Emerald on the side :)       

        The next morning, I awoke slowly and simply stared at my ceiling, playing back last nights moments over and over in my head. For weeks now I had been telling myself that he was my instructor and the things thst he did to me were a part of my training. I fought my self daily to stop any feelings i were developing in their tracks. But it didn't work in the slightest. Everyday my feelings for him grew. But my feelings started before the second phase of my training began. Maybe it was the night he rescued me. Or maybe it was the time that i saw those beautful eyes of his. All I know is, I'm hooked, and it's not a good idea for me to be. 

       When I got tired of thinking about a man I'd never have a dream of being with and my bed became uncomfortable, I got up and got showered and then dressed. I decided since no one was really up at this hour (it was almost 7 am), that I'd go for a walk. I snuck into the hall way and looked around making sure no one was out there. When I saw that the hallway was cleared, I made a break for it. As soon as I met the dawn and the cool morning air hit my skin, I stood there taking it all in and the i began to walk. The birds were chirping, It was quiet and no one was around. The birds were chirping and the air smelled sweet. These were one of the best parts of the day. I was half way down the block from the Academy when I heard as voice behind me.

"Evangeline is that you? Hey, where are you going?" some one yelled 

Damn it.  What, was I not allowed to leave the to go on a simple morning walk? I thought I was in the clear. I turned back around slowly and saw Eric with an amused look on his face. Parts of me felt at ease. And others, like my heart, revved at the sight of him. I slowed down a little and waited for him to catch up. He was dressed in a pair of shorts and a form fitting shirt-- now wet with sweat, with running shoes. It seemed to me as if he was coming from a jog.

"I'm going for a morning walk." 

"Well I'm just fininshing my morning jog. You mind If I walk with you?" He asked

"well...okay." I said slowly, surpressing a blush.

We started walking together, and on the way also decided to go to Starbucks for coffee. We had a little while before we were to reach it on foot, and that sentiment alone made me nervous. What if he wanted to talk about last night? I wasn't sure what I'd say about it. And even though Eric rarely made me nervous about those things...last night was completley different. I couldn't put my finger on it, but things changed. Whether or not I was the only one feeling it, I knew that they had.

Finally on the way we had run out of things to talk about and my fears were confirmed by the next statementto come out of his mouth:

"Evangeline I know this is going to be akward but.... I wanted to talk to you about last night." He said sheepishly

 "What about it?" I asked, trying to hide the nervousness in my voice.

"It was something new for you... did I go too fast? or make you feel uncomfortable?" 

"Well..I enjoyed it." I said quietly, looking down 

"I did too." He said 

I blushed furiously at this. 

"Cool. so is that my last lesson?"I asked 

He looked a bit stunned but said nothing about it.

"For now. You have to do combat training as the next phase. We'll start tomorrow. For today, you have it off." 

We walked into a Starbucks and got coffee. I got a Frappuccino while he got a hazelnut blend. We sat at a table and talked, the awkwardness quickly dissolving.

"So Eric, tell me about yourself." I said 

"What do you want to know?" 

"How old you are, where you come from, excreta." 

"Well I'm 22, I come from Houston, Texas, and I moved to Collinsville because I wanted to come here for university." 

"Where's your Texan accent?" I smirked

"Well....when I moved here....I cahnged it because it clashed with Virginia's accent. And I was kinda made fun of it for it in college."

"People are cruel. But that doesn't mean you had to change who you were."

"I know, but it made college much easier when I started going to a speech therapist."

"So the accemts completely gone then?" I asked

"It'll flare up in times of great stress. But for the most part, yes it is. And as a child....I was also the fat kid."

"Oh no." I groaned

"Yeah, I know it doesn't seem like it but yeah, i used to be the bigger kid. Took me years to gain confidence and to lose the weight, but I am now the product you see before you."

"Well I guess for once teasing was a positive motivator."

"You could say that." He smiled lazily, taking a sip of his coffee.

"So...how did you become part of this company?"

"Well, believe it or not, life started taking a nose dive. I lost my job and my grades slipped, so I had to drop out of college. Then to make matters worse, the apartment building I was living in was condemed, so I became homeless. One day, one of the members found me in the alley, said I was good looking and told me to come with her. Now I know that's not smart to believe total women when you're homeless because i've heard some crazy stories of men being killed after the women took them home, cleaned them up ad gave them a nice meal, but She was beautiful, like no woman I'd never seen before. Her name was Emerald."

I saw the gleam in his eye and smiled at the passion behing them.

"I see you were quite taken with her. Where is she? I've never seen you two together."

His smile slowly waned and he looked down at his coffee cup.

"I was.... but when she went on a mission a few years ago, she simply disappeared. Her locator went out and then when agents were sent to the last location the locator pinged, all that was found was her laser wristwatch with the communicator on it. We assumed she was captured and had her internal tracker taken out." 

He didn't looked back up at me while telling me this story.

"You loved her didn't you?" I asked softly

"Yeah... I did. I loved her since I saw her. I was going to propose when she got back but, she never did." 

"I'm sorry Eric." I said 

"I've gotten over her but I still think of her often." 

"If you don't mind me asking, where was her location?" I asked 

"Tahiti." 

"I promise if I ever get an assignment there, I'll try to track her down some way." 

"Don't waste your time." 

"It's not a waste. It's the least I could do for a friend, and you need some closure." I said

He smiled at me.

"Thanks. So, tell me about you." He requested

"Well I'm 21, born and raised here in Collinsville. Life has been good for me, I grew up in the suburbs with a loving mom and dad. But I was the girl who didn't have much friends and kept to herself. I think it is the way I dress." 

"You know something I always wondered about you? You're beautiful, and I know that you know it....so why do you hide it under an unflattering apperance?" 

"Because I want to be liked for me and not the way I look. It's like everyone in this town is so bent on who looks the best and why. Plus it saved me a lot of heart break and such in high school. While the people I were friends with were going though heart ache and betrayal from stupid boys, I had my head in the books and got great grades." 

"And how does that work for you now?" 

"Well....I thought I could get through life invisible. Guess to any pervert out there, if you're a girl, you're fair game." 

"Not saying I agree with what those low lives tried to do to you that night, but even I can see that you're a beauty." He said, looking at me with a stare that would render any woman breathless.

I blushed a bit and muttered a thank you.

"You're welcome. Now... about your look. Do you have contacts at all?" He asked randomly

"Yeah... I barley wear them, they get uncomfortable." 

"Well, you need to start wearing them. your John's aren't gonna be attracted to a frumpy grandma looking girl. You have to be sexy, and have the element of surprise." he said 

"I know, I know. But we have a year for all of that, then I get my first mission." I said 

"Yes. And seeing as how fast time is going, we don't have much time and we have a lot more things to get to. We have to get you ready for combat training." 

"I know that you gave me the day off, but why not start on the combat today? I figure that's a better idea than sitting in my room all day and doing nothing."

"You have a point. Alright, tell you what, once we get back meet me in the sparring room no later than 12:30."

"I'll see you there."