Natalie put her bag in my hand smiling. I looked up and asked, "Is she always like that?"

She simply nodded. "She's rude to everyone except her friends and family members. She doesn't have a lot of friends it is just me though. Only her parents and I know her real behavior. She is a really sweet girl. If you are lucky you'll get to see that side of her. Just be patient." She smiled for the last time and left shouting her "sweet" friend's name.

I looked at her disappearing figure. I noticed her friend stopped walking. She then came running back towards me.

"Umm, sorry, you didn't tell us where we are going to stay." She said.

"Oh yeah, sure. Let's go then. Are you guys tired or do you want me to give you a tour now?" I asked fixing my eyes on her.

"You can give us the tour today. We are not tired." She replied politely. She jogged to Mia and came back alone. "She isn't coming?" I asked curiously. She shook her head. "No, she said she doesn't need tour besides she needs to rest"

"Captain, are you sure you want the 'special' one?" she asked for the third time. I nodded discreetly. She gave me smiling. I took it and went to our table after thanking her. Tyler, Jake, Natalie, and Mia were sitting "enjoying" their meal. I was sent to get all of us a drink.

Well, I brought Mia our 'special' drink. The drink contains a lot of spices including raw coffee. She should know how to drop that attitude her as long as she's staying here. We drink that as a punishment for wrongdoings. I sat down and distributed the drinks for everyone.

Mia's drink had blue straw. The rest of them had white straws. I was just hoping she wouldn't notice it. Mia bent down to tie her shoes. Then, she got up and said, "Captain, tie your laces."

I looked down and bent to tie it. When I got up I saw Tyler with a red face. "Who made you blush, Tyler?" I asked smirking. He ignored me and took a sip from his drink, so did I. Just then I realized someone changed my drink with Mia's.

I looked up with eyes full of tears formed by the spices and asked, "Is this my drink?"

Mia smirked. "It sure is, Captain" Then Tyler busted out laughing. "What!?" I asked furiously.

"You think I am not smart enough to differentiate the drinks. I exchanged them. I changed the cups then the straws. In that case, I thought you wouldn't notice. And you didn't. Now c'mon you are a brave little soldier, aren't you? At least you are brave enough to mess with me." She got up smiling innocently. "Next time don't even try messing with me. Try it and I'm pretty sure we both know the consequences won't be good. Now let me see you drink it one more time before leaving." She demanded.

I had to act tough. I drunk it all in one gulp. She stayed for a little more enjoying my eyes full of tears and red face. She then left saying, "Perfect". Natalie runs to get me a new drink but before she could I drunk Tyler's, who was laughing the whole time. I stared at him insensitively and he instantly stopped laughing.

"I am so, so sorry for what Mia did. Needless to say, what you did was wrong too. If she catches you one more time it won't be good for you captain." She said with an apologetic face and run to catch up with Mia.

"I thought that will be a good lesson for her," I said regretting my decision. "Well, too bad, captain looks like you are the one who got the lesson" Tyler replied. "Still," I said wiping my tears.

I have always underestimated women. It ain't my fault though. They look weak, pathetic, and infirm. But someone just proved me wrong: Mia.

She is the strongest woman I've met so far. If our relationship is going to continue like this, it's going to be a win-lose game for me. I have never experienced loss until moments ago. And the fact that I was defeated by a girl on my own battlefield is shameful.

"Jack!" Tyler yelled waving his hands in front of me, interrupting my thoughts. I looked at him shocked. "Stop looking at me like that. I've been calling you softy for the past five minutes." He said. "Oh, really? Sorry" I said shaking my head. "Let's go, Mia wants to see your students and how you teach them."

'Time to show off' I thought and walked away. As we exited we saw Brandon and Colonel talking seriously. I wondered what they were talking about but ignored it as it is none of my business. I bowed and walked past them though they didn't even notice me. I took my water bottle and went to the field. I saw Mia interviewing Peter. I wonder what she's asking him. I shrugged off my thoughts because I know I have the power to ask him later. Willingly or by forcing.

"Line up, everyone!" I shouted. Everyone excluding Mia looked at me and did as I said. I then started walking between the lines they made. "What's next, everyone?"

"Loyalty over royalty!" They all shouted together. I looked at everyone proud. "Good. On position!" Only ten soldiers kneeled down adjusting their guns and focusing their eyes on their target point. "Focus! After 3. 3! 2! 1! GO! Come on everyone!" They finished their work and got up walking towards me. "Sam, 50 pushups, right now," I said for the kid, who missed two targets.

He made a face. "Alright, Make it 100." He quickly smiled. "Leave it. Just do 50 and back to your seat. The rest of you on position. Come on, everyone, make it fast." I made sure they all were in their position with eyes concentrated on target and guns loaded perfectly. "After 3. 3! 2! 1! Go!" I moved closer to get a better view of how they were shooting.

In the corner of my eyes, I saw Mia smirking and scribbling madly on her notebook. I instantly got nervous. While I was walking about what she was writing I tripped and fell. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and came running towards me with a concerned expression all over their face. I looked up and said, "Class dismissed."

I heard a sarcastic chuckle. I knew exactly who is laughing like that so I just ignored it and started walking away. "Hey, captain. Come here I think you need some kind of treatment. Your knees are probably suffering by now." Words full of sarcasm. I could feel my blood boiling inside of me. My veins were popping out. I turned with a fake smile and said, "Sure, why not?" and started walking in her direction.

I took two chairs and sat on each other and put my leg on one. "Start," I demanded. Her facial expression immediately changed. "Look, you don't order me. I do. And I'm not that stupid to kneel down in front of you to treat your non-existent wounds. Check before you speak confidently. Clear?" She asked, smiling innocently after scaring to the core.

But I wasn't the one to let down my walls for a rude girl like her. I got up taking advantage of my height. I stood close to her covering her the sun. "I didn't want to do it by force. Guess I'll have to." I checked if anyone was there and grabbed her hair harshly. She didn't say anything and just went with the flow. I told her to kneel down and she did as I left her hair. That's kind of surprising. I didn't expect her to do so. I anticipated a punch or maybe a slap.

The next thing I knew I was in so much pain. Unbearable pain.