((oh! lol oh no Laurel is actually a really nice person- it's just that she's "thick skinned". Think about it, she's been moved from place to place her whole life and probably never had any real contact with people her own age before. She's not use to being around people, and also since she doesn't stay anywhere for long - Making friends would just make leaving even more painful. Trust me, ALOT of my friends are kids who's parents are in the army or whatnot, and it's not easy. Think of spending 16 years of never having a real home. Alot of us kids who live in once place say we envy them once we hear the places they've been - but in reality they envy us because we have a home we know that'll never change each week, we have friends we've had since 2nd grade and we have a family. Half my friends who are army brats or whatever almost never see their mom or dad because they're so busy.
Sure everyone says that "you must be so proud. Your mom/dad is a hero to this country." , but really - to the child - it's nothing but bitter loneliness.))
Laurel followed them, keeping her distance. She really wanted to believe , she did. The child part of her was screaming, begging , pleading for her to trust her heart - just this once. But the words her heard her whole childhood rang in her head
" It's time you stopped dreaming. You're a big girl now"