Military Girl

Chapter 1

It was silent, as usual. The house was always quiet at this time. My bag was sat in the corner, half packed. That was why I had gotten up so early. I needed to finish packing. I glanced up at the gently ticking clock that hung on the wall. It was four am, I had four hours until I had to be there. What else did I need? I looked through the list, trying to not rustle the paper. Any noise could wake my dad up, I wasn't risking that. Hat, check; Phone, check; Uniform, check; Boots. I needed my boots. And I need to make sure they were perfectly clean. Leaping up, I made my way over the back door. It was locked. But dad's keys were sat on the worktop behind me. If I could just reach them. I held my breath as they hit together. I waited. Three minutes passed and there was no sign of life from upstairs. I unlocked the door and grabbed my boots. I had remembered to shine them. If the lighting was better, I would have been able to see my face reflected on the black surface. But there was barely enough light to see with. What else did I need?

I spent the next hour or so doing this. Read the list, freak out because I haven't got something, find it, pack it and then restart. Over and over again. Then I spent the next hour checking that I had got everything, then trying to fit it all into my holdall.

The clock struck seven and I heard the familiar chimes of dad alarm clock. He wasn't allowed to know I had been up this long. He thought that I had finished packing yesterday. I legged it up the stairs and dived into my wardrobe. I stood there. It wasn't unusual that he would come in and I would be choosing what to wear. My closet was so big that I even had my own desk and chair in there. Sometimes I wonder if we got my room mixed up. My closet is bigger than my actual room. I spun on the spot slowly, looking for my camouflaged suit. I spun once more. And again until I spotted it. I had pressed it yesterday so it was hung up alone, where it couldn't be crinkled again. I missed this. I might have only been two months since I last went but I missed it all. I pulled it on. I had been so worried that it wouldn't fit but the slightly smaller fit, worked perfectly. It meant that I actually looked slightly good, which didn't happen very often. I took the hairbrush from the desk and ran it through my hair before chucking on my cap. I ran downstairs.

"Morning Cassi."

"Morning dad." My dad was tall, much taller than I would ever be. He also had bright blonde hair compared to my chocolate brown. I always said that I took after my mum but in reality, I didn't take after anyone with the surname Lunkorc. One, my mum died before I was born. In fact, she died well before I would have even been conceived. Two, these aren't my real parents. I had been taken away from my real parents when I was ten, five years ago. I never knew why, they weren't abusive or mean to me or anything like that. I just was taken away. To be honest, I preferred it there than here. Here, I only had my dad; there I had a twin brother and an older sister. My brother would be fifteen, like me and my sister almost twenty. I sat down at the table still thinking of my family. I don't know why I started thinking of them. It's always when I have something on and I shouldn't be thinking. If dad knew... I would hate to think about it. It was a rule that no one, ever, would mention them or me living in Texas. I pulled my phone out my pocket and clicked on the YouTube app. At the top of my recommended videos was one of three teens. One guy with bright blonde hair that stuck right up, one girl with long brown hair and one guy that I knew far too well. My twin brother. He was everywhere. I turned it off again. I wasn't allowed to think about him or Jenna or mum and dad. They weren't even my parents any more.

I finished eating my bowl of muesli and ran back upstairs. I needed to brush my teeth and I had forgotten to pack my foundation. Two minutes later and my dad shouted up the stairs. "Cassi. If you don't hurry up then you're gonna be late." I looked at the clock. It was only half seven.

"Dad, there's half an hour. I've still got a few minutes." I heard him sigh and carry on with whatever he was doing. I finished sorting myself out and I was right. I still had ages left. I decided to leave early. No doubt the cadet master would want to talk to me beforehand. Before the Captain that ran the institution would want to. I was a rare cadet, I had passed the fourth year by the end of my first year. It had never been heard of before me. In fact, most people don't believe that it is even possible. I could, potentially, be called up to fight, if I was needed. But that wouldn't happen. I was fifteen and we weren't meant to start until this age. They had made special allowances for me as dad was an ex-serviceman who paid a lot of money to the institution.

I reached the tall, iron gates. Two minutes ago, I was in a bustling city, now the silent countryside. I pushed open the gates, creating a horrible, screeching noise that echoed for minutes after and walked through the dead grounds. Only the highest ranking cadets would be here at this time. Everyone else would arrive in an hour. I had to go to the canteen where everyone was meeting: The cadet masters, the Captain, the Sergeants, the lot. The only reason I was going was that I was an assistant cadet master. I opened the door to the canteen. Of course, I had to be the last one there.

"Ah. Solider Lunkorc. Please, come and join us." I nodded and sat down at the large metal table. My cadet master passed over a list of names. Our class for the year. I scanned the names. I never knew anybody on the list. I was about to look away when one certain name caught my eye.