Bella glued a white sticker with her first name, last name, age, place of residence, and military occupation on a prominent place and looked at Emmett. McCarthy couldn't get the label off the sticker and was now trying to do it with his teeth. He finally stuck the sticker on his chest and began to peel bits of the adhesive film off his tongue.
Bella laughed and turned to the other recruits.
A small crowd had gathered in front of the office door. Besides the recruits themselves, there were their parents with video cameras, their wives, and even their infants.
"And my parents aren't coming until the day of the initiation," Emmett said. - "My sister's due any day now. She needs them more right now."
"You have a sister?" - Bella smiled. Somehow she'd immediately thought that Emmett must have a real big, close-knit family-the kind that would barely fit in a room at Thanksgiving, and that Bella herself sometimes dreamed about.
"Yes. A sister and four brothers," Emmett confirmed her thoughts. - "And grandpa and grandma and a bunch of dogs."
"Attention, recruits!" - The officer approached them. - "Come into the office in groups of fifteen and stand in three rows of five in each. Chaperones, stand at the entrance on both sides. The first group goes in, the others wait their turn."
Bella and Emmett, along with the other thirteen recruits, entered a small room with wood-paneled walls, red and blue carpet, and a pulpit against the opposite wall, with a star-spangled flag on the right and a Marine Corps banner on the left. Relatives and friends quietly entered and stood along the walls, humbled, waiting for the main thing they had all come here for today.
After the names of the recruits were listed, an officer entered the room and stood behind the pulpit.
"You have passed all the tests with honor and proven your worthiness to be Marines," he said. - Now you will take the oath of office. And from this moment on, you will always be loyal to your country, to your president, to your comrades and to your commanding officer," he paused: - "Raise your right hand."
Bella and Emmett and the others raised their hands. Everything inside Bella shuddered, as if she were about to dive into ice-cold water.
"Repeat after me," the officer said. - "Me, say your name."
Bella took a deep breath and said:
"I, Isabella Swan."
"I solemnly swear."
"Solemnly swear," Bella repeated, feeling a lump in her throat.
"That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
"That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic," Bella's voice sounded in the general chorus of young voices, but it seemed to her that it was not happening to her.
"That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same."
"I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same," Bella saw the fervor with which Emmett repeated the officer's words, and she smiled.
"And that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
As she repeated with feeling the officer's words, Bella caught the happy look in Emmett's eyes, who looked like a kid at an Independence Day celebration, and suddenly the shivers in her whole body disappeared.
"So help me God!" - The officer finished the text of the oath.
"So help me God!" - Bella breathed out and suddenly saw Renee standing by the wall, filming her daughter with her cell phone camera.
New recruits were already entering the swearing-in room, and Bella went to the door. Renee came out with her and, after a moment of silence, asked:
"Have you signed the contract yet?"
"Yes. An hour ago," Bella answered. - "You were still at the police station."
"I was in a hurry," Renee hesitated. - "So that's it, then. Are you a Marine now?"
"Yes," Bella nodded. - "I'm a Marine."
"I'll call you as soon as I can," Bella promised, picking up her few possessions.
"Bella, your father thinks you're doing all this because of our scandals..." Renee looked at her like the cat from "Shrek". Her gaze begged Bella to say no, so that Renee's conscience could go back to sleep and let her continue to flutter through life carefree.
So Bella decided one last time not to deprive her mother of that pleasure. For from that moment on, her fate was no longer determined by her parents. Her future and life were now in the hands of the Marine Corps for at least five years.
"No. I was just interested in the job. The insurance, the good money, the benefits. It's a good start in life," Bella said, repeating everything she'd read in the brochure. - "I have to go now. I'll call you."
Renee smiled. She believed what she wanted to believe.
"Be careful, Bella," she hugged her daughter.
"Yes, yes, of course," Bella promised, and then she kissed Renee on the cheek and ran to the bus at full speed.
"I already saved you a seat," Emmett told her as Bella got on the bus.
Bella plopped down next to him. The guy immediately leaned back in his seat with a blissfully happy face.
"I feal like I'd played the state finals today, my legs were falling off," he exhaled noisily.
"Emmett, are you in reserve, too?" - Bella asked.
"Yeah. I was so glad I agreed to everything. And when I signed the contract, I realized I was wrong, I guess," McCarthy sighed. - "I hope I get mobilized fast. The reserve is a sucker's paradise. I thought you were signing up for active duty. Why'd you join the reserves?"
"The recruiter hinted that I had a better chance of getting into Iraq or Afghanistan, Bella answered. - All I have to do is learn Arabic or Pashto or Dari, and they don't look at my age or gender when they call up the reserves. And when I'm on active duty, they'll send me to the middle of nowhere"
"Pashto and Dari? What the hell is that?" - Emmett didn't understand.
"Those are the two official languages of Afghanistan," Bella said. - "Hardly anybody in our military knows them. And that gives me a chance."
"How do you know so much?" - Emmett was amazed.
"Googled it," Bella laughed.
"That's cool. But why would a girl need Afghanistan?" - Emmett asked.
"Why do you need Afghanistan?" - Bella gave him a sly look.
"I'm a man. I love my country, and I want to fight its enemies," Emmett replied without thinking. - "And I'm much stronger than you."
"I think the finger pulls the trigger, and not the one that sets us apart," Bella winked at him, emboldened by the start of his new life.
Emmett hovered, and a loud, cheerful female voice came from the back row:
"Well done, sister! And you, my friend, shut your mouth, or a fly will fly in!"
Bella turned around and saw a dark-skinned girl with a hundred pigtails on her head, wearing a T-shirt with a bulldog's grinning face on her chest.
"I'm Zafrina," she introduced herself with a big smile.
"Bella," Bella smiled, too, and then she saw the red-haired girl she'd noticed at the depot enter the bus-her outstandingly gorgeous hair.
As if she didn't notice anyone, she walked across the bus with her head held high and landed next to Zafrina without a word, and then took out her Walkman and plugged her ears into her headphones.
"I saved this seat for my friend," Zafrina said, giving the redhead a light tap on the shoulder and pointing to her jacket hanging on the back.
"Hands off!" - She shot up at her. - "This chair doesn't have your friend's name on it. So let her get on another bus and be on time next time."
"That's not polite, dearie," Zafrina frowned, but the girl had already put her headphones back in.
"What a bitch," Zafrina grimaced. - "If it wasn't for the sergeant, I'd show her how to behave," she took out her phone, dialed the number, and said loudly: - "Kashiri, darling, there's a self-important bimbo taking your place. There's a sergeant on the bus, so you'll have to be patient. But then we'll teach her some manners together.
Zafrina put the phone away, and the redhead glanced at her mockingly and muttered in a sweet voice:
"You're the one who needs to learn the manners that are accepted in civilized countries. You should be more careful with your green card. One incident and you're on a plane back home."
"Hey, girls, break it up!" - exclaimed Emmett, noticing that Zafrina was already getting ready to clutch the gorgeous hair of the cocky girl, and the sergeant, hearing the shouting, headed toward them with a Major Payne look.
"Everybody be quiet. This ain't no school bus!" - he barked. - "We're going to the airport for the plane that will take you to your twelve-week basic training at the Parris Island Recruit Depot. Everyone take your seats. Catfighting - brig on arrival. Recruits, do you all understand your orders?"
"Yes, sergeant!" - the enlisted privates in the cabin answered in unison, and the bus started moving.
Emmett slumped back in his seat like a grizzly bear, and leaned toward Bella and said ironically:
"I see you're going to have a lot of fun in the barracks."
The flight was so exhausting and, as it seemed to Bella, painfully endless, that when they got back on the bus, she fell asleep almost immediately. And she woke up when the bus jerked and stood up abruptly. When she realized that she'd laid her head on Emmett's broad shoulder in the most indecent way in her sleep, Bella quickly straightened up and rubbed her eyes to wake up faster.
"Wake up!" - The sergeant gave the order, loud as always. - "Get your things off the bus!"
He said no more, and they all grabbed their things and headed out. Bella's back stiffened, her stomach felt empty, and her head ached from lack of sleep.
It was dark and cold outside. So when two more uniformed men approached their sergeant and ordered everyone to proceed to the small gray building for registration, Bella felt incredibly happy, feeling the closeness of food and sleep.
But once the recruits were inside, the sergeant again ordered them to wait, without explaining anything.
"We're supposed to get uniforms and a haircut today," Emmett said. - "I don't need a haircut, though," he patted the back of his shorn head.
"I don't need a haircut too," Bella grinned, repeating his gesture.
"Girls don't get haircuts," Zafrina informed her, glancing angrily at her enemy's fiery mane. - "Sadly."
Bella looked at the red-haired bitch, too, and got an arrogant look in return, with beautiful but unpleasant eyes. Bella realized bitterly that there were "queens" like in High school, too, and her good mood took a sharp turn for the worse.
Leaving Emmett to chat with Zafrina, Bella walked over to the wall on which hung portraits of Marines who had received high military awards for their exploits.
Studying the succession of heroes' faces, Bella stopped at one of the portraits, attracted by the unusual eyes of the handsome young officer in the photograph. Around the pupils of his eyes was like a golden crown, turning them from ordinary green to amber. Intrigued, Bella looked at the nameplate beneath the photo.
"Second Lieutenant Edward Anthony Cullen, 3rd Division, United States Marine Corps. Navy Cross for outstanding heroism in Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan (2005)."
"Edward Cullen," Bella said, and flinched when she heard Emmett's voice behind her:
"You'll see, soon there'll be a picture of Emmett McCarthy here!"
"Private Recruits!" - A sergeant's voice was heard. - "The drill sergeants are coming for you. From now on, they will be your commanders for the duration of basic training."
Bella and Emmett turned around to see six others standing next to their sergeant, four men and two women wearing those famous instructor hats.
Guessing that the female recruits would have to deal with a female instructor, Bella looked at them carefully. One of the women, tall and red-haired, looked typically Irish. Judging by the patch on her chest, her last name was Gallagher. The second female sergeant was slender, with with olive skin and shiny black hair. She seemed very pretty to Bella, until... she turned her other side toward them.
With a gasp of surprise, Bella immediately looked away and hoped the sergeant hadn't noticed her reaction. The entire right side of the instructor's face was mangled with three thick, purple scars that cut across her cheek from eye to chin, distorting her regular features. The scars made her right eye appear larger than her left, as if it were slightly askew, and the right side of her mouth curved into a perpetual sullen smirk.
Damn. Bella really don't want to be in her platoon. She just wouldn't be able to look her in the face!
After checking in, Bella realized that once again she was out of luck. Their platoon leader was Sgt. Emily Young, who immediately briskly headed over to her charges.
"Our sergeant is the Joker," Zafrina said, looking up at the approaching instructor with a grim grin.
"No, not the Joker. Two-Face," Bree Tanner, the youngest of the recruits, sniggered. - "I hope she'll only show us her bright side..."
Hello, everyone!
Our heroes got what they wanted and now a new life begins for them :-)
Thank you all so much for the reviews, they are a great inspiration to me!
Special thanks for the interesting details about the relationship between the enlisted people and the officers. I had read about it, and it was interesting, to get proof of it :-)
I look forward to more comments and I hope you enjoyed the update!