Children's Draft

Chapter 6 (Part One)

(Aaron's PoV)

    Even by the 5th week of Basic Training, the morning routine sucked.

    I hate 5 o'clock in the morning so much. There will never be a time where I do not hate 5 o'clock in the morning.

    Sean was sitting on his bunk, trying to adjust his shirt with his left hand and write with his right one. He yawned, but somehow he still looked enthusiastic. He muttered as he wrote. "Dear coach: do you think you could give me a March Madness bracket?"

    I looked down and smiled upon hearing those words. I loved March Madness. Connor and I had been filling out brackets and watching the games since we were little. We would always make small bets over pocket change, candy, or even bragging rights.

    I tried my hardest not to look like a small child as I approached Sean. "Do you think you could ask for three?"

    Sean turned around and looked up at me. "Sure, it's always fun to compare brackets with people. Who do you think will win? I think it's gonna be Duke."

    "Yeah, they stand a pretty good chance," I replied. "Either them or KU. Although, it would be cool if Gonzaga won."

    I had always secretly liked that team. I remembered putting them in the semi finals when I was seven simply because I thought they had a cool name. Even though they lost their first game, the team started to grow on me. Since then, I never actually put them in my bracket past the second round, but each year I sort of hoped they would win.

    Sean shrugged. "Maybe. I guess they did okay during their season last year."

    I could hear Connor teasing Matteo from across the room as Sean finished his letter. "Aw, how sweet, your girlfriend's writing to you. Bless her soul--oh wait, she doesn't have one."

    Matteo slammed his fist into his bed post. "Shut up or I'll make you!"

    Connor pretended to act scared, and I just rolled my eyes.

    Sean tugged on my arm. "Aaron, does it bother you when Connor makes fun of...you know..." he paused, unsure if he had a right to speak the word, "people who look like you."

    I gave him a half smile, which then turned into a good-natured laugh. "No, I really don't care. The two of us always make fun of each other."

    I glanced over to see Matteo ranting faster and flushing redder. Those comments didn't bother me cuz Connor and I were friends. The problem was, Connor and Matteo definitely weren't.

(Logan's PoV)

    I rolled over at the sound of the alarm. I pushed myself up and began to climb down the bunk bed ladder. As I reached the ground, I turned around to see Clayton already awake. Fully awake. Like standing up and in his training uniform awake. Upon seeing me, he quickly threw something in his bag.

    I eyed him suspiciously. Clayton never woke up on time and he was the laziest person I knew. "Why are you up so early?"

    He avoided eye contact. "Oh, no reason."

    "What are you up to?" I questioned.

    "Nothing," he replied.

    I cocked an eyebrow.

    "Nothing bad," he added, suppressing a smile. I was about to interrogate him further, but Sgt. Blake stormed in and started yelling at us to go out to the track.

    We started our day with our regular five mile warm-up. I never really went as fast as I could on that. I preferred to pace myself, not out of laziness--okay, partly out of laziness--but mostly I liked to stay behind to talk with Daniel, Trevor, and Clayton. The guys in the front weren't very much fun to hang out with.