My Boyfriend's a Fighter Pilot (And So Am I)

Chapter 2

"Hey there Phoe." I heard my uncle say as he walked towards the doors that I was staring at.

"Hey Uncle Mav," I say as I go in to hug him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, in about ten seconds I'm going to walk through these doors and become your new teacher. And of course, introduce you since they don't know who you are yet." Maverick said with a smirk. "Wish me luck." He said he walked through the doors. I smiled and tried fixing my hair. Ugh, I hate having my hair up in this stupid bun. I thought to myself as I pulled it out to redo it. But I was caught off guard as I heard my uncle say his cue words. Okay, Anna, breathe deep, be cool, act natural, you got this. I let out a deep breath and pushed through the doors.

"Your new classmate has joined you guys late because she recently came back from Operation Covert, has not one, but two confirmed air-to-air kills, and has earned a second call sign. Please welcome Lieutenant Anna Phoenix, call signs, Ricochet and Phoenix." My uncle said. Head up, chin up, slight smile, focus on breathing, turn around, make slight eye contact, then eye contact with Nat, and then you'll get to sit. I anxiously thought as I ran my routine through my head. Even though I had just met everyone last night, I was still nervous because I wasn't in the naval academy at the same time that they were. I turned around and did just what I rehearsed, and then my uncle said "Thank you Phoenix, you may now take a seat next to...Rooster." I looked over at his surprised expression before he looked away. I walked over and sat, and we both didn't say a word to each other. I was glad though, because my uncle began his lesson speech, before dismissing us to go get into our flying gear. Before I had time to blink, Rooster was up out of his seat and the first out the door.

"What's up with Rooster?" I asked as I walked side by side with Nat.

"Only God knows." She said as she shook her head. "You ready for this?"

"Only ready as I'll ever be," I said with a smirk as we headed toward our gear. It didn't take long to get dressed, and I chatted with Nat as we headed towards our fighter jets. I waved bye to her and Bob and began to work on getting mine ready. I looked back at Nat, but her attention was fixed on Rooster and Mav, and it looked like they were having a slightly heated discussion. Rooster finally turned on his heel and walked back to his jet, with a less than happy expression on his face. As we finished getting our jets ready, some of us were instructed to stay back in the hangout room, as we waited for our turns to face off against Maverick. Payback, Fanboy, and Rooster went first, and we turned on the radio to listen to what they were saying while they were in the air. I grabbed a flavored water and took a seat, watching as Bob played some pool with Raven.

"Good morning aviators. This is your captain speaking." My uncle said, "Welcome to basic fighting maneuvers. As briefed, today's exercise is dog fighting. Guns only, no missiles. We do not go beyond the hard deck of 5,000 feet. Working as a team, you'll have to shoot me down, or else. "

"Or else what, sir?" Payback asked.

"Or else I shoot back," Maverick said. "If I shoot either one of you down, you both lose."

"How bout we put some skin in the game?" Payback said.

"What do you have in mind?" Mav said.

"Whoever gets shot down first has to do two hundred push-ups." I could practically see my uncle's smirk as he laughed and said "Guys, that's a lot of pushups."

"They don't call it an exercise for nothing sir," Fanboy said jokingly.

"You got yourself a deal gentlemen," Mav said. "Fight's on. Let's turn and burn!" It was clear that they had not anticipated Maverick, as they all yelled "Holy shit!" as Maverick blew through them. It wasn't long before we heard the whine of target lock, and the first team was done. Payback, Fanboy, Raven, and I looked out the window as we watched Rooster begin his two hundred push-ups.