{"id":101,"date":"2013-07-20T20:58:45","date_gmt":"2013-07-20T20:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/?page_id=101"},"modified":"2013-07-20T20:58:45","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T20:58:45","slug":"chapter-7","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/story\/chapter-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 7<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

People tell me I\u2019m rough around the edges, and I like being that way.\u00a0 Leave the sensitivity for other girls.\u00a0 I\u2019m true to myself, who I am, and with no apologies about it.<\/i><\/p>\n

Drive, goals, determination, achievement.\u00a0 Those are the four words I\u2019ve lived by my entire life.\u00a0 I learned at a young age the world doesn\u2019t always give you what you want, or even what you need.\u00a0 So I knew early on that what I wanted, or felt I needed, I\u2019d have to work my ass off for.\u00a0 And I did.\u00a0 I watched myself begin to rise to the top.\u00a0 When I was almost there, the world went to hell.\u00a0 I mean literally.\u00a0 When that happened, I was on the brink of the best (and most realistic) career goals I\u2019d had for myself, and suddenly, that didn\u2018t matter anymore. <\/i><\/p>\n

I had no room and no time for the more personal goals.\u00a0 I knew what I wanted required sacrifice, and I easily gave it without question.\u00a0 My family, my friends, even coworkers always tried to give me sage-like advice, and I brushed it off.\u00a0 My biggest regret is hearing their words when it was too late.\u00a0 I learned only after that life is nothing without the personal connections, touches, that make it special.<\/i><\/p>\n

And the ironic thing about it all?\u00a0 I have too much time for my personal life now, and my former achievements now mean jack shit.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monday, April 9, 2012<\/b><\/b>
\n4 days before Infernal Friday<\/i><\/p>\n

The fitters were fluttering around her feet as she stood on a pedestal.\u00a0 They were trying to make sure the hem of the dress was just right as she just scowled down at all the frilly attention.\u00a0 She rolled her eyes and glanced at her giddy friend who had caused all this trouble.\u00a0 \u201cRemind me to tell my brother he\u2019s so dead, Kelly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other woman just giggled with excitement as her strawberry-colored hair bounced with a shake of her head.\u00a0 \u201cRiley, relax.\u00a0 Chase and I both adore you for being the Maid of Honor at our wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou better.\u00a0 You know how I feel about dresses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, heaven forbid you don one for the sake of your younger brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust shows how much I love the dweeb.\u00a0 This can\u2019t take too long, though; I have a report I need to do tonight.\u00a0 This war has really been heating up my career.\u201d\u00a0 And it was true.\u00a0 She had graduated in 2009 and had been doing what she could to make sure she was getting the hot stories for the tiny station she worked for.\u00a0 None of it had gotten her noticed until the war happened.\u00a0 She had come upon the right story at the perfect time. Suddenly,\u00a0 she\u2019d gone from getting pointless fluff pieces with no camera time to actual news.\u00a0 Since then, she\u2019d been making sure she rose higher to success.<\/p>\n

\u201cGotcha.\u00a0 Your job.\u00a0 Is that all you think about, though, Riley?\u00a0 It is all you talk about.\u00a0 And when was the last time you actually took a day off? You\u2018re working nonstop.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shrugged as she pushed a stray blonde lock away from her eyes, readjusting her ponytail.\u00a0 She knew what everyone said.\u00a0 Hell, they told her all the time.\u00a0 She needed to focus less on her career and more on her personal life.\u00a0 Maybe they were even right, but she was so close to getting what she wanted.\u00a0 So much so that she could taste it.\u00a0 Now wasn\u2019t the time to slow down just for the sake of something as frivolous as dating.<\/p>\n

Perhaps how she had been raised had something to do with it.\u00a0 She was the middle child of five and the only girl of the bunch.\u00a0 Her mother had died soon after her youngest brother was born, when Riley Blake had only been six years old.\u00a0 Chase, the one getting married, was the second youngest.\u00a0 The line-up was Nathan as the oldest, then Randy, herself, Chase, and, lastly, Tommy.\u00a0 Being raised with four boys would have been enough to make her a tomboy, but her father had lost their mother to childbirth and struggled to raised them as a single parent, never remarrying.\u00a0 She\u2019d thought before she might be more soft, more sensitive, if she had had her mother growing up.\u00a0 But she hadn\u2019t and, in the end, had learned anything she cherished could be taken away, and that if she wanted something, she\u2019d have to fight for it.<\/p>\n

So she had, and it had gotten her far.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiley, hellooooo, you alive?\u201d<\/p>\n

She laughed, shifting uncomfortably.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, still breathing.\u201d\u00a0 Riley hated dresses, skirts, with a passion.\u00a0 She wore makeup, but outside of stage makeup for work, very lightly.\u00a0 That and the whole setting made her feel uneasy.\u00a0 It was just weird seeing Chase get married.\u00a0 That same awkward, scrawny, towheaded boy she\u2019d beat at wrestling was now twenty-two years old and a man by all rights, now making the biggest commitment of his life.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the first time she was seeing one of her brothers marry.\u00a0 Actually, it was the third.\u00a0 Now she and Tommy were the only single ones left.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t exactly sure how to take that yet.\u00a0 Her friends had all gotten married as well.\u00a0 Many were saying that \u201cat her age,\u201d she should start thinking about settling down with someone.<\/p>\n

And that was the problem.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t feel ready.\u00a0 She loved independence, mostly.\u00a0 And they talked as if twenty-five was old.\u00a0 Riley felt that was far from true.\u00a0 Yet there were times when her heart betrayed her.\u00a0 When she\u2019d feel a random pang of loneliness and wish she could find that one guy.\u00a0 Like right then.\u00a0 She was getting a bit tired of being the bridesmaid, never the bride.\u00a0 Of course, she\u2019d never admit that.<\/p>\n

In the end, all she would do was work even more, until the pangs went and faded away.\u00a0 It never fixed anything, but it helped her ignore it quite well.<\/p>\n

It was odd for a journalist to say, but for Riley, sometimes ignorance was bliss.\u00a0 Even false ignorance.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Channel Three News, with your news, your way.\u00a0 There have been marked threats for the US to back down, that we only have a week to settle.\u00a0 We have been trying to reach McCain\u2019s advisors for a comment on how they plan to deal with such a threat.\u00a0 All that\u2019s been received is this statement:\u00a0 \u2018This country will not be terrorized into a position we don\u2019t want.\u00a0 We will do what we need to, to keep our people safe.\u2019\u00a0 We\u2018ll update you further as more information comes in.\u00a0 And now we have Riley Blake with the war on the local front.\u00a0 Riley?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Riley Blake, for Channel Three News, reporting live from MacDill Air Force Base in TampaBay, where a prototype jet, rumored to revolutionize air combat, has just been through a series of tests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The camera followed her as she walked along the base, taking in the men training around her.\u00a0 She casually approached one of the officers, who knew she would be arriving.\u00a0 \u201cI have Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Richardson here with me.\u00a0 Colonel Richardson, just what will these planes be used for, specifically, and how will they change the war?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Miss Blake\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The military man before her was attractive, and no doubt when her friends saw her report, they\u2019d ask if she had tried to flirt or ask for his number.\u00a0 He had dark, raven-shaded hair, pretty green eyes, and a Southern tone that was almost soothing.\u00a0 But it didn\u2019t do anything for her.\u00a0 And even if it had, she didn\u2019t have the time for a personal life.<\/p>\n

The interview went on, as most of hers did.\u00a0 She put on her happy face and did her thing for the camera, asking the set of questions and getting the answers she knew would make the story as good as she hoped it would be.\u00a0 The entire setting was second nature for her, really.\u00a0 This was what she was meant to be doing; she knew it.<\/p>\n

It seemed so wrong that a war which had torn the world apart had helped her life.\u00a0 But it had.\u00a0 As a firm believer in karma, Riley knew what went around came right back around.\u00a0 She only prayed her own profit from the blood-soaked war wouldn\u2019t come back to bite her later.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

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Chapter 7 People tell me I\u2019m rough around the edges, and I like being that way.\u00a0 Leave the sensitivity for other girls.\u00a0 I\u2019m true to myself, who I am, and with no apologies about it. Drive, goals, determination, achievement.\u00a0 Those … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101\/revisions\/102"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}