Destined for Destruction

chapter two - delilah

"Today is the first day of the rest of my life," I said to myself in the mirror as I fixed my hair for the hundredth time and applied a coat of mascara. I had been looking forward to this day all summer.

I don't know when I decided to become an EMT, or even that I wanted to. For as long as I could remember, I wanted to be a nurse. During my junior year, I realized that I couldn't handle going right off to college immediately after my hellish high school years. So I decided to take a gap year. I had plenty of ideas on how to spend it, but I realized that if I want to eat something other than mac&cheese in college, I should probably work and earn some money. I've always loved people, I wanted to save lives, and I needed experience before nursing school. One thing led to another and I had signed up for EMT school.

There I was, driving down the PA turnpike, headed towards the Montgomery County Fire Academy. My mother and I had driven down the night before so that I could get a feel for my commute and know where I was going. I followed my GPS religiously, careful not to miss a turn and show up late on my first day of class.

I sat down in the front row before pulling out my brand new notebook and mechanical pencils. I was bright-eyed and ready to learn. The instructors stood in the back of the classroom, sipping from their coffee cups.

They waited until the clock struck eight before the first one spoke. "Good morning and welcome to the Montgomery County Fire Academy. Now that you all are settled into your seats, we're gonna have you all sit in alphabetical order."

There were a few audible groans. If I wasn't so excited, I would've groaned, too. But I was too excited to finally be there. I had all my paperwork to turn in, new supplies to take notes, I had even packed a lunch. I put all my belongings into my backpack and pulled them all back out as soon as I found my new seat. We were rearranged by last name; I was the last person to sit down. Meh, I'm used to it. Having the last name Walker always had me last.

"Now before we begin," an older man began, "Did any of you park your cars behind the building?" He looked at all of us. "No? Now's your chance to fess up. We don't laugh at you today, but don't make that mistake tomorrow. This isn't just the training facility for EMS. It's also the police and fire academies, and as you'll learn in this field — firefighters are idiots. We had a student who parked their car behind the building the same day a vehicle rescue course was taught. Long story short, the student walked back out to his car at the end of the day and the car was totaled. The windshield was cracked, the front doors were removed, there wasn't even a roof left. Don't park behind the building."

The instructors introduced themselves and the course and explained there would be more people who would teach us throughout the next few weeks. We had signed up for a rigorous class and if we felt uneasy about it, we should withdraw within the next few days. I swallowed hard. We had just begun and they were already discouraging us? What were the next few weeks about to look like?

"Good morning, how are you guys?" The female instructor asked. She looked like she could be Ramona Flowers' mother. Her hair was dyed the color of Dr. Pepper soda and her arms were covered in tattoos. The woman fascinated me.

"Tired," I replied. It was true. It was the first time I had woken up at 6am since I had graduated high school weeks earlier.

"Aww," she looked at me with faux-sympathy. "Want me to pull a tissue out of my bra?"

I looked straight at the woman, too stunned to speak. I stammered a response, but she was already continuing her introduction, telling us her name was Sophia. It was obvious she didn't really care to be there. She was making her formal introduction as the head of the EMS Training Institute at the Fire Academy and was ready to leave as soon as she sat down.