Children's Draft

Chapter 9 (Part One)

(Justin's PoV)

    "Mail," Lt. Jason called, immediately causing all of us to perk up.

    "Already?" I said to myself. We had only been here nine days. How could anyone have known the address? It would have taken a week, at best case scenario, to send someone the mailing address, and at least another week for them to send something back. This particular piece of mail would have likely taken even longer since it was a package. Whoever sent it must have had to do research to see where the 63rd platoon was being sent.

    Lt. Jason examined the mailing label. "It says it's from a girl named Audrey Dennison."

    Figures, I thought as I stood up. I should have known. That girl is always on top of things.

    "Here you go Clayton," Lt. Jason handed the package to him.

    I stopped dead in my tracks. "Clayton?" I said, confused. Clayton looked just as surprised as I was. "Audrey sent something to you?" I asked, feeling strangely unsettled.

    "I guess," Clayton said with a shrug. He started to peel off the packing tape.

    It didn't make any sense. She had written to me a couple times while I was at Basic Training, but she had never sent anything like a package. I had been friends with her since first grade. As far as I knew, she didn't even know Clayton all that well.

    He opened the box. I didn't need to know what was inside. Whatever it was, it was between her and Clayton. It was none of my business.

    Still, I was curious.

    He pulled out a stack of papers covered with shapes and numbers. "You've gotta be kidding me," he said flatly. He pulled out more papers. "It's math. All math."

    On the ground I found a sheet with Audrey's out-of-character messy handwriting.

    Mr. Justfine told me he would fail me if I didn't send you this. It's all of the homework for the rest of the year. He "expects it done if you manage to make it back alive." His words, not mine. I'm sorry. Also, try to be careful while in battle.

                                        --Audrey

    I read the note to the others so they would know what was going on. Several guys were snickering, while Logan and Trevor were doubled over on the floor laughing.

    "It isn't funny," Clayton snapped. He shoved the papers under his bed and folded his arms. He got into his bunk and continued to sulk.

    "It's not that bad," I tried to tell him.

    He scoffed. "Easy for you to say. You love math."

    "Well yeah," I responded. "It's black and white thinking. There's always one right answer. No matter how you go about solving it, there's still always one right answer."

    He plugged his ears and began singing. "La la la la, I'm not listening."

    I rolled my eyes. "At least it's Geometry. That's easy. I was doing that in seventh grade."

    "I was doing that in seventh grade," he mimicked. "Not everyone's a genius," he huffed. He lied down and rolled over onto his side.

    Why did he have to be so dramatic about everything? I can comprehend complex quantum physics theories, but I will never understand the mind of Clayton Host.

    Although it was comforting to know why Audrey sent that package. I wasn't happy Clayton was upset, but it was nice to see the world making sense again.