Chapter 3

"Another day, Another training," Joey said, sighing tiredly. I chuckled at his statement and asked, "Ready for another sore day?". He looked at me and rolled his eyes. "I don't even think I still want to continue training," he said quietly, hoping no one would hear it. I shook my head, disapproving of his statement, "You think we can just go out of this camp? We still have a war to fight in." He looked and his face turned into a teasing one, "Are you scared?". "Of course I am. We never know if we'll actually get out there alive. I also still have a family to return to," I said worriedly. He sighed and smiled slightly, "I'm honestly scared as well but I just laugh it off. But we're bros-bros, right? We'll be there for each other." I looked at him and smiled widely, "Bros-bros." I brought my hand up and he brought his hand to mine then smiled widely, "Bros-bros." We both put our hands down and he said, "Let's go now. We might run out of food." We both laughed and jogged to the cafeteria.

"Do it properly, men! I said do it properly!", Sergeant Carlos commanded us. Some of us soldiers were all doing push-ups as our punishment for not doing training properly. I hate doing this but punishment is still punishment. Sergeant Carlos shouted again, "What did I tell you!? You better finish your 150-pushups before lunchtime. Understood!?". "Sir, yes, sir!", we all responded to him. He grunted and nodded. He faced the other soldiers and continued with their training while we continue with your punishments. "So rough with just the 2nd day of training," Joey said while laughing quietly. I laughed with him quietly and answered, "I know. Argh. I'm tired already." We both laughed but were unfortunately heard by Sergeant Carlos. "No talking!", he shouted towards us. We got surprised and continued doing our push-ups.

"Man, what did we even do to deserve that punishment?" Joey said, groaning. He was stretching his shoulders and arms to reduce the stiffness of his arms. I stretched mine as well as I answered his question, "He caught us talking while training." He groaned loudly and said, "But we were quiet!". I laughed loudly at his statement, "I don't think we were really quiet. If we were, we wouldn't have gotten caught by the sergeant." He then sighed in relief when his arms are not so stiff anymore. He then massages his legs to as well reduce the pain. He then glanced up and down to his feet then back up. I looked to where he was looking and saw that girl again. She's with someone that I think is her friend. They were talking near the women's restroom. They both noticed us so we look back down to our feet then started randomly talking. We both look back to where they were and saw that they were walking out. We looked at each other and smiled awkwardly. "That was awkward and embarrassing. They even caught us," he widened his eyes a bit. I was looking in their direction earlier, still dazed by her beauty. He looked at me with a confused look. He looked at me and in their direction then back at me, realizing what was happening to me. He punched my shoulder rather harshly and I immediately looked at him with a painful expression. I looked at him confused as to why he punched my shoulder. He just looked at me with a teasing expression while smiling widely. I got confused at his expression. He just looked in the direction they were in and back at me. I still looked utterly confused then realized he was teasing me about the girl we saw earlier. I punched his shoulder like how he did to mine earlier. He looked at me shocked and just smirked. He knows I did that because I was embarrassed. He stood up and went out to the cafeteria while I followed him, still clearly embarrassed. *This guy knows what is he doing.* I rolled my eyes and just continued following him.

After training, we went to shower, ate dinner, and went back to our quarters. Joey and I walked back together. Once we arrived, I sat on my bed and Joey followed. He was supposed to be on his own, why is he here? *Don't tell me he's going to ask about the-* My thoughts were cut off when Joey asked the same thing I knew he was going to ask about, "So, who was that?". He asked with a teasing tone. I groaned, irritated by the question I don't want to answer. "I don't know who is that," I said to him. Joey asked, "Are you sure you don't know her?". I groaned, still clearly irritated. "I said... I do not know her. So stop asking me that." He rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. You might get mad at me. *I'm already irritated at you.* He raised his hands, standing while walking to his bed. He lied down on his own bed and took out a picture. *Typical Joey* I shook my head and lied down as well. I sighed and slept.

(Let's go there! Come on!)

(Okay. Okay. Just wait. Don't rush me.)

(You're so slow. Drag your over here.)

(Fine. Just wait. I'm tired from climbing.)

(You're so slow. Faster!)

(I'm here!)

(Isn't it beautiful?)

(Yes... yes it is.)

(Thank you for bringing me here.)

(You are welcome.)

(I lov-)

A loud alarm woke me up as it drifted me off my dream. I shook my head away from my thoughts as I get off my mattress. I did my usual routine with the other soldiers and went to the cafeteria to pick up our breakfast. I saw Joey waving for me to go to sit at the table he was in. I walked up to his table and sat in front of him. We were in complete silence, none of us talking to each other. Deciding to break the silence, I spoke, "You are oddly quiet today." He looked at me with a bored expression, "No, you." I looked at him, clearly irritated judging just by the expression I'm showing. His face turned scared with his eyes widened. He looked back at his food and apologized quickly then continued eating.

We went out to the field for target practice. We were all mixed with men and women in the same field but on different sides. I was still waiting on the sidelines, waiting for my turn while watching how Joey is. I looked at the other side where the women were when I saw her. She looks professional while handling the gun. She looks flawless with everything she does. All in all, she looks gorgeo-. "Hey. It's your turn," someone said. I looked up and saw Joey. He gave me the gun he was using and he sat down. I looked at the gun and stood up, walking to the field. I held my gain, aiming in the middle, firing the gun a... *Bullseye* I smirked when I saw the Sergeant looked shocked but scowled again. I aimed the gun again at the middle, focusing on the red dot then... *Bullseye again* The last bullet, I aimed at the target and fired *three consecutive bullseye*. I smirked and Sergeant Louisa looked shocked and clapped then announced, "3 bullseyes in a row. Such perfect shot." The other soldier then clapped even the women on the other side of the field. I looked at the other side and saw the person I was looking at earlier, clapping also.

After target practice, we went back inside the campus. Some soldiers were there saying how good I handled the gun. I thanked them and went to bath in the shower room. After a nice bath, I went to my quarter before accidentally bumping into someone. I was drying my hair with my towel that I didn't notice my surroundings. I looked down and saw it was her. She looked up at me. I apologized quickly to her, embarrassed that I accidentally bumped into her. "It's fine. You're alright. Hey. Aren't you the one getting praised by Sergeant Louisa?". "Oh. I guess so?", I said as I laughed awkwardly. "You were good at handling guns. I'll give you that. You should me your techniques sometimes," she said as she praised me. I widened my eyes at how straightforward she is but agreed nonetheless, "Sure. I don't mind," I said, happy on the inside that I have the chance to get closer to her. She said goodbye to me as she went on her way. I sighed happily and dreamily and continued to walk back to my quarter when I turned around the corner, I saw Joey, smirking while looking at me. I groaned irritatedly, knowing what was going to happen next. He started bombarding me with questions about the interaction earlier with the girl. I stopped and remembered, *I didn't ask for her name*. I just sighed and went back to my quarter and slept. While Joey just stood there stunned at how I just straight-up ignored him.

End of Chapter 3

~Esmeray~