6:00 am

The large group of cadets had been standing in a line since the moment we had figured out where to go. I was shoulder to shoulder with two other cadets, my duffel bag by my feet as my shoulders were squared and I looked straight ahead, not staring at anything specific. The officers paced in front of us, shouting out orders in their strict voices which I'm pretty sure could be heard across the state.

"Step forward when your name is called out" the officer in front of us ordered simply before moving on to list out names. He listed names in groups of five, each of them stepping forward at the call of their name and being ordered to give their statements as instructed. "Anderson, Bradshaw, Danvers, Jennings, Trace"

I stepped forward along with four other cadets, each of our eyes glued forward as we were afraid of looking away and getting yelled at. I stood stiffly, awaiting my instructions nervously.

Maybe my father was right and I should have just stayed home. I thought with my nerves influencing me. Nonsense. I've worked hard to get here and I will become a Weapons Systems Operator like I dreamed of.

"Repeat after me" the officer started in a loud booming voice which rang through my ears. "I will obey the orders of those appointed over me."

"I will obey the orders of those appointed over me"

"To defend freedom and democracy around the world."

"To defend freedom and democracy around the world"

"I proudly serve my country's Navy combat team with Honor, Courage and Commitment."

"I proudly serve my country's Navy combat team with Honor, Courage and Commitment."

"I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all."

"I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all."

"Good, now grab your bags and follow Officer Kinning" he spoke loudly with our next orders. Without a single word the five of us grabbed our duffle bags off the ground and followed the next Officer down the hallway of the building, already lost again as to where exactly on base we were.

The sound of razors and scissors cutting hair filled my ears, notifying me of my general location stepping into a makeshift barber shop on base. I looked around curiously until the female beside me nudged me with her elbow as a sharp reminder to keep focused at attention. I nodded silently at her and straightened up again. The three men from our group, Anderson, Bradshaw and Jennings were guided to sit in chairs to get their hair trimmed up properly while the other woman and I stood still, waiting for our own instructions.

"Would you two like to get a short haircut like them?" Officer Kinning directed to the others getting their haircut when she addressed her question to us. "Or would you rather keep your hair tied back in a bun that can be no more than 4 inches in diameter?"

"Tied back in a bun, ma'am" I replied in a stern voice with a slight nod of certainty.

"Tied back, ma'am" the brunette beside me answered as well, same stern set tone as me.

"Very well, you may continue with me for the medical examination portion" Kinning lead us out into the hallway decorated with history of the base and into the next room in the hallway. We followed into the large medical room where many curtains were pulled back to close off the separate rooms. Kinning stepped out again, leaving us to wait side by side in the empty chairs for a doctor to arrive and call each of us back to the evaluation rooms.

"Danvers" a woman dressed in white scrubs called out after another cadet left the curtained examination room. I stood up with a deep breath and followed the kind looking woman into a room. "Please sit" she directed me to the table while she pulled the curtain closed and looked over her clipboard.

"State your full name and date of birth" she ordered simply.

"Nicole Mary Danvers. March 6th 1984" I stated calmly, sitting on the uncomfortable evaluation table.

"Do you have any health risks?" She wondered before listing a few examples all to which I shook my head. "Is there any chance you are pregnant?"

"No" I shook my head before realizing what I forgot. "Ma'am"

"You don't need to call me ma'am, I'm not your supervisor" she smiled, obviously having to correct this mistake a lot. She began the testing, where I had sat in the same place for an hour, allowing the nurse to poke and prod at me the entire time. She ran tests, took samples of my blood, checked my blood pressure as well as checking my eyes ears and throat.

When she was finished up with my examination the nurse had brought me into the hallway, pointing for me to join the three others in my group in standing against the wall. The brunette woman was to my left and on either side of us was one of the men, missing the third who was still in his evaluation. All of us were too afraid to speak until thankfully the last of the guys came out of his examination to join us again. He had sandy blond hair and a few scars along his jawline but with the blink of an eye I had drawn myself back to focus, telling myself that I could be curious later.

"Follow me" another officer started, leading us down the hallway as we marched single file behind him into another room, this one having our uniforms and gear. Each of us were called up to gather our new belongings, me being the third called up due to alphabetical order.

"Danvers" I stepped forward, taking the uniforms and my name tag.

Danvers.

I traced my fingers over the dips of my dame in the metal plate. The white letters popped out against the dark blue background of the pin. After Jennings and Trace we were off again, following whatever officer was leading us now.

Finally after a full day of introduction and preparation for our time at the academy we had been separated from the men of our group and taken to the woman's barracks on base.

The group of women, myself included were taken down a hallway, the officer stopping at each door to address two cadets to it.

"Danvers. Trace" she called out my name finally and I stepped forward to find beside me the same woman from my group who had been by my side all day had also stepped up.

Trace.

The two of us stared straight ahead at the closed door, afraid of getting yelled at again while waiting for the woman to address us as a whole group and let us enter our rooms to finally relax.

"You all start early tomorrow, I suggest you get some rest" the female officer told us all, walking off with a nod as we all stood frozen in place. The line of girls standing in front of their doors looked around nervously before each entering their rooms quickly, shutting their doors in fear that we would be scolded for something else.

I shut the door behind me, my roommate having entered before me. I turned to face her to find she was already looking at me, each of us with our bags resting on our shoulders.

"Natasha Trace" she offered a hand out to me in a formal greeting.

"Nicole Danvers" I grabbed her hand, holding it in a strong grip as we shook our hands together in greeting. Our exhausted eyes met before we looked back at the two beds pushed against the walls.

"Do you have a preference?" Trace wondered, exhaustion getting the best of us as we just wanted to lay down.

"No, they're probably both equally uncomfortable" I commented with a slight laugh, my roommate nodding in agreement with the most of a smile I had seen from her yet today. I set my bag down on the bed closest to the door, Trace following and setting hers on the bed closest to the bathroom.

With a silent understanding the two of us moved in perfect sync to get ready for bed, acting as though we had lived together all our life. Part of me felt like a puzzle piece had finally fell into place while another part of me felt that I was still missing something that would complete everything.

While Trace finished brushing her teeth in the bathroom I was seated comfortably on my bed, writing away in my notebook with my back leaned against the wall. The notebook had been a gift from my mother before the academy, some place that I could write all of my memory's from the Navy to look back and remember how far I have come when times get hard.

"What ya writing there?" Trace pulled me from my thoughts, sitting across from me on her own bed with interest.

"Oh uh, I'm just writing about our first day, my mom thought it would be a great way to keep these memories" I replied with a gentle smile, already missing my mom more than I thought I would but knowing how happy she was for me following my dreams.

"Am I in there yet?" Trace asked with a teasing grin and wiggling her eyebrows.

"Only good things" I laughed back.

First day of naval aviation academy and I think I've already made a friend who will be by my side through the thick and thin of it. Natasha Trace. We've only just been formally introduced after a long day of orientation stuff but between sharing a room and being the only girls in our group of five I believe our bond will only grow stronger over our time here and I'm excited to see what comes next.

"You ready for lights out?" I asked once she was tucked into her bed comfortably and I had closed up my notebook.

"Yeah, I'm good whenever you are" she replied. I stuffed my simple black notebook back in my bag as I got up to turn off the light next to the door. The room went dark and quiet for a moment. "Shit!"

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Traces voice worried from her bed where a dark silhouette showed that she had sat up quickly at the shout of pain from me.

"Yeah, I just stubbed my toe" I groaned in pain, hobbling back to my bed and laying down while Trace laughed at me. "Hey, don't laugh. That could have been a deadly injury" I teased only adding fuel to her laughter as she fell back into her bed. Once we had both settled down calmly again I spoke up once more. "Night, Trace"

"Night, Danvers" she replied, both of us falling into our states of exhaustion to get some much needed rest before another busy day that was sure to come tomorrow.

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Question of the day: what do you think of Nicole and Natasha being friends?