The Air Cadets

Part 4: Briefings

(Quick note; " marks are for Alice's speech. ' marks are for Thoughts)

Alice had finished listening to the rambling of the flight lieutenant or whatever the hell they were. For some reason, her mood instantly declined.
Maybe listening to an officer rant on about safety didn't bring up her happiness levels.

The leading cadet with the name of Alice returned to her room, a bounce still in her step, a smile still on her face, as usual.
The happy Mute that only the new cadets look up to.
Then they overtake her.
But that's not the point.
She stepped into her room, observing the upper bunk, not seeing Andino.
Alice thought to herself;
'You know, I haven't properly looked at her'
This thought occurred to Alice as she didn't know if Andino was in that room where the briefing was.
For some reason, Alice felt panicky at this thought, but she didn't know why.
She didn't even know Andino.

"She's probably just busy somewhere"

Alice looked herself in the mirror mounted on the wardrobe door, inspecting herself.
Her brown, straight hair, her body which is way too slim to be normal.
The feminine curves which look like nothing compared to others on this camp.
It's not that she was small.
It's just that she was too-
Wiry.
Thin.

It wasn't like Alice to be so self-conscious, but this camp felt like a giant beauty pageant.
Boys flaunting their toned muscles, and girls showing as much skin as allowed by ATC rules.
Alice now felt like she had to succumb to these typical standards of teenage Air Cadets.
But she didn't.
She stayed in her comfortable jeans -no rips or cuts- and shirt, covering her shoulders, and entire chest and abdomen.

'Cute, I guess'
Alice thought, still more concerned about other people's opinions of her than her own.

As she was inspecting her own choice of clothing -blue jeans and white T-shirt- there was the sound of a large group of cadets outside.
They sounded aggressive.
Repetitive.
She shook that random thought of fear as she took out her laptop, plugged in the charger and sank into the long dream of a video game.

((Sorry that this chapter is so dull, I just did it in three separate parts with a month or two between. So, I couldn't get a proper train going))