I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I was super nervous when Matt told me that the recruiters wanted Matt to bring me the next time they met.
February 27th, 2020:
I woke up at 6am. I went straight to the shower, got dressed, brushed my hair, and ate breakfast. I had Psychology and Intro to Logic that day. I was really nervous because I had to meet the recruiters. I had to be the security guard and the wall that was super opinionated. I felt like I had to be there to call bullshit on some things.
I remember my cousin, Conner. He went into the Navy for a couple years. Recently, when my cousin, Cole and I expressed interest in the Army (and then the Air Force)…my cousin Conner gave us some tips. The first one was that if we ever went to a Recruiter, he wanted us to take him so he could spot all of the bullshit that they tell us.
Since Matt didn’t have someone like Conner, I decided to be that buffer, that wall, in between Matt and the Recruiter. I wanted to shine the light on reality when it came to what the Recruiter was saying, and what realistically was going to happen.
After my Logic class, I called Matt to see if he was going to come pick me up, or if I was going to drive myself there and follow him.
He came and picked me up. I waited on the sidewalk, talking to a friend that Matt and I both knew in different contexts. This friend’s name was Blake. I met him in Spanish II of my Freshman year in High School.
Matt met him because Blake worked at the Starbucks in Albertsons or maybe through other employees (I’m honestly not confident in that answer).
Matt picked me up in his car, and drove me to the Recruiting Center. I didn’t know what to expect. I was really nervous, especially since they wanted him to bring me.
We walked up to the building next to a Vons grocery store. There were windows, but they were all covered from the interior by a cream colored paper. I found it a little sketchy that they had a intercom. The cool thing about it was that the intercom had four different buttons on it.
One was for the Army, the next was for the Air Force, the third was for the Navy, and the last one was for the Marines. He pressed the one for the Navy and a camera light lit up. I noticed there was a camera, and I smiled at it, trying not to look threatening or suspicious.
I saw a man lift the cream paper and peek through to see who was there. I wasn’t really sure if they had access to the camera, or if they wanted to make sure we were still standing there.
The man opened the door. I instantly thought I recognized him from somewhere. A couple days before, I was at the college, walking to the Library, and I passed a Navy recruiter. I was wearing galaxy colored jeans from Hot Topic and the recruiter complimented them. I was trying to avoid getting roped into a conversation with them, but now here I was with that same Navy recruiter.
I never confronted him about it or asked him if he was the Recruiter at my college. I’m pretty sure he was because his voice sounded familiar. We walked down the hallway, and the first door to the left was the Navy center, I guess.
It kind of felt like a car dealership, each Recruiter was wearing a uniform, they had their own computer, and we were there for hours signing papers. Another thing I found funny was that they had couches, chairs, magazines, and a TV. They had their own lounge area.
I don’t why I’m screaming all of this out loud. I am currently typing alone in my car while it’s raining and I’m waiting for Matt to come out for Lunch. It’s actually March 11th right now. This is all from memory.
We sat down and talked for a really long time. After maybe two hours, we got to leave. I was so hungry. My stomach was internally screaming and I needed food. I asked Matt if he was hungry. He said he was and I begged him to go to Raku Ramen.
Raku Ramen was my favorite ramen place in the world. To be fair, it was the only Ramen I’ve tried besides Top Ramen. The broth was so spicy that you would cough or choke on it. There was super crispy pork and soft bamboo shoots. It all went together so perfectly.
We got our food to-go, drove to the Rock and sat there. We ate our food and listened to music. Then, Matt drove me home, and we talked for a little bit before he went home.
March 3rd, 2020:
I woke up at six in the morning from my annoying alarm on my iPhone Xs. Half-asleep, I reached for my phone to turn off my alarm. I looked down and squinted my eyes as I saw a reminder on my phone. It read “get your ass out of bed so you can wake up baby.”
I groaned and pulled myself up. I walked over and flipped on the light switch. I walked around my room until I found some clothes. I put them on, grabbed my keys, my backpack, and I walked out the door.
I ran my fingers through my keys, trying to find the one for the Pilot. Found it. I clicked the bottom left button, unlocking the car. I opened the door to the driver’s side and I slid onto the leather seat.
Putting on my seatbelt, I slid the key into the ignition and I turned it forward to start the car. I waited for my music to pair to my car’s bluetooth, and then I backed out of the driveway.
I started driving and listening to my music. After about fifteen minutes, I arrived at his house.
I got out of the car and slowly walked up the stairs to his house. I saw him through the sliding glass door, laying down on the air mattress. I jumped a little as I heard his black lab mix, Roxy, start to go off at me.
I slowly opened the door, looked at Matt, who was just now waking up. I unzipped my black boots and put them aside as I laid down onto the air mattress. I wrapped my arms around him, asking him what time he wanted to wake up. He said he wanted to leave at 7:40.
We laid there, on his air mattress, holding each other, and enjoying the time that we had together. About an hour later, I was awakened my the noise of a coffee machine. It was on a timer to start making coffee or something at around 7:00.
I laid there for a little bit, kissing Matt lightly on the cheek, as he was still soundly asleep. I kept asking him if he wanted to go eat something because the night before, he called me, said that if I came and woke him up, and he would cook us eggs for breakfast.
Of course, we had gotten out of bed later than expected, so we didn’t get to eat breakfast. I decided to follow him to the Recruiting Center. I wanted to comfort him before he had to take the ASVAB, a test that would determine his future.
We got there at around 8:15am. The Recruiter got there about two minutes after we did. He unlocked the door and let us into the building. We both walked to his little office, and sat down in the cushioned chairs.
We started talking until the other guy (also taking the test) showed up. The Recruiter told me that there was someone he wanted me to meet. She had planned on joining the Air Force, but ended up joining the Navy.
I had class at 9:30am and I was scared I was going to be late. Matt left and I got in my car as he got into the Recruiter’s car and they left.
I was happy that I left when I did because there was tons of traffic heading to the College. I got there at 9am and decided to go to the cafeteria for some breakfast. I ended up finding a Big Sur Bar.
I chose it because my old best friend’s family owned the company, so I grew up eating them. It was absolutely delicious. I ate half of it and then headed into my Psychology class.
After I took my Psychology exam, I drove right back to the Recruiter’s office. I was so nervous because I was there all alone. There was a guy cleaning outside of the buildings.
As I walked up to the door, he looked at me weirdly. I anxiously pushed the Navy button with my right pointer finger. After a couple minutes, the woman Recruiter (who drove the boys to take the test), opened the door for me.
I thanked her and walked inside. I went over to Matt’s recruiter and greeted him. I noticed someone sitting on the couch behind me with short, red hair, and glasses.
As I greeted Matt’s recruiter, he looked surprised.
“Oh! You came back!” He said with a smile.
“Yup.” I said, nodding. He started to get up.
“This is who I wanted you to meet.” He walked over to the young lady sitting on the couch.
She got up and faced me. “This is Patchin. She’s one of our newest recruits. She just finished her A School.”
I looked at her and she was so pretty. Her short red hair showed independence, and her glasses made me feel so comfortable with her.
We started talking about our hobbies (we both love Jane the Virgin), our current lifestyles, and eventually we joined a conversation with three Recruiters.
I felt really comfortable and safe with all of them. They were all warm-hearted with good spirits. For a second, I forgot that I was waiting and I just felt happy to be there with all of them.
Eventually, the Recruiter “got me”. He started asking me questions and I asked him questions. I ended up going into an enclosed room where I was isolated with a tiny laptop. I was taking the practice ASVAB.
I hated the first couple minutes of it because it was counting down and I hadn’t done Math since my Junior year of high school. I was writing down all of these numbers and the time was going by so fast, sometimes I just had to guess.
I finished the test and I went out to get the Recruiter. He came back and said that I actually did pretty good. I got a 57. The other recruiters said that I did better than some people who are at their level. That gave me lots of confidence.
When I walked back into the room, Patchin was gone. I noticed a sticky note on the Recruiter’s desk. He handed it to me, “Patchin left her contact info for you. You two seemed to get along pretty well.” I smiled.
Picking up my phone, I immediately added her to my contacts. Weeks later, I still didn’t have the confidence to text her.
After another hour with the Recruiter, Patchin came back and we started talking again. Later on, the female Recruiter said it was time to go get the boys from the testing site.
I anxiously waited for Matt to walk into the room. When he finally did, I was so grateful that he came back before I had to go to my next class.
After introducing him to Patchin, Matt and I sat down with the Recruiter. Matt noticed a piece of paper with my name on it and a bunch of my information.
“Are you signing up?” He asked. I looked at him with a close-mouthed smile. The Recruiter tucked the papers away and responded.
“That’s her business with me.” I laughed and began to blush. I didn’t know how he would react if I actually joined with him.
I’m not sure if he wanted me to stay here, be safe, have a job, and be on my own while he’s gone? Or if he was okay with whatever I wanted to do.
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