Calvin opened the door of his dorm to see Brett and the three girls sitting on the floor between the beds.

"What happened, man?" Brett jumped to his feet and stepped forward. "Where have you been? They wouldn't tell us."

"Give me a minute." Calvin held up his hands and shook his head. "I need a shower and a cup of coffee. Meet me in the mess hall."

*

Thirty minutes later they all huddled over the table with coffee mugs in hand.

"I got thirty hours in the hole. No shower and shit food. Pricks," Cal scoffed. "They're still holding Rob. He took the blame. Fuck..." Calvin covered his face with his palms and dragged in a huge breath of air. When he looked back at them he said, "Rob lied and said he started it. Farley's not stupid and wasn't going to believe a word of it so Rob head butted him." Calvin shook his head and gasped. He broke the commander's fuckin' nose, I'm sure of it."

"He did what!" Brett yelled the words but Calvin could see from their faces that they were all shocked and horrified.

"He'll be booted, won't he?" Genevieve muttered, tears flooding her eyes.

"Yeah," Calvin agreed. "That's what he wanted. That's why he did it and, to take the pressure off me. Off all of us because Farley wanted to know which of you girls were involved."

"Why would Rob do that?" Sherry couldn't believe what she was hearing. "He was one of the best cadets. He'd have made fighter pilot one day. Now he's ruined his whole career."

Simultaneously they all lifted their coffee cups and took a mouthful. Calvin set his on the table and said, "He wanted me to tell you all how sorry he is for being such an arsehole these last few months." He looked around at the group saying, "We were in the cells next to each other. We couldn't see one another, solid wall and all, but we could talk. Rob said he's been lost since Easter. That girl he was seeing. Apparently they were really serious. A lot of things happened which brought them really close together and he said he thought them breaking up was his fault because he'd lied to her."

Calvin looked around the group and shrugged as he added, "Well we all knew that but, he says when he went there and he saw her with someone else it did something to him. To think she was playing up on him sent him crazy and though in the back of his mind he knew he'd lied to her and had taken an interest in Gen, he said seeing her with this dude, sent him into a rage. He'd gone there thinking she was lying to him about another guy because he never believed she'd play up on him but, there she was. After that he vowed he'd never trust another girl again."

"So he used me," Genevieve uttered.

"He wants you to know how sorry he was for doing that and..." Calvin looked over at Jacinta, "You too, Cinna. He says once it all started it was easy to continue but, he's sorry for it all and doesn't want you two to hate each other."

The two girls made eye contact but neither said a word. Sherry caught the look and thought they'd probably become friends again, eventually. They had to, or else she was going to move to another dorm because the tension of the last two days was unbearable.

Calvin tilted his head and lifted one side of his mouth as he said, "He wants you both to put it down to experience and to blame him, not each other."

"He deserves whatever they throw at him," Brett spat. "I could never stand the prick."

"What's going to happen to him?" Sherry queried.

"I think they're going to court-martial him. You don't hit a superior officer, especially a commander, and get away with it. He'll be staying in the hole until he's brought before the disciplinary board and he'll be charged. Serve more time maybe, and then be discharged."

"Does he know this?" Jacinta gushed.

"Yeah." Calvin nodded. "He said he'll have to live with what he's done and being discharged probably wasn't punishment enough." Cal took another mouthful of coffee and murmured, "Commander Farley says it's a real shame, and then told me he wasn't going to put a mark against my name. He said I could thank Rob for that. I have to pack up Rob's stuff and take it to his office."

"Will we ever see him again?" Gen asked, tears now rolling down her cheeks.

Calvin reached over and wiped them away with his thumb. He smiled and shook his head. "I don't think so, Gen. They won't let us visit him. I've asked already and I figure once they do whatever they do he'll be escorted off the grounds."

"I wouldn't visit the prick anyway," Brett scowled, leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "I've never understood what you girls saw in him in the first place."

They all turned to look at him and in unison said, "Shut up, Brett."

I hope Rob has made amends of some sort but it sounds like his career is down the drain :(

Photo - Depositphotos.