“We’ll see each other soon.” I put my hands on each side of his face and pull his head down until his forehead rests on mine. “I promise.”
Bruno taps Cole’s shoulder. “Come on, lover boy. Time’s up.”
Cole releases me without taking his eyes off mine. “Till then.” Then he turns and follows Bruno out.
Instantly, I want him to reappear. I feel all twisted inside, like someone’s wringing out my soul. My head hurts and I suddenly feel out of place.
Everyone’s drunk and I’ve had enough, so I don’t feel bad leaving. I whistle for Zeus and he follows me back the long winding way to wing C. As I sit on my bed and pull off my boots, I realize I’m the only person in the room. It’s eerily quiet, but I’m comforted with Zeus lying by my side.
Early morning, someone pukes on the floor. I hear a groan and watch a shadow crawl to the bathroom. Lifting my head slowly, I wait for sickness to overtake me, but it doesn’t. Instead, a hammer pounds away at the back of my skull. Ugh. My muscles creak as I sit up. I must’ve slept through everyone coming back last night, and I’m strangely okay with that. Zeus hops off my bed as I stand. I slept in my makeup and didn’t change my clothes because they smell of Cole. It wafts to my nose like heaven—and my personal hell.
“Everyone up. We have training in fifteen minutes,” a voice shouts into the room.
A collection of groans reply. After removing the oily stuff from my face, I’m first to arrive in the training room. I start running to warm up and gradually others appear.
They look awful. They reek of alcohol and their eyes are red from lack of sleep. Veronica shuffles in as she munches on some crackers. Sheldon throws up in a trash can on the edge of the room. What a bunch.
“Where’s Keegan?” I ask.
They look around and shake their heads. “Hung over. He was so wasted last night he shot an apple off the table and laughed so hard he started projectile barfing,” Isaac says.
“Fabulous. I’m pretty sure he kissed me right after that.” Veronica laughs.
“Oh, don’t you worry. You weren’t the only gal he kissed last night,” Sheldon interjects while cleaning up.
We begin running sprints to warm up and then sit down to stretch when Keegan arrives. His eyes are blood-red and sunken. His face is pale, and he carries a bottle of water.
Sheldon heaves again, making a God-awful retching sound. It almost makes me puke just listening to him.
“Seriously, if you’re that sick you need to go lie down and rest,” I say.
“No. If you party like an animal, then you train like one,” Keegan says.
I don’t even know how he can function. He looks like the walking dead.
“Unless you’re dead, you train,” he says.
Sheldon stands at attention, yet he looks miserable, along with everyone else.
“Let’s start with a ‘knees to the core’ workout,” Keegan shouts.
We all choose partners and begin kneeing each other across the room. My poor partner looks green. The session ends with most of the group puking in the trash can. It smells deplorable so I hold my nose before I get sick.
“I think we all enjoyed ourselves a little too much last night. I know I did,” Keegan says. “Wait until we overthrow the commander. That party will be insane.” The others smile through the haze. “Go back, rest, eat, and I’ll see you tonight. Tonight we make our final plans and rest, because come tomorrow, the revolt will show its ugly head,” he says.
I might be the only person that isn’t barfing, but I’m tired. I can’t shake Cole’s face from my memory, beckoning me to stay behind.
“Hey, wait up. Who was the amazingly handsome guy you were dancing with last night?” Veronica asks on our walk back to the room.
“Just a friend,” I say. The only reason I’ve survived the last few months. My head rewinds the night. I didn’t think anyone noticed Cole and me dancing together since most of them were pretty sloshed.
“Are you blind? The way he was looking at you… I would’ve assumed he was in love,” Veronica replies. She doesn’t say anything else, and I don’t elaborate. Lying in my bunk with Zeus after training, I relive the night over and over in my head.
Training in the evening is light, but the meeting afterward is heavy. All the groups from Keegan’s sector meet in the command center again and details of the operation are laid out for all to inspect. Sutton points to areas of strategic importance while the leaders ask him questions. Then he moves to speak to all of us.