Recruits (New Haven Book 1), page 7
Amber snorted. “Yes, because the president would have time to talk to you. You’d have to talk to my dad first, which is fine with me. I’ll be telling him about this, you can count on that.”
RL Steven looked frustrated. “Let’s just leave him out of it for now. We don’t need to make this bigger than it is.”
“She attacked me!” Amber screeched. “She can’t get away with it. She's a danger to everyone in Recruitment.”
“A danger? Really? Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” I asked, rubbing my tired eyes. “I mean, you’re the one who punched me in the jaw and stomach.”
“You shoved my face into the bathroom floor. Do you know how gross that is?” Amber pouted, bashing her eyelashes innocently. “I had to protect myself. It was self-defense.”
“Shut up!” RL Steven yelled. With his jaw held tight, the veins popped out from his forehead. “I don’t want to hear another word from either of you. Amber, you also fought. If I report this, you'll both be punished. And it will be a mark against me and Jen and our ability to be leaders in Recruitment.” So that's why he didn't want to tell anyone. He looked at Amber. “And don’t you breathe a word about this to your father.” When Amber didn’t respond, RL Steven squatted down in front of her, looking her straight in the eye. “Do you understand me?”
Amber looked away. RL Steven grabbed her chin and pulled her face back toward him. “Do you understand me?” His voice was quiet but firm.
A weird look crossed Amber’s face that I couldn’t make out. She sighed. “Fine.”
That caught me by surprise. Amber told her dad everything. I looked back and forth between RL Steven and Amber, wondering why she had caved so easily. Maybe she didn’t want to get in trouble that early on in Recruitment.
RL Steven let go of her face and stood. “Emmie, Tina, let’s go. Jen, you can take Amber down in a few minutes.” RL Steven stood there waiting for me and Tina. I gave one last hateful look to Amber and then left the bathroom.
We walked down in silence to the dining hall. When we were in line for our food, Tina finally spoke. She glanced around to make sure there weren’t leaders close enough to hear us talking. “What happened in there?”
“I accidentally bumped into her on the way out and she grabbed me by the shirt and threw me up against the wall. It went a little crazy after that.” I moved my jaw back and forth hoping to alleviate some of the pain.
“Sounds like it. Did she really punch you?” Tina had her long, red hair pulled back in a ponytail, making her eyes stand out. Or maybe it was the green Recruitment clothes that brought out the green in her eyes.
“Yes.” I held up two fingers. “Twice.”
Tina lifted her eyebrows. “Did it hurt?”
“Surprisingly, yes. She's pretty strong.” When we got to the front of the line, the lady scanned my finger to see what my breakfast items were, poured some oatmeal in a bowl and handed it to me.
“I can’t believe they just let you go and didn’t say anything. You should consider yourself lucky,” Tina said as we walked away with our food. All she had on her plate were two slices of dry bread and a pickle.
“I don't feel lucky,” I mumbled.
We found Eric and Luke sitting near the back of the dining hall.
“Are you okay, Emmie?” Luke asked as we sat down. “You look horrible.”
“You really know the right things to say to a girl, don’t you?” Tina asked as she rolled her eyes. “Boys.”
“Long night, that’s all.” I took a few bites of my oatmeal, but couldn’t stomach any more, so I pushed the plate away. I lay my head down on my arms and closed my eyes. Eric rubbed my back and leaned in close.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Eric asked. “Do you feel sick?”
“My stomach's a little uneasy,” I said into my arms. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Eric let out a little laugh. “Are you kidding? On those soft, fluffy mattresses they gave us? I was in heaven.”
“You mean the thin piece of cardboard?” Luke asked.
“Oh, I know,” Tina said. “I’m going to miss my bed terribly.”.
Eric was still rubbing my back, so I sat up. I looked around to find RL Steven. He sat a few tables away, looking at us. Great. The last thing I needed was for him to think something romantic was going on between me and Eric. It would be another rule broken.
“What happened last night?” Eric asked. He dropped his hand, resting it in his lap.
Frowning, I rubbed my arms. Everything on my body screamed in pain. “Our partner switch was reported. We were up until midnight doing a workout.”
“Ouch.” Eric shook his head. “Sounds rough.”
Right as I was about to open my mouth, RL Steven signaled for us to head out to the bus.
Grateful for the interruption, I got up and went to Tina, linking my arm through hers. I let Tina get on the bus first and sat down next to her in the back. I liked Eric and all, but he was a little touchy-feely. I wouldn’t want RL Steven to get the wrong impression and report it back to anyone.
“If I fall asleep at any point today, just slap me upside the head,” I said to Tina, as I rested my head on her shoulder.
“No problem. I’d be happy to.” Tina put her arm around me and gave me a little squeeze.
“You’re such a doll,” I said.
She shrugged. “I know.”
Moments later, the bus stopped. I opened my eyes and looked out the window. “How long have I been asleep?” I asked Tina.
“Right after you told me how wonderful I was you zonked out,” Tina said. “I hope your little forty-five-minute nap helped some.” Had it really been that long?
“I do feel a little revived. We’ll see how long it lasts, though.” As I sat up, I noticed something in the back corner of the bus. A camera. The technology for them had been recreated just a few years before. They were in limited supply. At least, that's what I'd been told. It made me wonder if they were in all the Recruitment busses, or just ours.
Everything seemed to be getting more and more complicated, and I had no clue what any of it meant.
W hen we got off the bus, we were near an orchard of trees. I glanced around and saw that there was a stack of long logs of wood and a stack of smaller logs sitting in an open area near the trees. There was a pile of sacks next to the logs. To the right of the sacks were a bunch of sandboxes on the ground made of wood about four feet by four feet.
“Any of you want to go into the lumber trade?” I asked.
Tina, Eric, and Luke were all standing next to me.
“Yes, that’s what I’ve been dreaming of since I was little,” Tina said. “Cutting down trees all day long.”
Luke looked at Tina. “I’m sure they do other things besides just cutting down trees.”
Eric shook his head and rolled his eyes. “It was a joke.”
Luke was about to say something when RL Steven cleared his throat, catching our attention. “Yesterday, your bravery was tested. Today, your strength, endurance, and problem-solving skills will be tested. Each team will start by grabbing two long logs from that stack,” he said, pointing to the stack on the left, “and ten short logs from that stack,” he said pointing to the stack on the right. “Then you’ll take one of the bags from the pile. In each bag, you’ll find a bunch of ropes you’ll use to tie the smaller logs to the longer logs to create a ladder. Once your ladder is created, you’ll take it to one of the trees in the orchard. You’ll lean your ladder against the tree and use it to climb.”
Tina tapped my arm and pointed to the sky. A blue bird flew around above us, flapping its tiny wings hastily. The bird dove at a few Recruits and then perched itself on RL Steven’s shoulder. We all tried to keep from laughing as RL Steven tried to brush it off, but the bird didn’t want to go anywhere. RL Steven flailed his arms wildly until the bird got fed up and left.
RL Steven rubbed his head and continued. “On the upper branches of the tree, you’ll find a series of bags holding pieces of a puzzle. You and your partner must collect all the bags, six in all, and bring them back down to one of the boxes over there on the right. You’ll empty your bags and start putting the pieces together to form an image. Once you think you have the correct image, let me know, and I’ll check. If you’re right, you’ll be done, if not, you’ll continue until you finish. Any questions?”
A short girl standing near RL Steven spoke up. “What if we can’t lift the logs? My partner and I aren’t very big.”
“You have two options,” RL Steven said. “You do the best you can and work hard until you're done. You can also bow out at any time if you feel you can’t do it. This, of course, will be taken into account at the end of Recruitment and may affect the outcome of where you're placed in Infinity Corp.”
“How long do we have?” Luke asked.
“As long as you need. Be aware that your time will also be taken into account. So will the way you work together as a team. Your rules for this challenge are to make sure each partner gets three sets of bags from the tree, no talking with the other groups, and one partner will put the puzzle pieces together while the other tells them where to place the pieces. Good luck. You may begin.” RL Steven went and sat down on a tree stump near the boxes, looking around the sky for any signs of the bird.
“How do you think we should tackle this?” Tina asked me as we headed toward the logs.
“Let’s start with the smaller ones,” I said. “Try to find the shortest ones you can. Unless you have some superhuman strength I should know about, we want to minimize the weight. Each step doesn’t need to be very wide. We only need to be able to put our hands and feet on them.”
“Sounds good to me,” Tina said as we sorted through the logs.
Most people had started with the longer logs. We found the ten shortest we could find and set them in an open area where we could work.
“Let’s get the big ones,” Tina said. We went to the longer logs and found two we thought would be sturdy enough to hold our weight, but not too heavy. “Think we can carry two at a time?”
I eyed the logs. “Well, I’m not Thunder Thighs or anything, but we'll have to eventually when we carry the whole thing. This will be a good test.”
“Thunder Thighs?” Tina gave me a questioning look.
I laughed softly. “Oh, yeah, I gave the girl in front of me in line that nickname since I didn’t know her real name.”
“It fits perfectly,” Tina laughed. “Her name is Rachel, by the way.” We hoisted the two logs onto our shoulders and made our way back to our small pile of logs.
I twisted my lips in thought. “I think I like Thunder Thighs better.”
“What nickname did you give Angela?” Tina asked.
“Angela?” I asked.
“The skinny one.”
“Skinny,” I said, as we put down the two big logs.
“Not as clever, Emmie,” Tina said. “But still appropriate.”
“I’ll start lining these up. Why don’t you go get a bag with the ropes?” I offered.
“Sounds good,” Tina said.
As she left me alone, I scooted the two longer logs arms width apart and placed the smaller ones on top one by one. Tina came back with the ropes and dumped them on the ground. “Looks like there are twenty individual pieces of rope.”
“Do the smaller logs look spaced well to you?” I asked her, eying my work.
Tina looked down at the logs. “Yeah, they look good. Let’s start on the left and work our way to the right.”
“Do you know how to tie ropes?” I asked, picking one up in my hand.
“Not really,” Tina said. “I say we just wrap them a few times around the two pieces of wood and then tie as many knots as we can with what's left of the rope.”
“And hope it doesn’t fall apart when we start climbing,” I said as I started on my first rope.
“I’ll let you go first,” Tina said, wrapping her piece of rope around the two logs.
“Thanks. You’re such a sweet and giving partner.”
Tina smiled. “I try. How are you feeling, by the way? Still tired?”
“I’m surprisingly okay now. I think all this moving around is helping me.”
“Then don’t stop.”
“Not planning on it.” I noticed the two shortest girls were sitting near the bus watching everyone work. “Well, that didn’t take long. How could they raft down a river, but give up after a few minutes of lifting some logs?”
“Yeah, that doesn’t make sense,” Tina said, reaching out for another piece of rope. “But everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Besides, they were the first to go yesterday. I’m sure they had no idea how scary it would be until after they started rafting. It was the fourth set of girls that chickened out.”
“True.” I glanced around at the other Recruits. “Speaking of those girls, where are they?” Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen them since we got off the bus after we rafted.
Tina looked around, her forehead creased in confusion. “Good question.”
“Do you think they left Recruitment or were they kicked out?” The thought intrigued me. We'd signed a contract saying it was all purely voluntary, but I wouldn't put it past President Randall or RH Johnson to kick them out.
“I don't know,” Tina said with a shrug.
I looked over at Eric and Luke who were silently working on their ladder. “Yesterday morning on the bus, Luke mentioned something about Eric’s father being a traitor. What was that all about?”
Tina paused for a minute. “I don’t know all the details. I've just heard a lot of rumors.”
When she didn’t continue, I spoke up. “What did you hear?”
“Listen, Emmie,” she said, pulling tight on a piece of rope, “I know we’re partners and everything, and I hope you won’t take offense to this, but I don’t think it’s my place to tell. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about Eric. He’s a nice guy. I feel bad for him.” Tina glanced over at Eric and then looked back at me. “Everyone has given him a hard time since it all went down. I can tell you his father is gone. I’m not sure where and or why, but he has been out of the picture for almost two years now.”
“Oh.” I couldn't imagine not having my dad around. I was used to my mom never being home, but my dad and I had a close bond even though he sometimes worked a lot.
“You should ask Eric. It’s his story to tell, not mine. You aren’t mad, are you?” Tina bit her lip, concern in her eyes.
“Of course not.” I picked up another piece of rope. “I completely understand. Besides, that makes me like you that much more.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
“Not many people are that loyal to their friends or even family members,” I said. “My brother would rat me out in a second if I ever did anything bad. I respect the fact that you won’t talk about something you don’t know the complete facts about. But I don’t think Eric would tell me.”
“I think he will,” Tina said. We were working on our sixth log and were getting better with the ropes. “I’ve known Eric since we were toddlers. I’ve never seen him attach to someone so quickly. I think he really likes you.”
My cheeks grew hot. “I’m not sure about that.”
Tina laughed. “I’m not trying to embarrass you, Emmie. I’m just stating a fact. All the talking, the touches, the rubbing of the back this morning …”
My cheeks grew hotter. “You noticed that?”
She smirked. “Who didn’t?”
“He was just trying to be nice,” I said, shrugging.
“Uh huh. It’s not a big deal, Emmie. So what if he likes you? He’s nice and cute. And he’s already concerned about you. Not many guys are like that.” She smiled. “I could tell he was disappointed when you didn’t sit by him on the bus.”
I kept my focus on my rope. “I thought I should sit by my partner.”
“I don’t mind if you sit by Eric. That just means I can sit by Luke.” Now Tina’s face was getting a little red.
“You return the feeling?” I asked, a smile on my face.
She looked up at me with wide eyes. “Return the feeling?”
“Eric told me yesterday on the bus that Luke liked you.” I wrapped my next rope around the logs.
“Really? He said that?” Hope filled in her eyes.
“Well, not in those exact words, but that’s what he was hinting at,” I said, finishing off the knot I was working on. I wondered what she saw in him. A part of me didn't like him, but if Tina did, there must be more to him than I could see.
A car pulled up near the bus and VP Oliver got out. Two other guys got out with him. The older one was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. The younger guy wasn't as tall, but he was still dark and handsome. You could tell by their eyes that they were related. From the way they were dressed, I knew they weren't from River Springs.
The younger guy looked at me, causing me to pause. The intense look in his eyes told me he was there to see me. But why?
When he finally looked away, a sense of longing washed over me. I felt a connection to him that I couldn't explain. I wanted to know more about him.
I had a feeling I was about to get my chance.
V P Oliver spoke briefly with RL Steven and then came over to me and Tina. We both stood and brushed off our hands.
“Emmie.” VP Oliver smiled at me. “Are you too old for hugs now?”
I shook my head. “Never.” He hugged me tightly.
He pointed to the two guys next to him. “Emmie, Tina, this is Wallace Brown and his son, Dante. They are visiting from Kingsland.”
I reached out and shook their hands. “So nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” Wallace shook Tina's hand next. “And you, too.”
“They're here to learn a little more about Recruitment,” VP Oliver said. “I hope you don't mind, but I thought Dante could trail you for the next couple of days so he could get a feel for how it works.”
I eyed Dante's muscles. “Can he help out?”
Dante laughed. “Nope. Sorry. Frank said I could just watch.”
