The next few weeks were interesting to say
the least. James spent a lot of his 'free time' in some sort of extra training.
Some of it was the normal course of business for the new Doolies every year in
every squadron. That couldn't be said for all of it though. He often found
himself being 'beat down' as they referred to some of the more severe after
hours training with a little extra attention to him personally. In some ways that
wasn't so bad. A lot of the other Doolies in the squadron saw what was going on
and they were slowly beginning to start trying to support James. Parents
Weekend came and went without anyone coming out to see James. That had been a
fight he had settled before he left home. He wanted to spend the first year
without any distractions. Mom hated it, but she had given in when Dad asked her
to 'leave the boy be.' He had spent a
long time on the phone with them though. He also agreed to stay in touch more
often and took his phone back to the hill with him. James didn't often leave
the Academy, even after the big events during the Parent's Weekend. The Blake's
tried to get him away as often as they could, but he had other things to do.
One of those things was spending time with Sarah.
James would have liked to say that was due
to his need for help working past all the issues he faced as a Christian, but
that wasn't all it was. She had a lot more information about what and who to
watch than he could have figured out in months, but he also just liked her
company. They both sort of danced around it, but he was fairly certain she
enjoyed spending time with him too. Her being one of the upperclassmen and on
squadron staff made it even touchier for them to be together without breaking
rules. The one thing that made it possible was her helping him to learn the ins
and outs of functioning in the military. James couldn't earn the
superintendents pin without knowing the military inside and out. Sarah was able
to teach him the proper ways to approach most things and she was also able to
get him noticed for the right reasons, instead of only the wrong reasons. He
wasn't sure if the time he spent with her helped or hurt his relationships with
some of the more anti-Christian uppers. He just knew it was something he needed to do
as well as something he wanted to do. It helped that she had made it clear that
due to her rank and seniority she would have no problems from associating with
him, like other cadets might have.
James spent every minute he could
manage working at his classes. The academic part of things was one area that he
knew how to handle. There were still more than a few clashes in his classes
though. Some came from other students. Those were mostly in the required
military classes, but the greatest numbers of the conflicts were with
professors. James was finding out that a large number of them were very
anti-religion in general and almost totally against Christianity. That caused
him more than a few issues in their classes, but he managed to make it work. He
wouldn't have been able to do that alone though. At first he wasn't aware of
it, but after a few problems with his professors just suddenly disappeared he
became curious. He finally just asked one of the professors out right, what had
changed. The answer wasn't one he particularly liked. After a little thought
and a long talk with Sarah while they ran together he decided to leave it alone
though. The solution to the problems was coming directly from the Superintendent's
office. Colonel Roberts was the one
actually stepping in to resolve things, but the professors and James knew where
it all started from.
Another thing that he suspected resolved a few issues for him was due to
something he had never considered. Specifically it was the interest of the
track coach and even the basketball coach in James joining their teams. James
had managed to put them both off for the year. Even so, they seemed to be
putting the word out that he wasn't to be troubled without good cause. James
had his suspicions about the track coach, due to his Ironman finish. The
interest of the basketball coach had him stumped until the first time he saw
Jeremy after he was approached. It seemed that James had a high school coach
who still thought he needed to use his talents. He had called the track coach
and he might have mentioned something about basketball too. At first James had
been upset, but over time he actually realized he should be grateful. He wasn't
sure he wanted to be on the teams, but that possibility had made it a lot less
uncomfortable for him. If it helped get him past this first year that would be
enough for him to owe Coach a big thanks when he got back home.
James made it home for Christmas. That was
a packed week of time for him. He hadn't realized how much he had missed
everyone until he actually started home. He hated to sleep once he got home.
Every minute he slept was another minute he didn't get to spend with his family
and friends. He did have a few surprises when he got home though. The first had
been seeing his sisters pregnant. There was no hiding it now! The second had
been Pam. They had really enjoyed seeing each other, but they both quickly knew
that things were different. They had gone out several times before they found
the courage to talk about things to each other. Pam still wasn't sure what she
wanted to do with her life, but she didn't think she wanted to be involved with
the military. James knew what he wanted to do now, but that meant a lifetime in
military service. They were still close and truly enjoyed their time together,
but now it was as friends, very close friends, but just friends.
The biggest surprise had been the time he
spent with his dad. They had spent time each morning tending the stock together
and talking. His dad had seemed to know more about things than James had
believed possible. That and James could talk to him about things, things that
he could talk to nobody else about. They had talked about the issues James
faced for being Christian. They talked about his clashes with other cadets and
even the professors because of it. The biggest shock had come when his dad had
asked him about Sarah. He hadn't named her, but he had asked James about the
girl in his life. James had tried to laugh it off, but his dad had just smiled
and stood there waiting for him to answer. James had finally admitted that
there was a girl who had his interest. Before that talk was over James knew
more about his feelings for and his relationship with Sarah than he had thought
he knew. How his dad had known about her and known what questions to ask, James
would never know. He just knew that when he got back to the Academy he needed
to have a serious talk with Sarah to find out if she felt anything like he did.
The only major problem he had to face while at home was when he told
them about the Ironman run. He tried to play it down, but that was a no go. It
seemed that Jackie had found out about it and knew all of the details. She had
found out after the fact, but she was still well aware of things. James spent a
couple of hours explaining what and why and trying to get them all calmed down.
The only good thing about it was that everyone was madder at Jackie than they
were at him for not telling them about it when she had found out. James was
reasonably sure his mom would have tried to paddle them both if Jackie hadn't
been about to pop. He would have kicked her butt himself if she hadn't been
pregnant and hadn't pointed out to him that she wasn't the one that mentioned
it first. That had resulted in two long 'talks', one with each of his parents,
before he left. After it was all done he decided it was a good thing they
hadn't found out sooner. He doubted they would have settled for anything less
than actually seeing him in person if they had found out.
Another major surprise had come when it
was time for him to go. He had expected it to be a lot harder than it was. It
hadn't been easy. This time his mom had cried and she wasn't alone. There was
nothing like watching your mom and pregnant sisters crying to lift your
spirits. He was ready to leave In spite of all of that though. The real shocker
had been when he figured out that he was looking forward to getting back home.
The Academy had seemed like anything but home to him when he was there. Now he
realized that it had become home to him in spite of all the problems. He didn't
quite understand what had happened to change things, but things had definitely
changed for him. Home was now on the Hill and as much as he hated to admit it,
so was his family. He missed the cadets, his classes, and even the beat downs
after classes were over. It seemed that life was full of surprises and changes.
Some he had expected and some he hadn't, but expected or not they were a part
of his life now. He thought his surprises were over when he arrived back at the
Academy. The invitation waiting for him in his mailbox proved just how wrong he
could still be.
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