"All right, girls, line up with your squad," Instructor Gage said, a folded up piece of paper in her hand. Grace took position where she could keep an eye on Dawson's continued berating by Carey. The petite woman began pacing back and forth in front of the squads. "The race for the flags was won by Bravo Squad. The water barrel, Bravo." She looked down at the paper. "Log pile by Alpha and the cargo net was won by Delta Squad."
"Thanks Waters," Mo mumbled from behind Grace.
"Charlie Squad took the belly crawl and Bravo won the dead heat," Gage continued as Dawson rejoined her squad. "Overall winner is Bravo Squad. Congratulations."
Jan nudged Grace with her elbow. "So where's the ice cream?" she whispered. "All right girls," Instructor Gage said. "We're going to give you the rest of PT to get yourselves cleaned up and ready for the rest of the day. Dismissed." Dirty, dusty and tired girls began trumping down the hill toward the barracks.
"Go on ahead," Grace said to Jan. "I'll catch you at lunch."
"Okay." Jan bumped against Latisha. "So which flavor?" she asked as they walked away. Seeing Carey speaking with Instructor Mitchell, Grace waited near the edge of the clearing. The two women spoke at length, making the teen wonder if she should wait until later to ask but then Carey looked over, spotted her, and held up one finger to indicate Grace should wait. The instructors exchanged a few more words, then walked over to where she was standing.
"Yes?" Carey asked as Instructor Mitchell kept walking down the trail. "What do I do about my shirt, Ma'am?" Grace asked.
"You waited to ask me that?" She put her hand on Grace's shoulder and pointed her in the direction of the trail. "I don't think it's bad enough to warrant a new shirt but it does need to be patched," she said as she removed her hand and they began walking. "I have some camouflage patches in my sewing kit."
Grace fingered the button dangling by a thread. "I gotta fix this too, Ma'am." "Actually I see at least three buttons that could use some tightening up," Carey said. "Remind me tonight and I'll take care of it."
"I know how to use a needle and thread," Grace said. "Ma'am."
"Glad to hear it," Carey said. "However, a needle falls under the same rules as razors and there's nothing more boring than sitting there watching someone sew. I'd rather do it myself." She snapped her fingers. "Oh wait. I'm pulling night tour so I won't be back until after nine."
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"I won't do anything with the needle but fix my shirt, Ma'am."
"I'd love to say yes but I can't," Carey said. "You won't need your BDU shirt tomorrow anyway so it can wait."
"Okay."
Carey stopped. "Three…two…" "Ma'am," Grace said quickly.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today," Carey said as she resumed walking. "Would you have really dropped me, Ma'am?"
"What do you think?"
"Um…out here by ourselves?" Grace shook her head. "I think you'd take pity on me after all the hard work I did on that obstacle course, Ma'am."
"Maybe," Carey said. "And maybe I've been getting soft when it comes to you. Just keep an eye on it, Grace. I don't need any instructors coming to me saying I'm letting you get away with something or playing favorites." The trail emptied out near the administration building. "I've got to get some paperwork done before afternoon classes. I'll see you in class."
"Yes Ma'am."
* * * * * * *
Though lights out was almost an hour before, Grace was still awake and sitting on the couch when Carey came in. "Hi."
"You should be sleeping," Carey said, kneeling to untie her boots. "Then again, why should tonight be any different from every other night I work late duty."
"Everything okay?" Grace asked. "You're not usually this late."
"I had to catch up on some paperwork in the office," Carey said, setting her boots neatly by the door and heading to her favorite chair. "You girls are going to get a break tomorrow. I'm too tired to write up the test I was planning for SR."
"Cool."
"Don't get too excited," Carey said. "You're only going to get a day's reprieve." She rubbed her face and yawned. "Maybe two."
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"Why did you have to work morning PT and the late shift?" Grace asked.
"All four instructors worked morning PT," Carey said. "Two of us still had to cover from dinner to light's out and it happened to be my turn."
"And you're doing PT tomorrow, right?"
"Uh huh. We're going for a nice long run. Excuse me." Carey covered her mouth as another yawn hit.
"You should go to sleep."
"I am," Carey said. "Right now. Lay down. I'll get the lights."
"Okay, thanks," Grace said, slipping between the covers. "Good night, Ma'am." "Good night, Grace."
"Um…"
"What?" Carey said.
"When you say a nice long run, you mean three miles, right?"
Carey chuckled and made her way through the dark to her bedroom door. "Good night, Grace."
"You know you have an evil laugh, Instructor Carey?"
"Do I? Good. Save your strength for tomorrow. You'll need it."
* * * * * * *
"All right girls, enough chatter," Instructor Donaldson said, causing them to come to attention. "You've had a month of three mile runs. Those days are OVER!" Blue eyes darted from girl to girl. "You have grown both in body and spirit. I know you can do five miles." Several groans went up from the group. "And after everyone does twenty and stretches we'll get started."
Instructor Carey stepped forward, her eyes hidden behind mirrored glasses. "NOW DROP!"
Oh sure, Grace thought as she hit the ground. Not bad enough we have to run five miles, let's wear our arms out first.
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separated as the line moved up the slight incline. She paid little attention to those behind her, concentrating instead on the tall figure in camouflage leading the pack. Oh sure it's easy for you. You didn't have to do pushups first. She passed the three mile mark, the crystal blue lake taunting her as sweat rolled down her face. Two more miles to go. I'll never make it.
Reaching the finish mark, Grace slowed down, then walked around to cool down as the other girls began trickling in. Bit by bit, everyone crossed the mark but one who was still out of sight. "It's Jennings again," Latisha said. "That fat ass ain't gonna make it."
"She's still at least ten minutes away," Grace said, looking down the road and seeing no one.
"Yeah and every fucking minute we have to wait here is that much less we have once we get back to barracks," one of the girls standing near her said.
Grace turned to face her. "You try running five miles with an extra forty pounds strapped to your ass and see how easy it is, Rosetti."
"Suck my left tit, Waters."
"You gotta get Grenner to let go of it first," she said.
"Are you kidding?" Rosetti snorted. "I'd become an Amazon and cut it off before I'd let her near me. Besides, I'm not into dykes."
"Amen to that," Latisha said.
"I'm going to go see where she is," Grace said, kneeling down and making sure her laces were tied securely.
"Why bother?" Jan said from her position lying on the ground. "Save your energy. Gage will get her here sooner or later."
"Yeah well…." Grace began running down the trail, finding Jennings half a mile down the road with Instructor Donaldson barking the large girl's heels.
"Hey…Grace," Jennings huffed. "What are you…doing here?"
"Thought you might want some company," Grace said. "The finish line is just over that hill." She ran alongside the overweight girl, slowing her pace to match.
"Let's go, Jennings," the blonde instructor said. "Waters, five miles isn't enough?"
"Just giving Christine a hand, Ma'am," Grace said. "Come on, it's just a little more."
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"Yes you will." Grace moved ahead slightly to keep herself in the other girl's vision. "Really, you're almost there." Once she matched the larger girl's pace, she sped up just a little bit. "Stay with me, just a little further." She smiled when Christine matched her pace. "Don't take a breath with each step," she said. "Try to slow your breathing down or you'll pass out."
"Let me…stop here," Christine practically begged, her breath coming in short pants.
"Come on, you can make it," Grace said, slowing down just a bit but still faster than she knew the exhausted girl would have liked. "Listen, you don't want Grenner to have any more excuses to hassle you, do you?"
"That…damn…bitch," Christine huffed.
"Yeah," Grace encouraged, turning backwards to face the other girl. "Just a little more." They crested the hill. "See? I told you," she said when the finish line came into sight. "After all you've done so far this last little bit is a piece of cake."
"It's about time," Grenner complained as Christine crossed the finish mark. "Doesn't matter how long it takes," Grace said. "She did it, that's what counts." "Stay out of it, Waters."
"Make me, fat ass." Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, Grace turned and walked away from her adversary. "Christine, you did a great jo-oof." She went face first into the ground, aided by a solid shove from Lauren.
"Grenner! You drop and give me twenty right now," Carey said as she approached. Grace stood up and brushed herself off. "Someone want to tell me what happened?"
"Lauren was giving me a hard time for being last, Ma'am" Christine said. "So why were you the one eating dirt?" Carey asked Grace.
"I told Grenner to stop picking on her, Ma'am" Grace said.
"And what were you doing over here?" the dark haired instructor asked. "I saw you sitting with Bowen and Jones ten minutes ago."
Instructor Donaldson walked up to them. "What's going on?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out," Carey said, looking pointedly at Grace. "I went back to see how Jennings was doing, Ma'am."
"She did," Donaldson said. "Last half mile or so." Carey features softened. "Why?"
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"Um…" Grace looked around, seeing everyone in the near vicinity paying attention. "I just…I thought it was a good idea at the time, Ma'am."
"Marilyn, can you…?"
"Sure," the blonde instructor said. "All right, girls, let's go." "You stay," Carey said, putting her hand on Grace's elbow.
Guess it wasn't such a good idea after all, Grace thought as she watched everyone else depart.
"Now, the answer you didn't want to give in front of everyone else."
"She's always getting picked on for being fa-overweight, Ma'am," Grace said. "I just thought if I went back and ran with her that she wouldn't feel so bad."
"You mean you thought about someone else instead of yourself for a change," Carey said. "Mark it on a calendar. Could be the start of bigger and better things." At first Grace thought her mentor was picking on her until she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "Good job, Grace."
"Um, thank you Ma'am," she said, pleased at the compliment. "All right, let's go before you miss calisthenics."
"Yes Ma'am," Grace said. Wouldn't want to miss that, she thought sarcastically as she followed Carey.
* * * * * * *
"How was AM today?"
"Okay," Grace said, looking up from the textbook she was studying. "Hmm, you must not have had to say anything," Carey said.
"Christine did most of the talking today," Grace said. "Lucky you," Carey said. "What was the topic?" "How anger is used to hide fear," she said.
"And you didn't have anything to say?" Carey removed her reading glasses. "Of all topics, I would think that would be an excellent one for you to take a closer look at."
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"Yeah well, we ran out of time so…." Grace shrugged.
"And you're not going to fool me into thinking whatever you're doing is due tomorrow," Carey said. "You think I don't know you're ahead in everything you have a textbook for?"
"I-I-I…how did you know?" she asked in a resigned voice, knowing it was useless to deny it.
Carey smiled shrewdly and laced her fingers. "I didn't." She paused. "Until now."
"What made you think so?"
"You're too bright to have to spend that much time with your nose in a book," Carey said. "Have you always done that? Read ahead?"
Grace nodded. "It made it easy for me with class because I knew what the teacher was going to talk about so I didn't have to pay that much attention. As long as I didn't disrupt class, the teachers left me alone."
"Instructor Donaldson said something to me about that," Carey said. "Shame I don't let you get away with hiding in the back of the room in my classes, hmm?"
"Can't hide in SD," Grace said. "Though I think you pick on me more than anyone else."
"You do, do you?" Carey reached for her coffee. "I wasn't aware of that. Why didn't you say anything before this?"
Grace shrugged. "I don't know. I figured you did it deliberately."
"I'll try not to single you out so much," Carey said apologetically. "Do I do that in SR?"
Grace thought about it. "Maybe a little."
"And maybe you'd love to be called on less often," Carey said. "I think I give you some breaks in SR." She smirked at the teen. "I've seen that panicked look on your face when I've asked a question and was deciding who to call on."
"Thanks," Grace said, watching as Carey finished her coffee in several long swallows.
"I need to get one of those things that you put the mug on and it keeps the coffee warm," Carey said as she put the empty cup on the coaster. "So why do you look like a deer caught in the headlights whenever the subject of sex is brought up?" She pointed at the teen. "Just like that."
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"You don't have to be embarrassed to talk about sex," Carey said. "It's part of life."
Staring at the table, Grace smiled nervously. "I've never talked to anyone about it."
"Well Grace, your mother…"
"Asked me when I got my period if I had any questions," Grace answered before Carey could finish. "I told her no, she handed me a box of pads and that was the end of it."
"What about your father?"
"He left when I was seven," Grace said.
"Oh." Carey was quiet for a moment. "So what you know you've learned from health class and your friends?"
Grace leaned back and looked at her mentor. "Pretty much. I've seen some magazines too," she said, feeling a blush coming to her cheeks.
"You are seventeen and it seems silly to ask but do you have any questions?" Carey asked.
"Um, no. I don't have any questions," the teen said, knowing she'd be too embarrassed to ask even if she did.
"Grace, I know it's easy to get wrong information from your friends," Carey said. "That's why you have SR three times a week."
"I know."
"Then also know if you do have a question, I'd rather you come to me and ask than to rely on what girls your own age think or even worse, to do something you might regret later because you were too afraid to talk to me."
Grace nodded. "Okay."
"Did what I say stop at all before it went in one ear and out the other?" Carey asked. "I mean it, Grace. Believe it or not, I was seventeen once and I do know how scary it can be. I'm your mentor and that doesn't stop once you leave my office."
Grace smiled. "I'm well aware of that, trust me," she said.
Carey returned the smile. "You're a tough nut to crack. I need all the time I can get with you." She rose from the recliner and picked up her coffee mug. "You need to look at why the topic of sex bothers you so much." A devilish grin came to her lips. "Maybe I'll have you write a paper on it."
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Carey chuckled and walked into the kitchen. "Now I know what to punish you with instead of pushups," she said. "Don't have a heart attack, Grace. I'll let it go for now but seriously you need to take a look at your fears. More coffee?"
"No thanks," Grace said, hearing the sound of Carey rinsing out the coffee pot seconds later. Now can we please change the subject? "So what's for PT tomorrow?" "Ah, speaking of fears." Carey returned to the living room. "You're going to conquer your fear of heights tomorrow."
"Huh?" She was sure she did not hear correctly. "Heights?"
"Heights," Carey said as she settled into her chair. "We're rappelling off the wall behind the ball field."
Grace's eyes widened. "That big wall?" "It's not that big," Carey said. "Four stories."
"And you want me to jump off the side of it?" She shook her head vehemently. "I can't do that."
"You will tomorrow," Carey said. "And you're not jumping off the side, you're walking down it with a rope to keep you in complete control. It's very easy."
"I'd rather run ten miles than do that," Grace said.
"Too bad for you tomorrow we're rappelling," Carey said. "And next week we're going to start using the obstacle course which has a swing rope over the swamp so you need to get over that fear and quick."
"I can't do it."
"Yes you can," Carey said. "And tomorrow I'm going to prove it to you."
* * * * * * *
"They've got to be kidding," Grace said, looking at the harness warily. "This is going to keep me from falling?"
"Sure," Latisha said excitedly. "I bet it'll be fun."
"I don't think throwing myself off the top of a building with nothing to stop me but a rope and harness is fun," Grace said, nervously opening and closing the D-ring. "You go ahead."
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"She's gonna make you go, you know," Latisha said.
"I know," Grace said. "But I can put it off for a few minutes, can't I?" "Let's go, Waters."