Author: Ally
E-mail: Insanechica14@aol.com
Title: Cadet Blue
Rating: PG-13 (Language
Disclaimer: Not mineeeeeeee...... Though I wish I owned them...
"You are mine. You cease to have a personality. Here, you are one. You will work as a team, act like a team, do everything as a team. Don't like it? Well, tough. You aren't in the Marines to be an individual. Now, twenty pushups! Let's go!"a drill sergeant barked.
At these words, spoken over three months before, Whitney had understood that this wasn't going to be easy. Every little word had hit him. And he knew that it was going to be exactly the way the sergeant had said. Ever since that day in June, Whitney had lost part of his personality. Here, he wasn't the
football God, or the popular quarterback. Oh, no, that would mean he had a personality. Here, he was "Cadet Fordman" or some other God awful name.
"Yo, Fordman! You comin'?" yelled one of the other cadets. Smith, or something like that.
"Nah, I'm just going to skip tonight."
"C'mon Fordman. You afraid or somethin'?" Yelled another cadet.
"At least I'm not a fucking wimp, Castel!"
"Wimp? Let's go, asshole!" Castel said, coming up to him. Whitney ducked his punch, and walked off. "I'm the wimp, huh? Why won't you fight me?"
"Will you shut the fuck up? Some of us aren't so insecure as to try to start a damn fight with everyone in sight!" Whitney shouted.
"Shut up, Fordman!"
"Well, it's the truth, right? Can't help it if it hurts!" As he shook his head and walked away, Whitney felt like punching something. He quickly changed into a wife beater and pair of shorts and headed for the trail around the training post. This had been a long standing ritual. Ever since he was 13, if he would get mad or upset, he'd go running. Sometimes he was forced to do it later, like when he was on a shift at the store, but it was always his comfort.
"Like Chloe and the Torch, or Lana and the Talon," Whitney muttered. Ever since he had left Smallville, he had had constant reminders of the place. He had seen various pictures of Luthor around, and would check on the Torch website every few weeks. After his run, he went back to the bunk. Lying on the bed, staring up at the dark ceiling, he thought about what he had always wanted.
"A chance to get away from Smallville, to make a name of myself..." And what did he get? "A chance to become part of the team. All I've ever been is part of the team! I wanted the freakin' chance to find my thing, to do what I always wanted."
Secretly, he admired everyone he had always looked down on. Sullivan ran the school newspaper, said what she wanted, did what she wanted, and hell, no one thought she would ever be any different. Lana... Lana was the sweet, perfect princess. She never screwed up, never got into any trouble, and everyone loved her. She did say what she thought, and everyone respected her opinions. Kent had a messiah's complex, but he was a pretty good guy. Pete seemed like he got pushed to the background, but he was a good person, and he was always trying to find the good in the situation.
Why couldn't he be like these people? He was always a part of the crowd, part of the team. "Never again. I am going to do what I've always wanted. I'm going to change, try to make a name for myself. Maybe not in football, but there's always something, huh?"
A Year After He Left
Whitney Fordman stood at the train station, smiling at the people that had came. Here he was, dressed in his cadet blues, as they were known around the base, and he remembered a night long ago when he decided to change his life. The news had just broke that Whitney had gotten accepted into Metropolis U, and a very large crowd had gathered to welcome him home before he left.
"Whitney!" Lana called, weaving through crowd, holding Clark Kent's hand.
"Hey Lana," Whitney said. He pulled the hat off of his head and tossed it into his truck. Closing the door, he leaned against it. "Kent."
"Congratulations. So, what are you going to be doing in Metropolis?" Lana asked.
"I haven't decided. Maybe something in film, or something in publishing. All I know is that it'll be in the arts," he said, before glancing at his watch. "Shit. Sorry, but I have to go. I promised DuGrey I'd meet him at my parent's before we went to Metropolis later tonight. I'll see you, right?"
"Yeah, of course. Bye, Whitney," Lana said as she watched Whitney get into the truck and speed off.
As he sped down the road, Whitney grinned and sang along to the music. "It's now or never, I ain't gonna live forever. I just live when I'm alive...It's my life."