Roses aren't always Red

New Beginings

"You sure about this kiddo, I won't make you walk in those doors if you aren't sure," grandad says tensely.

"Yeah. I'm sure. And I didn't go on a two day road trip for nothing. We are past the middle of nowhere. Did you see that last town. It's called nowhere. That's so stupid. What if someone asks where are you going. 'Oh nowhere'" I shake my head not understanding why anyone would think it was a great idea to call a place nowhere.

I look up at the new school I will be attending and living at. It looks like it could have been built by Stark Industries. The main building is huge and has big glass windows. There were at least five security cameras trained on the entrance alone. It turns out that it is actually a military facility. They take anyone and when they come out they behave and are also trained in combat.

"Hello, welcome. You must be Arianna Stroker, correct?" Says a woman who looks to be about 25.

"Uh, yeah. That's me," I say biting my inner lip nervously.

"Just a tip, start getting into the habit of saying yes sir or yes ma'am. It'll help you later on today when you meet more of the staff around here," she says with a smile plastered on her face. I can feel the authoritative power as she speaks. It is actually extremely intimidating and I don't know what to say.

"Carson! Just the person I wanted to see," she says loudly to a girl of about my age walking towards us.

"What can I do for you ma'am?" The girl says eyeing me up and down.

"You are excused from duties for the rest of the day. You will take this one," she touches my shoulder and pushes me a step forward, "and show her everything she will need to know. Explain what being a part of this will mean"

I look at the girl who is supposed to show me around. She is about 5 foot 10 with broad shoulders. Her sleeves are rolled up to show muscles and her tight shirt shows off her really toned abs. I gulp nervously knowing this beauty in front of me could rip me to pieces in seconds. I wonder if everyone here looks like that.

"What's your name kid," the girl says looking at me smiling knowingly.

"I, uh. Arianna, but, uh everyone calls me Ari," I say awkwardly when I realize I was caught staring. She laughs at me.

"Alright then Ari, let's go, faster we get going the better," she says to me motioning to say goodbye to my grandad.

"Thank you for everything grandad. I'll miss you. Take care okay?" I say hugging him close.

"You'll do fine. I hope this is worth it to you. I'll write when I can," he says hugging me back tight.

When we break apart I turn to face the girl who is supposed to show me around. When we start walking away I don't look back knowing I might try to run if I did.

"Call me Casey, only the staff around here really calls me Carson. It's my last name. Starting today your last name is what you are going to be referred to. Cadet, uh whatever your last name is," she says realizing that she forgot to ask.

"Stroker," I say.

"Yeah. Ok so Cadet Stroker. You'll pick up pretty fast on the whole thing, the biggest thing to remember is that any officer is referred to by sir or ma'am. Majority of the staff are officers so I suggest until you've learned the difference respond to all adults like that," Casey says as we walk through hallway after hallway.

"Ok. Here we are. This is hall four. This is where most of your academic classes are going to be held. Do you have a schedule?" She asks me.

"Uh yeah. Here," I say handing her a little white slip I received earlier. She eyes me in surprise when she reads it over.

"Ari, jeeze kid. You are in higher level classes than a lot of people I know. What grade are you in anyway?"

"Eleventh," I say not sure what she is talking about.

"You're assigned into all college level classes kid. You must have tested pretty high on the placement exams before showing up."

"I don't know. I never got the results," I say honestly surprised.

"Well anyhow. All of your classes are down this hallway except for gym. Gym is a lot different here than anywhere else. It's where you are going to be spending a lot of time from now on. It's where the military part really kicks in. You'll learn the drills pretty quickly. it's going to be really hard at first, but you'll pick up. Just listen to your instructor and you'll be fine. Cmon, I'll show you the mess hall on the way to the gym and then I'll show you your room."

"Sounds good to me," I say, but my head is already swarming with information.

"As you know, it's an all girls facility except a number of staff. I guess they didn't want young reckless boys and girls getting distracted by each other. You'll see that it didn't really prevent all that. Half the girls are lesbian or bi and the other half is either in denial or just doesn't care," Casey says chuckling. "I figure the way you were looking at me earlier shows you aren't quite straight."

I look down and mumble, "er, yeah. No, I'm not. Sorry" as a blush creeps across my cheeks.

"Don't worry about it. I know I'm sexy," she teases and flicks my nose only causing me to blush even more. I swear my face must be the color of my hair.

"I'm calling you red from now on. I like you. I'll introduce you to my friends later. Alright here we are. The mess hall. This is where all meals are held. The whole school eats together. It's kinda cool. They don't have any seating requirements so you can make friends by sitting down at a table with people. Find me at dinner tonight," she says somewhat rambling. She talks a lot I think to myself.

"Cmon red. Gym is over this way." she says putting her hands on my shoulders and steering me away. I internally groan realizing the nickname is going to stick.

A few moments later she stops in front of a door that leads outside. She swipes an ID against a scanner and it opens for us. We walk out and my jaw drops.

"So this is gym." She says laughing at my reaction. There are people marching in uniform, people practicing on an expansive shooting range. People casually playing basketball. People running track. It is huge. There is another building off to the side.

"That's the weight room. Has all the exercise machines and things. Upperclassmen can go as long as they have free time and an ID card to swipe," she says purposefully rolling her neck and stretching her arms to flex.

"Show off," I say laughing at her.

"That's me," she says laughing as well and steers me back inside.

"Let me see your schedule again," she says putting out her hand. I hand it to her and she smiles.

"Sweet, you are in the same dorm as me. I know your roommate. She's really amazing," she says a little dreamily and then says, "you'll like her. Cmon. Let's see if she's there."

As we walk there I realize I'm going to have a hard time navigating around. I have no idea how to make it back to the gym much less the hallway where classes are. I guess I'll just have to follow the crowd until I have it all scoped out.

"Ah, here we are. Your new room. You'll probably be given a key later today" she goes to knock on the door but it is swung open before she can.

"You are really loud. Some people are trying to study you know," my roommate says glaring at her.

"Whatever. I brought your new roommate," she says pushing me in front of her. I look at my new roomie and my jaw drops in disbelief.

"Oh my god... Isabelle?"

[AN] sorry that this one is a bit short. I promise the next one will be longer!!