In the morning I was slow to put my clothes on, dreading each second that brought me closer to the base, each footstep pushing me towards embarrassment. Once I got to the base me and Energy didn't speak until lunch. We didn't even finish the course at the same time they were lagging behind a lot, and when we did talk it didn't go well. "Hey, are we ok?" Energy asked "Why wouldn't we be?" They had a confused expression before saying never mind, of course, I knew what she was talking about but I was just too scared to admit it. We were acting strange towards each other all day. We both tried to make conversation but the other shot it down immediately. Throughout the day our friends began to notice and one by one asked if we were ok or if something happened. I'm pretty sure we both said the same thing "No it's nothing." After training, we had a very quiet and awkward drive to Energy's house. I didn't even know if they'd still drop me home. The truck stopped and it was our turn to get off. We walked out and I started to head home. " I can still take you home." I turned to look at Energy "Are you sure?" "Get in the car Geia" They opened the passenger side and waited for me to get in to close the door behind me they started to drive. "I'm sorry if I made you feel weird yesterday" Energy said breaking the silence "You didn't" They scrunched their face "Then why can't we speak to each other like before?" For a while it was only the sound of the car moving. "I don't know" by that time Energy was pulling up to my house, "See you tomorrow." Then I got out of the car and went inside.

When I got in the house I was so tired from an entire day of barely talking to my best friend I just wanted to crawl into bed, shrivel up, and die but sadly my mom called me down for lunch at the exact moment. I flopped on the bed before standing again. It was a beef bologna and cheese sandwich. After eating I got in the shower and then practiced using guns with props until I got bored. Eventually, I found myself looking at my phone maybe to check the time or hoping Energy would call or text. Soon her name appeared on the screen, I tapped on the notification and responded to them

"Hey"

"Hi"

"Yeah I'm still so sorry I shouldn't have done that now everything's weird"

"No I just didn't know how to react and I went about it the wrong way. Plus it was kind of comforting. I mean all best friends snuggle right?"

"Yeah of course."

"Thanks that had me worried all day"

"Can I come over again tonight?"

"My parents love you so why not"

"So everything's back to the way it was?"

"Yes just with a slight change"

"Ok I'm on my way now be ready"

I got to their house about 20 minutes later. While there we watched some movies, played video games, and watched videos on their phone until we fell asleep (all while cuddling). The next morning we got ready for military training we headed into the truck. In the building we were lined up where Sargent Axel asked us to follow her, we were brought into the comms room where Sargent Axel begin to speak "As you all know you have been put into intense training and that is because Earth has discovered us." Energy turned to me with terror in their eyes, it turned out I was wrong and now I'm terrified too "I do apologize for not telling you all I wanted your attention on training so you all can be prepared, but they've been studying us. I want to know right now who is willing to put their lives on the line." of course all of the soldiers and then a few trannies raised their hands, and then... I did I looked back from someone grabbing my hand "Are you insane?" Energy said "This has been my dream. I can be a hero." " There are so many other ways you can be a hero. You don't have to do anything. " "I want to" Energy sighed "If you're going so am I" Energy then followed after me raising their hand. I frantically grabbed their hand and tried to pull it down but they were still stronger than me so we were put on the list.

Once everyone made their decision the people who were not deployed were sent home permanently with release forms. We went to lunch and started chatting "So we're in this together now right?" Okilios asked the group "Of course" everyone responded, after everyone ate it was time to leave. We were given official uniforms and we were told to wear it every day for the military, the truck took us home and Energy and I parted ways. Figuring out how to tell my parents that a war was about to break out for the first time in history was the hardest thing that I've ever had to think about. I decided that I should get it over with so I told them and they immediately asked for the papers to take me out of the military, but that wasn't an option anymore. I can't leave Energy by herself. They did this for me. It took hours but I finally convinced them not to break the law by trapping me in my room until the war was over. It only took me promising that I would come back around 400 times and a pinky swear.

Energy called me to actually talk about the reality of the decision we just made.

"We just changed our lives forever"

"Yeah my dads actually called the police and asked to be transferred to the military to get me out"

"That's funny I had to talk my moms down from doing the same thing."

"What a weird coincidence"

"You know what I think, that we'll win fairly easily they descended from apes"

"Yeah I think we won't even have one death I mean they only have 2 arms"

"And are only 1 third as strong"

"We were overthinking it earlier"

From the group chat

O:"We're in the military for real now"

S:"Look on the bright side we got promoted"

Z:"Yeah promoted directly into the line of fire"

G:"Guys it's going to be fine their weapons are probably too weak to do anything"

Z:"But what if they aren't?"

E: "Guys let's talk tomorrow at lunch this is depressing"