Chapter 13
As I drove to school I felt good that Robert was home. But the uncertainty of the future for me and Ryan was unsettling. I still had so many questions that needed to be answered.
Over the next few months things went back to normal. Robert made a full recovery in a matter of a few weeks. I took my SAT and ACT tests and got high scores. I started ROTC combat training with Mr. Thompson in the Spring once football season was over and we won the State championship. Mine and Ryan supplements were increased as well. He got several inches taller during the summer. Ryan was excelling as well playing goalie on his soccer team and catcher on his baseball team. I took Sean’s sister, Aniah to the Spring formal and we were voted “Hottest couple”. I didn’t wanna go but Ms. V talked me into it. Ryan has been making jokes about it and acts like she and I are getting married or something. Ms. V decided to go back to work and practice law again. She joined a big law firm downtown and was working a lot now. During the summer Ryan went to summer camp for a month in July. During that time Ryan thought I was working at a summer camp with kids, but I was actually sent away to start my D.S.A.T. training. During my summer training I was able to meet a few of the other teens that were in the program as well. I couldn’t believe there was actually one girl in the group and her name was, Natalia. She had the most beautiful brown and gold eyes I had ever seen. They were dark brown on the outside and lighter around the pupils with specks of gold in the center. She had a beautiful, golden, tanned skin. This chick was badass. She could do all the obstacles just as well or better than some of the boys. After one of our training classes, she walked up to me slowly flashing a cute half smile and introduced herself.
“Hi, I’m Natalia.”
“I’m Jason.”
I noticed that the other boys were watching us as we talked.
“Nice to meet you Jason. It looks like all eyes are on us right now.”
“Just ignore them. They are just intimidated because you’re a girl.”
Natalia hit me on the arm.
“Well I’m not just any girl you know,” Natalia said.
“Well yes, I’m sure you’re right,” I laughed. “The training this summer has been really hard. Hopefully they are preparing me for SEAL training.”
“Mr. Thompson mentioned something to me about SEAL training as well,” she stated.
“I hope you know that no girl has ever completed SEAL training since it was founded,” I said.
Natalia frowned at me as she walked away.
“Well there’s a first time for everything, Jason.” She smirked.
“Well you might just be the sleeper in this group Natalia.” I laughed.
Over the next couple weeks approaching the end of our summer training, Natalia excelled in all the obstacles such as completing a 500 yd swim in seven and a half minutes, doing 25 pull ups in less than a minute, and running a mile and a half in less than eight minutes. This girl was a force to be reckoned with for sure. Her tight, curvy, gorgeous, body definitely caught my attention. On the last day of training I was walking to my truck when I heard her call out my name. I stopped and turned around and Natalia was running toward me.
“Hey Jason. You just gonna leave and not say goodbye?” Natalia said.
She had on these cute, tight white shorts, and cut off tee shirt that said “Property of the US NAVY”.
“Sorry Natalia, just wanna get home it’s been a long summer. I want to get home to see my little brother, Ryan.” I stated.
“Well here is my phone number. Call me sometime okay.”
“Okay. I will.”
As Natalia walked away swaying her hips, she winked at me. I felt good when I was around Natalia. I definitely had to keep in touch with her. When I drove up to the house I saw Ryan riding his bike with some of his friends. As I pulled in the driveway and got out my SUV, Ryan rode up next to me and jumped off his bike.
“Hey Jason, you’re finally home,” Ryan said as he ran up and hugged me.
“What’s up butthead. It looks like you grew a couple of inches since last time I saw you.” I laughed.
“Maybe,” he joked.
“So how was summer camp, Ry?” I asked.
“It was so fun. We learned how to hunt for our own food, build a fire, boil fresh drinking water, build shelter for the night, and navigate through the woods using a compass too.”
“Wow sounds fun dude.”
I knew the camp he went to was probably a D.S.A.T training camp from the way he described it. I hated not telling him the truth about what was really going on. But if I did tell him, then what? I couldn’t risk our secret getting out to the wrong people. That would put us all in danger for sure. The rest of the summer actually went by quickly. In August, Robert took us back to Montana on vacation for a few weeks before my senior year started. During that time, I called Natalia a few times and she told me how she went backpacking through Europe with her foster parents and they even went to Russia as well. She also told me how she was the captain of her school’s volleyball team and on the swim team as well. I was surprised to learn that she got her acceptance letter for admittance into the Naval Academy during the summer just like I did.