Crimson [840658]

Chapter 1

My name is Hannah Spencer and I'm not your ordinary girl. When I was eighteen I signed up to be in the army, I am a soldier fighting for Great Britain. Now one year later I've finished my training and I could be shipped off to the front-line at any time. But it wasn't like I didn't want to be here; I wanted to be pushed, to be challenged, to be able to do something people will be able to recognize me for, and that's what I hoped being in the army would do.

Tonight me and a few colleagues had been given tickets to a concert raising money for injured troops fighting in Iraq. I'd got out a red dress I'd never worn before, and found my heels that were shoved under my bed so I would look presentable. I wasn't exactly sure what the night included but I knew it would be televised and a few celebrities would be making an appearance. I just wanted to have fun while I could.

"You have an hour and a half before Sandy is picking you up" my mum called from the down the stairs. I couldn't help but smile every time someone mentioned Sandy's name, her parents had been huge fans of the musical Grease and decided to name her after the leading character. I was glad my parents hadn't been like that.

Speaking of family, I lived at home with my mum, dad and older sister Ella (though she was currently studying Philosophy at University) we were a pretty close family and even though half the time they annoyed the heck out of me, I still loved them.

Not wanting to keep Sandy waiting as I knew what she was like, I grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom so I could have a quick shower. After I had done that I slipped on my dressing gown and began to dry my hair. The thing about having long hair was that it took forever to dry, so by the time I had finally finished curling my muddy blonde hair I had half an hour to spare.

I put on some make-up, though since I didn't like plastering myself in foundation I only used a bit. Just enough to make my eyes pop and lips shine. Once I had done that I squirted myself with perfume and slipped on the dress. It hugged my curves and fell mid-thigh but I really liked it, I'd just never had the occasion to wear it before. I put on my black heels, already knowing I would regret wearing them by the end of the night. I could run for miles without stopping, crawl through the mud, but when it came down to heels they were the true killers.

I was pretty pleased with myself when I got downstairs and realized I was early, usually I would be rushing and still be late. Sandy being the punctual girl she was turned up exactly when she said she would, I knew at least we would be getting to the venue on time. "Hannah you look amazing" she squealed when she saw me, before pulling me into one of her usual hugs. I still never understood how a 'girly girl' like her ended up being in the army, I mean she told me before that it was just something she wanted to do, but I still thought it was bizarre.

"You look great too" I said as I looked at what she was wearing, a floor length black dress that managed to hug her in all the right places and still look elegant, she also had black heels and her short brown hair was curled into place, to sum her up in one word: stunning.

"You both look wonderful, have fun" my mum said walking out the living room and standing in-front of us, I kissed her on the cheek before telling her I wouldn't be late and carefully managing to get into the front seat of the car. We had one more stop to make before we actually went to the venue; we were going to pick up Codie and Daniel. They were both in the army too and also boyfriend and girlfriend. They had a really cute relationship and always looked out for each other, they met at training camp when we started a year ago and haven't looked back since.

Daniel had gone round to Codie's since she only lived a short distance away. Five minutes later (I told you it wasn't far away) Sandy pulled up outside her house and beeped the horn, Codie and Daniel came out holding hands. Codie was wearing a short blue dress that puffed out when it hit the waist, it really suited her figure as she was really tall. Daniel was wearing a two piece black suit with a multi-coloured tie, it stuck out like a sore thumb but you could always count on him to wear something wacky.