The thing about being an Army Brat

[Zxaine Fisher]

She loved getting letters from overseas, it always meant her dad was coming home. Thus it was that when the large, legal sized envelope came from Iraq, his broad handwriting giving away who it was from, the girl tore into it with glee. Within she found a delicate scarf, clearly something he purchased for her over there knowing she'd love it. Pulling off her current dark grey one she curled the highly patterned, sheer material around her neck and tied it delicately near her throat. She loved it. It was only after she'd admired it for long moments in the mirror that she remembered the letter. It was several pages long, and the first few were mostly about things he'd seen and things he'd done since being deployed. She read through it all with enthusiasm, cringing when he mentioned losing another comrade. It wasn't often someone in his company died, they were really good at what they did, but it did happen and it always felt like a member of her own family had died. It wasn't till the last paragraph that her eyes froze and welled with tears.

I'm sorry Z. I can't come home yet. I'm being shipped out and you can't know where. You know I don't like being away from your mother, especially now with your... Something was scribbled out here and she couldn't read what it was supposed to originally say. With all the things that are happening back home. I love you, okay? Don't forget that. No matter what I do. Stay strong. I know you can.

Love always.
Dad

It felt like her world crashed around her. Who knew when this new assignment would end. It could be years. It could be never! He could end up like any of the others who died out there. She loved her military family, but she missed her father. Tears slid down her cheeks and she stuffed the papers back into the envelope messily, crumpling a few in the process. Wiping her palm across her cheeks to hide the tear trails she took a slow breath before composing herself. A walk. That would help her get her mind back. So it was that she pulled on her boots and slid the door of her dorm closed behind her. She found herself in the common area of the dorms and was sure she'd get lost, but that was the furthest thing from her mind as she stared down at the lettering on the front of the envelope, reading off the base's name. Her thumb trailing over her father's name and rank as she rounded a corner only to run into someone. She eeped loudly, the letter hitting the floor and sliding a bit before falling flat, a few of the pages slipping from within. She cringed a bit and bit her lower lip. 

"Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." She mumbled, running her fingers through her coppery locks. 

[Deleted]

Anthony was a little stressed. He wasn't doing so well in his classes and was starting to get worried about passing this term. If he didn't then that would mean another year at Hammel and he didn't want that. Though if he did, Anthony supposed he could always take some classes at the community college while he rode out his last year here. That would also give him some extra time to build up his volunteer experience…though he'd already racked up a lot of hours.

But until then, Anthony was going to cram. With midterms just around the corner, he had to focus, though it was the focusing part that was proving the most difficult. Anthony loved the subjects that he loved, but he wasn't too good at the doing part of things. And math just didn't make sense unless it was applied to something cool.

Having decided to take a break from cramming, Anthony retreated to the first floor of the dormitories to see if there was anybody down there he could generally make merry with and prove to that he was the best thing to walk this earth since ice-cream. Or maybe he'd just get some ice-cream. Yeah, that sounded like a plan, then he'd just go right back up and turn on the TV to watch while he tried to do his math problems.

Anthony strutted through the hallway, bobbing his head to the music that played within it, and keeping his thumbs hooked on either pocket of his pants when he rounded the corner and collided with a girl like they were in a cliche romance novel. He backed up slightly, holding his hands out in anticipation of having to catch her or…something…his eyes wide with surprise and full of concern. "Ah! Sorry! I didn't meant to--!" But of course she was apologizing too and their words were lost amongst each others. "Don't worry about it. I, uhmm,…I wasn't watching either, so it's not really your fault." He thinned his lips into a derp smile, hoping to ease her mind. Anthony blinked.

[Zxaine Fisher]

She offered a weak smile when he tried to apologize as she was, watching him with a bit of surprise. It had been so quiet around the school that she hadn't really expected to run into anyone, especially not LITERALLY. Still, it was only polite that she take the blame since she'd been staring at the floor like a mopey little ditz. Still she should have heard him walking up the halls, her own steps had echoed loudly in her hears even though the soft soled boots really didn't make much noise as she moved.


"Thanks, but it's fine. I was kinda lost in my thoughts. My bad." She glanced down and blinked as she realized she'd dropped the letter. Panic flashed in her eyes and she looked on the floor, wheeling around once to try and find it. She spied it tucked against the wall, the pages of rough script half falling from it and she let out a heavy sigh of relief. She didn't know what she'd have done if she'd lost it. Still, it was safe enough there for the moment and she turned her dark eyes back to the boy. "Sorry for bumping into you, I really should be less clumsy." She laughed and tapped the side of her head with her knuckles with a giggle. She really wasn't clumsy, after all it's hard to be a gymnast if you were, perhaps a bit air-headed at the moment was more accurate. Oh well. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be around, and frankly I got lost so I just assumed I'd be wandering around till I figured out how to get back to my room." A chuckle and she glanced at her boots for a moment. "Anyways." She shook her hands in the air to try and dismiss all the apologies, rekindling her confident personality and pulling it back to the fore. They were talking now so best to introduce herself. Right? Right! "Uhm... I'm Zxaine." She stooped to scoop up the letter, hiding some of it under her arm after hastily stuffing the pages back into it. If he were observant he'd see the overseas stamps and the typical military base information that all military letters had, after all she wasn't exactly trying to hide it. Standing again she offered her hand to him, tossing her hair behind her shoulders with a small movement of her head. "It's nice to meet you."

[Deleted]

So the whole cliche bit of two people literally running into each other and then talking over each other with apologies really was a thing that happened. And here Anthony thought it only happened in movies and comic books. Though statistically, it was more possible than winning the lottery, so guess it wasn't all that strange.

Anthony scrunched up his lips as he shook his head and finally managed out a "Nah…I…I was out of it too. No problem." He waved his hand about nervously. "Completely water under the bridge." Yup, that was an epic save to what could've been a really awkward situation.

"Huh? You get lost? Well, I guess the dorms are pretty big, but I've never had a problem." He smirked and pulled out his smartphone. "I'm mean, I got GPS, so can't get lost. Really." Anyway…

"Zxaine? Wow, that's…that's nice," he said with a few nods and a sincerely interested furrow between his brows. He held his hands towards himself. "I'm Anthony. Nice to meet you. I, uh…sorry I made you drop your…envelope." Anthony was back to apologizing and motioning to the envelope she held in her arm. He wasn't particularly observant enough to notice the stamps and headings on the manilla envelope. He did crack a smile though and held both hands up cautiously. "Nothing's…nothing's broken, right?" Just checking.