My flight squad is very interesting, I guess you could say. Jennings and Anderson are so full of themselves it's stupid. I mean, did nobody teach them manners as a child? They think they own the place and that they're all that, but let me tell you, they're not. Bradshaw on the other hand, I think he'll be a good friend to have around and he seems to have what it takes to be a great pilot someday.

"Danvers, are you writing about me again?" Trace teased as she walked out of the bathroom to find me sitting cross legged on my bed writing in my little black notebook again.

"Nope" I shook my head, closing the notebook and setting it aside. She looked back in the mirror once more to make sure her hair was in place before nodding with approval and leading us out of our barracks and towards the mess hall for breakfast. The rest of our day would be full of classes and introduction lessons now that everyone had passed their fitness tests, or at least everyone from our squad.

"Were you writing about how you left all of us in the dust on that run? Or about Jennings stupid comment?" She continued to list of guesses as we moved into the hallway together, side by side. "Oh I know!" She cheered suddenly as though a lightbulb had gone off in her head, smirk forming on her face. "You were writing about Bradshaw" she pointed with amusement, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"What?" I turned to her with the accusing tone of her voice. "Yes, I wrote about all of that, but I don't like what you were implying about Bradshaw, I mean I just met the man" I reminded her simply, holding onto my dignity while voicing my confusion at what she was implying.

"Oh come on" Trace urged with a groan. "I'd say it was love at first sight for him" she continued, "I mean, his whole face practically lit up when you introduced yourself. The man is clearly head over heels in love. And did you see how protective he got when Jennings made that comment on you being a WSO? He was ready to fight right then and there"

"You're delusional" I laughed at her as we each grabbed our trays and made our way through the line in the mess hall, grabbing some classic military food for breakfast.

"And you're clueless" she added right back. The two of us found an empty table and sat side by side, still laughing over our conversation.

"Hello, ladies" Bradshaw greeted us both, sliding into the seat across from us as though we had known each other longer than a few hours.

"Hey, Bradshaw, we were just talking about—" Trace started but was cut off as I elbowed her harshly in the side only to receive a glare from her. "We were talking about how Danvers here wants to be a WSO" she covered it up calmly, not wanting to ruin our trust and friendship over something so easily, even if she had been teasing me about it since we left the barracks.

"Cool, uh I do have a question about that" Bradshaw pointed towards me with his fork casually. "Why do you want to be a WSO? I mean most people want to be real pilots-not that WSOs aren't real pilots- but they want to be flying, not in the backseat" he rambled as I nodded along politely and Trace laughed slightly from beside me at how awkward the both of us were being.

"When I was younger my mother used to be in the Navy" I started.

"Was she a WSO?" Trace questioned with her interest peeking from beside me.

"No, but she worked with pilots and WSOs all the time and after she retired she would tell me storys about them which is what inspired me to follow this path" I explained with a fond smile at the memory of my mothers story's I had fallen in love with at a young age.

~~~

"Would you stop? Our room is spotless" Trace scolded as I checked our room one last time before the officers would be coming in for our first inspection a week after we arrived at the academy. I let out a sigh as I fell into place beside her, standing at attention as a knock came to the door and the officers stepped in to have a look around.

"Good" they nodded sternly before walking out again after making their quick check, moving onto the next room. I let out a breath I had been holding in after they left, finally feeling like I could breath again.

"You still going for your run today?" My roommate asked as we each relaxed slightly.

"No, we've got to get to the mess hall for breakfast" I reminded, pulling her along with me as she laughed at my eagerness to eat.

I had sat down with Trace at our normal spot, Bradshaw not there yet, when I remembered that I forgot the milk for my coffee.

"I'll be right back" I told Trace who was already digging into her meal, sending me a simple thumbs up as I set my tray down and moved to leave again. I had passed Bradshaw on my way back to the counter, him on his way to sit with us like usual.

"Where you going, Darlin'?" Bradshaw called after me, stopping to watch as I walked by him.

"Forgot something, I'll be right back" I waved back at him briefly, rushing by and not slowing down. He shook his head with a small laugh and sat down across the table from Trace who had been watching with interest.

"So?" Trace started with a knowing smirk.

"So?" Bradshaw copied her tone.

"You totally like her"

"What? Who?"

"Danvers, it's pretty obvious" Trace crossed her arms on the table as she stated the truth to Bradshaw.

"She doesn't seem to notice" Bradshaw mumbled slightly in defeat, poking at his food blandly.

"That's because she's so focused on the academy. I love the girl, but she needs to get out of her head sometimes" Trace smiled at the memory of me checking our room multiple times before the officers came in to do their own check only an hour ago.

"So how do I get her to notice me?" Bradshaw wondered, knowing Trace and I were close enough now to know each other better than anyone else here. Trace glanced over her shoulder to see that I was caught up talking with the lunch lady happily.

"She goes out for a run every morning at 3:30 on the track field" Trace began to tell him in a slightly hushed tone in case I came back and overheard. "I go with her sometimes, but if you meet up with her there she might notice you more. Start with that and see how it goes" she gave him some information on how to get my attention.

"Here she comes" Bradshaw warned as I walked up behind my roommate and took my seat beside her, coffee cup in hand.

"Hey guys" I smiled at my two best friends again.

"Mornin'" Bradshaw nodded to me, eating his breakfast casually with a slight tint to his cheeks.

"Hi" Trace smiled over at me, shooting Bradshaw a look which I didn't catch. "Did you get what you forgot?" She asked next.

"Yeah"

~~~

"You coming for a run this morning?" I asked Trace as she laid in bed, face squished into her pillow ungracefully.

"No" she mumbled sleepily. "Go ahead without me"

"Alright, I'll meet you at the mess hall" I told her as I got dressed and tied my sneakers up, following my regular routine since arriving at the academy.

"Have fun!" She called tiredly after me with the limp wave of her arm. I shut the door behind me and walked out onto the track field to find Bradshaw was sitting in the grass warming up for a run.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in shock as I stood over him, much like the day we had first met.

"I thought I'd join you for a run this morning" he started, looking up at me from where he sat, calm grin on his face. "Is that alright?" He second guessed himself, not wanting to overstep, expression falling momentarily.

"Yeah that's fine, if you can keep up with me" I teased, joining him in the grass to stretch for our run.

"Oh you're on" Bradshaw said with determination though we both knew he was a lot slower than I was. "Come on, let's get running" He jumped to his feet once he was ready, reaching out a hand to help me to my feet. I gave him a confused look as I stared at his hand for a moment.

"Yeah, catch me if you can!" I called out, slapping his hand away jokingly as I sprung to my feet and started off running away from him. He let out a loud laugh as he shook his head and chased after me. I slowed down to match his pace, not wanting to leave him in the dust like I had back when we did our fitness evaluations two weeks ago.

The two of us ran side by side for a while before finally slowing to a stop. We walked towards the barracks together and broke off to get cleaned up before meeting back at the mess hall.

"How was your run?" Trace asked with a grin as Bradshaw and I sat down at the table with her for breakfast.

"I think I'm getting faster, I actually managed to keep up with her" he commented proudly, holding his head up high.

"She was definitely taking it easy on you" Trace laughed as his smile turned into a frown.

"Don't worry, I take it easy on Trace too" I told him and he smiled slightly at my attempt to make him feel better.

"Ouch" Trace mocked hurt, holding hand to her chest in offence.

"You know it's true" I laughed at her and she chuckled as well.

~~~

I had walked out onto the field again the next morning to find a figure already waiting on the grass, stretching for a run.

"You're late darlin" Bradshaw commented as I walked over to him slowly, seeing as he had once again arrived before me and was waiting to run with me.

"I'm right on time." I replied, checking my watch calmly to see that it was 3:30 am on the dot.

"You're lucky" he claimed, looking over as I began to warm up.

"And you're slow" I teased before taking off in a sprint again. He shook his head with a wide smile, standing up and joining me on the track.

~~~

Trace, Bradshaw and I entered class together that morning, moving to take our seats when we noticed Jennings and Anderson sitting together as per usual.

"Danvers" Trace sighed when she saw the lightbulb go off in my head yet again. "Please don't try it" she begged but followed right behind me anyway, being by my side through the thick and thin of it.

"Really? You again?" Anderson glanced up at me with annoyance when he noticed someone standing over his desk.

"Yeah, me again" I looked right back at him, not intimidated like all of the others in our class. "I think we got off on the wrong foot and I'd like to fix it" I began calmly and maturely.

"Can you just leave us alone" Jennings rolled his eyes as Trace stepped up right beside me, staring down at them both intensely in a way of warning them both.

"We don't want to get mixed in with the failure of a girl who wants to become a backseater because she doesn't have the strength to be a real pilot" Anderson shot back next and I pulled back my fist quickly.

"Not here" Trace caught my arm, pulling me back to my seat as her anger displayed as quickly as mine rose up, her taking on the logical thinking role of our friendship for the moment. "Let them be idiots" she told me in a softer tone as she sat beside me, Bradshaw glaring at the duo from behind us.

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Question of the day: do you think Danvers will ever get Anderson and Jennings to be on her side?