Chapter 9

They were fininshing dinner when the doorbell rang. Sue-Ellyn answered the door and brought Kyle into the dining room.

Immediately John stood up and offered his hand. "We read about you in the paper, Kyle. I want to congratulate you on all of your accomplishments. I'm very proud to have you in my home."

"Thank you, sir. I have always enjoyed coming here, and I have especially enjoyed being with your daughter."

"A stint in the army is good for young men. Actually, I think all young men should serve at least one hitch. I served four years after I finished college, but doing it first is okay, too."

"That's something else I wanted to tell you. I didn't let them put it in the paper. The General asked me if I wanted to go to college if the Army paid for it, and I said sure. He called the university and told them that he wanted them to let me start in January and that the Army would foot the whole bill. I can't believe they're doing that, but I'm thrilled."

"What did the college say?" Melody asked.

"I was there when he called them. He must be a pretty important guy because when he called the president of the university he didn't ask, he just said something like, 'I've got this young man that I want to send to your college. He'll start in January, and the Army will pay all the bills.' Nobody argued with him, so then he said he would have his aide contact them with the details. And so it's set."

No one said anything. They really didn't know what to say. Finally, Melody offered her congratulations. "That's just so great, Kyle. I'm really happy for you. So what school are you going to attend?"

When Kyle told them, Sue-Ellyn immediately said, "That's where Stephanie wants to go."

"I know," Kyle replied. "That's why I chose it. So that we could be in school together."

Stephanie was still speechless. She was trying her best to refrain from crying, and knew if she started to talk, it would be all over.

Melody once again saved the day. "I'm sure you didn't come all the way over here to spend all night talking to us. Stephanie, why don't you go put on something a little dressier and then you two can go out wherever."

John spoke up as Stephanie went upstairs, "Tell me more about this boat accident."

Kyle told them about their water training and how the four men had been in a specially designed boat that went very fast through the water. "We had been on a night training mission and were going at top speed to reach a certain point before dawn. We hit a reef or a rock or something solid because the boat crashed, then went up in the air throwing everybody out and then landed, what was left of it, upside down about a hundred yards away. The guys in the front broke their legs and got cut up by the windshield I guess, and the guy sitting next to me, well something knocked him out. I think he hit the motor as he was being thrown overboard. I wasn't hurt, just shook up, and I heard the others moaning and calling for help so I swam to them and pulled them, one at a time back to the boat. I had to crawl up from the other side and then pull them up from above to get them out of the water. The one guy was bleeding pretty bad so I tore my shirt into sort of a bandage and did my best to stop the bleeding. That's when I realized that Steve was still out there and I hadn't seen or heard him. It was getting lighter, the sun was starting to come up and I just saw his head and life vest. He was floating away from us, so I went back in after him. When I got to him, the other guys said that there were sharks around the boat, so I stayed away and kept him afloat until they left. When we didn't show up on time, they came looking for us and finally found us floating around in the waves. It was not a very good day."

"After we got back to base, we all had to give our stories as to what we thought had happened. I told them that I didn't think I had done anything special. I just did what anyone would have done. I thought that was the end of it until three days later when the General's Aide came to get me from our barracks to go see him. After that, everything changed. I didn't know I was going to get a medal until graduation day. I was a little embarrassed to be standing up there in front of all the other candidates, but I have to admit that it felt pretty good when all the guys in my unit started clapping and cheering for me."

Stephanie reappeared, looking as pretty as she ever had. Kyle said good night to the others and escorted Stephanie to his car. At first they were going to go to a movie, but then decided to just head to the pizza place where all the kids congregated. Everyone was happy to see them out and together again, and no one said anything about Stephanie having dated other guys while he was gone. About ten o'clock, Kyle suggested that they go someplace quieter and he drove them to the same secluded spot that they had spent their last evening together. Stephanie was dreading this moment. She was so conflicted inside that it was almost making her sick.

Kyle put his arm out across the seat and pulled her to him. Wrapping his other arm around her, he kissed her tenderly on her lips. "You don't have any idea how much I missed you. I thought about you every day, every minute of my free time."

"Oh Kyle." She couldn't allow this to turn into a heavy make out session. "We need to talk."

"Can't it wait until the morning?"

"No, Kyle, it can't. We must talk now. I can't keep this from you." She sat up and pulled away from his arms, turning to face him.

"All right, what is so important?"

"After you left, I was content to stay home on weekends and do my homework and stuff, and just go out with my girlfriends from time to time. But after a few weeks or so, my mother realized that I was not dating anyone. She said that my senior year in high school is too important to my social development to waste sitting around my bedroom every weekend. She made me get a date. She said if I didn't get a date, she would find one for me."

"Okay, so what's the big deal? Your mom wanted you to date so you went out on a date. That's not the end of the world." He didn't tell her about his conversation with Sue-Ellyn and about learning that she had stayed out past her curfew on one date. He also did not mention to her that he had run into Tyler at a coffee shop earlier that morning while chatting with friends, and that Tyler had bragged to others in great detail about the sexual escapades he had enjoyed with her. He had listened to the loudmouth, but denied to himself the possibility that any of what he claimed could be true.