“Man, fuck them. You’re awesome and my best friend. Candace already knows that I’m pissed at how she treated you. Mom and Dad aren’t too happy right now with her for that but I swear Nate, I didn’t think she’d be as big of a bitch as Tiffany is.” he said with a pissed off look in his eyes.
“It’s fine man. You go enjoy your prom. Your dates probably pissed enough as it is. Don’t sit here wasting the night away with me.” I told him, hoping that he would just leave me alone.
“Not going anywhere man. Looks like you’re my prom date tonight.” he said as he stood up in front of me. “Nathan Walker, May I have this dance?” he asked as he slowly turned and bowed to me holding his hand out.
We both broke out in a fit of laughter. I knew that he would have to sort things out with his sister and his prom date for that matter, but for now he couldn’t leave his best friend hanging. As we made our way up the beach, we decided to stop at a little taco stand to grab a bite to eat. I placed my order and while waiting for Jackson to pick up his food, I noticed a group of guys in camouflage clothing. The three of them were heading down the pier to the small front door of an office building. The office was a recruitment center for the Marine Corps.
“Hey Jax, I’ll be right back.” I hollered as I followed the men down the pier.
“Hurry back man, the food’s going to be cold”
I ran down after the guys and was met by a tall, broad-shouldered man in a dress uniform. His dark skin and chiseled cheekbones made him look menacing and he stood tall, seeming to tower over anyone that was near him, even though he and I were near the same height. I introduced myself and talked to the gentleman for about 15 minutes. He handed me some brochures and vowed that if I decided to enlist that he would make a real man out of me.
///
As I contemplated the past events of my life, I realized that I was just standing there holding my dick staring off into space, as I had long finished taking a piss. I quickly tucked it back away and washed up, getting ready for bed. It was getting late and I knew that I had a flight in the morning so I quickly turned in.
I awoke the next morning feeling a little groggy, wishing I could smash the fuck out of this alarm clock and go back to bed. Maybe when I get back from my leave, I’ll take it to the range and send a couple rounds through it for waking me up, but as I came to, I remembered why I was up so early and jumped out of bed.
I headed down the short hallway to the bathroom and began brushing my teeth and washing my face, getting ready to shave off the little stubble that had grown. After shaving and finishing up, I threw on an old pair of dark faded jeans, a long sleeve dark grey t-shirt, my socks, and boots. Looking myself over in the mirror, I was happy with my current attire and at how far I had come. No longer was I the skinny, tall, lanky kid with the long hair and acne problems. My acne had more than cleared up; my hair was cut short. I had gotten some tan to my skin tone so I wasn’t so pale, put on some muscle since finishing basic training and my body had much more definition to it. On my left arm, in the middle of the side of my bicep, was the eagle, globe, and anchor tattoo, about the size of a baseball. My weight had jumped up to around 220 lbs., and while you could see muscles now instead of the skin and bones there was before, I was in much better shape than I previously looked. I finished getting ready and gathered my things to meet the cab to head to the airport.
The cab ride was fairly smooth, as there wasn’t much traffic this early in the morning for a Tuesday and I arrived at the airport on time, checked my larger bags and quickly got in line for security. Everything went okay with only a minor hiccup with the metal detector and I arrived at my gate, patiently awaiting my flight to take off.
After about an hour, I boarded the plane, placed my carry-on bag in the overhead compartment, grabbed my headphones, and settled in to get ready for a long flight. I’d probably connect to the plane’s Wi-Fi and watch a movie or listen to some music.
I sat in my seat looking out the window when the plane took off, thinking about how good it was going to be to see Jackson again and spend some time with my best friend before he begins his new life with Emily. A couple hours into my flight though, I noticed that the turbulence had picked up and the plane began to shake rather steadily now. The fasten seat belt sign had come on for the 4th time suddenly there was an announcement over the intercom:
“Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. Due to the severity of this storm, we will be making an emergency landing in Denver. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause and will get you all to your destination as quickly as possible.”
Great, just great… This is the last thing I needed was for my flight to get grounded and being stuck in a city I had no purpose being in. I turned to look out the window and was met with nothing but darkness. The storm had apparently taken a major turn for the worse and it was snowing heavily outside. The grey clouds mixed with the heavy white flakes shone with the flickering lights of the plane. Thankfully we landed without any incident and I grabbed my carry-on bag, slowly making my way off the plane. As I approached the terminal gate, I heard the attendant give another passenger the bad news.
“I am sorry sir, but the airport is going to be shutting down due to the storm. There will be no more flights in or out today.”