The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (26 page)

At the back of the Mess Hall, Sam and Gideon were standing up to watch the spectacle and I worried for a moment about Gideon’s well-being since growls were still coming out of Mercer’s mouth. Geez! I didn’t mean this to turn into a huge deal, I just wanted to teach Ruby a little lesson.

“What’s happening?” Kyrie whispered from beside me. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you later.” Wondering if I was in trouble when Sergeant Ramsey caught my eye, I decided to put an end to it. I whistled to Mercer who instantly turned around and trotted to my side with his tail wagging happily. I sank to my knees and patted the top of his head as I said, “Good boy. Who’s a good puppy?” I peppered the top of his soft head with three noisy kisses before he bathed my chin with a few adoring licks. Climbing back to my feet, I glanced up again at Sergeant Ramsey and saw that he, along with all the other sergeants, all had the same amused expression on their faces that Amos did. I did a mental shrug and figured that it probably meant I
wasn’t
in trouble. Good enough for me! My stomach made a loud rumble so I continued on my path to dinner.

I was surprised to see tears on Ruby’s face when I passed by her table as I headed for the buffet. Since Mercer was no longer standing guard over her, she started to noisily sob as she glared at me accusingly. “He wouldn’t let me leave…every time I tried to stand up, he would snarl and bark loudly at me! I was afraid he was going to attack me! And no one did anything to help!” Hmmm… I wondered if she realized the irony of her words because I had shouted the same thing earlier in the classroom in regards to Marisol.
No one did anything to help.

I paused for a moment as I looked her over, doing a quick scan of her body for any injuries. “Did Mercer bite you, scratch you, or otherwise cause any other type of physical injury to you in any way?” Ruby continued to sob as she shook her head and whined, “Noooo! It’s just that he scared me because I knew he’d attack me if I tried to leave the table!”

“Sooo…you’re crying because you got scared? That’s all?” Disgust was thick in my voice as I looked at her with disdain. The Mess Hall was utterly silent as everyone continued watching the exchange. I wondered sometimes if anyone realized how rude they were being by staring…after all, I was here in the flesh now, not mounted on live cam. It was annoying that I seemed to serve as everyone’s main source of amusement. I made another mental note; this time to have Sergeant Ramsey play real television shows on the mounted screens along the walls of the Mess Hall or something. They hadn’t been in use since our arrival and I assumed they were the same monitors that played the live camera feed from the smaller barracks. At the very least, they could turn it to the channel that played music videos or something; anything to take everyone’s attention off of me.

“YES! I’m crying because your stupid dog scared me. Isn’t that enough?” Ruby was practically shouting at me.

I cast her a look of disbelief before I pointed my finger at her and raised my voice to match hers as I spat, “You’ve been tormenting Marisol for
months
, and I was only gone for twenty minutes! Are you telling me that you couldn’t even handle twenty minutes? Seriously? As for my dog, he’s not stupid at all. On the contrary, he’s obviously extremely intelligent if he was able to keep you in your seat trembling with fear for a full twenty minutes. You may not like him, but you’ll be getting up close and personal with his crap since I heard you’re going to be the resident Pooper Scooper. So…congratulations, and I hope you have fun with that.” My voice was thick with my disgust as I scoffed at her and continued on my way. I heard a few twitters of laughter around me and noticed that even the girl who was sharing the same table with Ruby was grinning in amusement. It was the girl with hate-filled eyes and the mass of curly black hair from day one.
Figures she’d be friends with Ruby
.

I heard Sergeant Ramsey’s chuckling voice as he commanded, “Come on, Pooper Scooper. There’s a special shovel out there with your name on it.” The protests and excuses started pouring out of Ruby’s mouth soon after, and I rolled my eyes since I predicted she’d raise a ruckus once she found out about her new chore. I jumped in surprise when Sergeant Flynn’s booming voice suddenly echoed loudly throughout the entire Mess Hall. I looked back over my shoulder to see that all the military staff had converged on Ruby’s table, and they all stood in a circle around her as Sergeant Flynn stood directly in front of her and yelled practically in her face.

“YOU WILL GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT CHAIR RIGHT NOW AND ACCEPT YOUR PUNISHMENT LIKE AN ADULT, YOU PRISSY LITTLE DRAMA QUEEN! EITHER YOU SPEND THE NEXT WEEK SHOVELING SHIT, OR YOU WILL SPEND THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. THE CHOICE IS YOURS. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!”

Whoa! Geez!
They all stood there glaring at Ruby with arms crossed over their chests as they waited for her reply. Judging from their expressions, they meant business. It was clear to see from Ruby’s trembling that she wasn’t used to having the sergeants ganging up on her like this. At the same time, it brought home to her the severity of her situation.

Ruby stood up from her seat and followed Sergeant Flynn as he led the congregation outside. As soon as they exited the double doors, I exhaled a pent up breath as the level of tension in the Mess Hall seemed to decrease significantly. I couldn’t help but wonder which choice she’d make.

Eager to reestablish a sense of normalcy, I whispered to Kyrie to go serve herself some dinner while I saw to Mercer’s needs. Amos showed me where the closet was where he kept the puppy food. After filling Mercer’s water and food bowl, I washed my hands and turned to join Kyrie at the buffet table. While I was occupied with Mercer, I saw that Marisol had arrived and she was standing off to the side quietly awaiting my attention. As I approached her, I saw that she had a healthy glow to her cheeks and a brightness in her eyes that she didn’t have before. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had heard the confrontation with Ruby. Sergeant Flynn was so loud, I’m sure she had to have heard a little bit of what went on. I hoped Marisol knew that things would be different from now on, and that she wouldn’t have to put up with Ruby’s shit as long as I was around.

Over her head, I saw a few of the guys from the other tables were attentively watching us but trying to be sneaky about it. Heedless of Kyrie’s warning to take things slow with Marisol, I gently slung my left arm around her shoulders as I led her to where Kyrie was loading her plate. I happened to be a touchy-feely kind of person and oftentimes expressed myself through casual physical contact. I wanted to show Marisol that she would always be welcomed with open arms in our little circle of friends. Also, in my world hugs were free, and I had a feeling that where she was concerned, a simple hug would go a long way in her healing process whether she asked for one or not.

“I don’t want you sitting by yourself at one of the other tables anymore. Tonight and every night, I hope you’ll choose to sit with us because I want you to know that you have people here who care about you and your well-being. You don’t have to be alone anymore Marisol. Is it okay if I introduce you to Sam and Gideon tonight? We’re all close and I love them like family.” I held my breath as I waited for her reply. I knew I was being a little bit pushy, but if she truly wasn’t ready to open herself up to a new group of people then I would respect her wishes to proceed in baby-steps. I just wanted to draw her a little further out of her shell.

She surprised me when she said, “Okay. I already like them. I liked to watch you three on the live cam because I used to wish that my unit was a loving, close-knit group of people like yours. It would be nice to have that camaraderie in this place.”

“It seems like you and Kyrie get along pretty well,” I pointed out.

Her gaze flicked to Kyrie for a brief second, and I saw the sadness in her eyes when she said, “I have more in common with
her
than I do with anyone else here. We understand each other.”

Kyrie looked up and smiled at us as we stopped on the opposite side of the buffet from where she was still loading food on her plate. I grinned back but my smile slipped as I watched her load a second cupcake on her tray and placed it next to her tall glass of what I assumed was strawberry milk.

“Ummmm..?” I was alarmed that the amount of sugar on her tray outweighed the total nutritional value of her actual dinner. Speaking of dinner, I couldn’t help but stare when I saw the hodgepodge of foodstuffs that Kyrie considered a meal. She had a small pile of chicken nuggets, surrounded by at least 5 different types of dipping sauces. On the other side of her plate, there was a large pickle laying alongside two different types of string cheese. Next to the string cheese, there were two baby carrots—not a dozen, or half a dozen…just two.
Two? What’s up with that? What a little weirdo.

I smothered my laughter and kept my thoughts to myself as I noticed that Kyrie was looking at me suspiciously. I winked at her and smiled broadly as I said, “We’ll meet you at the table. See you in a sec!”

As soon as she was out of earshot, I demanded, “Okay, how the heck does she
not
have diabetes?!”

Marisol just shrugged in response. “She likes what she likes. She’s as serious about all desserts as you are about your chocolate.”

I snorted at that and executed a mock cough as I muffled the word, “Moderation!”

That earned a giggle from Marisol, and an answering chuckle from Sam and Gideon who clearly heard what I said from 15 feet away, even though I tried to mask it. “What’s so funny?” Kyrie questioned in the background.

“We have way better hearing than you because we have one DNA shot more than you do. If you train hard enough, you can get your second shot too, and then you’ll have awesome hearing like us.”

Mentally, I congratulated Gideon on his skills of deflection as I heard Kyrie chatter on about all the other awesome abilities we have. Turning my attention back to Marisol, I asked, “Okay chicky, what do you feel like eating?” I surveyed the buffet and saw that there was quite a large selection of food to choose from. It really was impressive considering we were a small group of 14.

She surprised me when she informed me she wanted to eat everything I ate. Secretly, I was thrilled that she was taking the training so seriously. If she followed what I ate and obeyed my orders during training in the gym, she would see physical improvements in herself right away. Leading the way around the buffet, I chose a serving of citrus salmon with steamed broccoli and carrots in a light lemon-butter sauce. Rounding the other side of the buffet to where the desserts were, I chose a ripe juicy apple from the fruit bowl and paused to wait for Marisol. I was pleased when I saw that her tray was a mirror-image of mine, right down to the portion sizes.

As we approached the table, Sam was just beginning to tell Kyrie the story of Mercer and Ruby, and why Ruby was in trouble with the sergeants. Marisol and I listened in as we began to eat dinner. I learned that while I had been showering, Ruby had tried to leave her table multiple times. When she thought Mercer was going to attack her, she started screaming at people in the Mess Hall to get help from one of the sergeants. Apparently, the snarls and growls that Mercer made were loud and vicious and Sam had worried Mercer really would attack. Conveniently enough, Sam had run into our unit leaders’ right outside the Mess Hall doors, which made me suspect they had been watching the whole thing someplace nearby on live cam. Mercer had started wagging his tail when he heard Sergeant Ramsey call him over, but he wouldn’t obey. Mercer refused to take his attention off of Ruby no matter which sergeant approached him to coax him away from the table. He only snarled and barked at Ruby, so the sergeants decided to stand off to the side to observe Mercer’s reaction when I arrived back into the Mess Hall, since there wasn’t anything else they could do to make the puppy leave her side. That’s when Sam explained my arrival back at the Mess Hall and how Mercer did a complete 180 when he detected my presence. I shook my head at Gideon when he laughed at how Sam described the argument I had with Ruby and what a bad-ass I was for putting her in her place. Sam definitely had a flair for drama, and he really played it up to my enjoyment.

When he was finished with the story, I had just started to dig into my apple when my eyes strayed to where Mercer was laying down on the ground by his food bowl. It looked like he had fallen asleep. Smiling at him fondly, I felt the heat of Marisol’s stare and turned my head to discover she was regarding me with a confused look on her face.

“What? Do I have a boogie in my nose or something?” I grinned teasingly at her.

She visibly and audibly swallowed as her eyes began to tear up a little. Semi-alarmed, I set my apple down and rubbed her back soothingly. “What’s the matter? Did you eat a bad broccoli?”

She shook her head as Gideon snorted at me in amusement. A slight blush colored her cheeks when she flicked her attention briefly in Gideon’s direction.
Hello! What’s this?
Gleefully, I nudged Sam’s knee with my foot beneath the table, as I raised an eyebrow expectantly at Marisol to continue.

“It’s just that I don’t understand how you can stick up for me like that when you only just officially met me today. Yesterday, we were strangers.”

I just shrugged it off. “None of that matters. What does matter is that no one should have to put up with that kind of crap. Period. I never have, and never will tolerate bullying in my presence. I know you didn’t ask for my help so I apologize for butting in, but it was infuriating having to listen to Ruby talk down to you like that. Next time, I want to see you stand up for yourself.” I shot her a serious look that signaled I meant business, and was satisfied when she simply nodded her head in acquiescence.

“I think I speak for both myself and Sam when I say that we’d much better prefer to be friends with Teagan rather than enemies. Teagan is scary when she’s angry!”

I grinned a little guiltily at Gideon’s words because I did have a temper, and I fully admit that things can get a little….intense when I was mad. Fortunately for everyone, I was pretty laid-back the majority of the time and rarely flew into a rage. Out of the blue, I suddenly felt extremely tired. I raised both hands to cover my face and rub my eyes as I tried to hide a massive yawn. After yawning, my arms continued to stretch above my head and I slowly arched my back as I flexed my fingers to the ceiling. It felt good. When I was done stretching, I opened my eyes and saw everyone at the table was watching me. I grinned tiredly as I announced, “Dude…I could totally use a nap.”