My period chose the absolute worst week to crash the party: Freshman Orientation Boot Camp. The cramps felt like someone was wringing out my insides with rusty pliers. I raised a shaky hand, my voice barely a whisper, asking the Drill Instructor for a break. A heartbeat later, Sophie’s hand shot up too. Sophie. My boyfriend Liam’s childhood best friend. The girl he grew up next door to. I glanced over at her. Her face was fresh, her ponytail bouncing, not a single drop of sweat on her perfectly tanned skin. Instructor Davis scowled, his patience already worn thin by a hundred clueless freshmen. “This isn't a spa day. I’ve got one spot on the bench. One. The second person who thinks they need a break can think again.” From the guys’ platoon across the field, Liam’s voice cut through the morning air. “Harper, come on, you’re tough as nails! Sophie… she’s always been kind of delicate.” He wasn’t finished. “It’s just cramps, babe. Can’t you just let her have this one?” 1 A wave of obnoxious laughter rippled through the guys' formation. “Damn, Liam, already got her cycle tracked on your Google Calendar?” “He said she’s ‘tough as nails,’ man. Guess he’s done his own… durability comparison with his ‘delicate’ little friend.” Sophie blushed and swatted the air in their direction. “Oh, stop it, you guys! A guy can’t worry about his little sister from another mister?” “Ooooh, ‘little sister’!” they hooted back, nudging each other. Someone yelled a crude joke, “If you’re so worried she’s tired, Liam, maybe you should do all the heavy lifting for her tonight!” Sophie feigned anger and tossed an empty water bottle at them. The guys’ instructor barked at them to get their heads out of their asses and run laps. That just left us. Our instructor, Davis, looked at me. My face must have been ghost-white because a cold sweat was prickling my hairline. He pointed a thick finger at me. “You. Go to the medical tent.” Then he jerked his chin at Sophie. “You. Get back in formation. Now.” Her perfectly shaped lips immediately formed a pout. She shot me a look of pure venom. “I guess I just can’t compete with some people’s acting skills,” she muttered, just loud for me to hear. “Truly method.” 2 These weren’t just cramps. This was a five-alarm fire. I ended up having to get a shot of high-strength painkiller from the camp nurse just to uncurl from the fetal position. During the lunch break, Liam showed up at the medical tent. He handed me a bottle of lukewarm water, his words laced with something sharp. “Sophie’s on her period too, you know. Never seen her need a shot for it. Harper, if you’ve rested enough, you should probably get back out there. It doesn't look good, you taking the only pass. Everyone’s thinking you’re just trying to get out of drills.” A cold dread pooled in my stomach, worse than the cramps. “What do you mean, you’ve ‘never seen her need a shot’? Just because she’s not in pain, I have to be? Liam, are you saying I’m faking this?” He pressed his lips into a thin, annoyed line. I stared at him. “So you didn’t come here to check on me. You came to see when I’d be done playing sick so your precious Sophie could have a turn at slacking off, is that it?” He set the water down with a sigh heavy with martyrdom. “That’s not what I mean. Sophie’s just… she’s sensitive. I’m just trying to look out for her, there’s nothing else to it. Harper, can you please not be so jealous?” My vision went sharp and clear. All the pain seemed to focus into a single point of icy calm. “Childhood sweethearts, inseparable, I get it. If you’re in love with her, Liam, you didn’t have to start dating me.” Panic flared in his eyes. “What? That’s crazy! I don’t feel that way about her at all!” I turned my face away. “Just go. I don’t need you here.” 3 That afternoon, I dragged myself back to the training field. Instructor Davis gave me a curt nod and pointed me back into line. “Wow, a miracle recovery,” Sophie whispered as I stood beside her. Every step was agony. I white-knuckled it until dismissal. The second we broke formation, Liam was there, holding out an ice-cold bottle of Gatorade. “Look, maybe I was a little harsh at lunch…” he started. “I just feel like…” I ignored him, unscrewing my own thermos and taking a long sip of the warm water inside. His hand hung in the air. “Still hurts?” I kept sipping my water, my eyes fixed on Sophie across the field. She was laughing with a group of friends, her cheeks flushed with a healthy, vibrant pink. “I don’t care what you ‘feel like,’ Liam. If you want to play detective, why don’t you go ask her how she’s so full of energy after she was supposedly dying this morning?” He froze. Sophie happened to look over at that exact moment. Her laughing face instantly crumpled into a mask of hurt. “I only bought her that drink because I was worried you were in trouble,” she said, her voice trembling as she walked over. “If she won’t drink it… does she really hate me that much?” 4 Liam immediately went into damage control mode. Sophie’s eyes were already glistening. He hesitated, looking completely torn, then pushed the icy bottle toward me again. “Harper, come on, just take one sip. It’s a peace offering from Sophie…” The seconds ticked by. I didn’t move. Liam’s patience snapped. He roughly shoved the bottle into my hands. “Just get over it! It’s a period, not a terminal illness! Do you have to be so damn dramatic about everything?” The freezing plastic slipped from my grasp and thudded onto the dusty ground. “FALL IN!” Davis yelled. Liam was already by Sophie’s side, walking her back to her platoon. I could hear their voices drifting back. “Liam, why would you date someone like that the second you get to college?” I saw him gently ruffle her hair. “It’s okay, Soph. It’s my fault.” I walked back to my spot. As I passed Sophie, she turned her head just enough for me to see her mouth the word. Loser. A white-hot rage shot through me. I raised my voice, making it loud and sharp enough to cut through the noise of the assembling platoons. “WHO ARE YOU CALLING A LOSER?!” Everyone froze. All eyes were on us. Sophie looked stunned for a second, then her eyes instantly filled with tears. Instructor Davis marched over, his face like a thundercloud. “What’s going on here?!” She wrung her hands, looking helpless. “Sir, I… I don’t know why she’s always coming after me…” The guys’ platoon started murmuring. When Instructor Davis turned his glare on me, I took a deep breath. “Sir, permission to speak, Sir! As I was walking past, I heard someone say your training methods were ‘lame as hell’.”
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "385302", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel