Military Girl

Chapter 21

I woke to bright, spring sunlight. Today was the day. The day I was going to finally reunite with Jenna. I sprung out of bed, throwing on my uniform in record time. A small beeping came from my desk. I had woken up before my alarm and I hadn't even realised it. Laughing, I turned it off and ran downstairs. I had been permitted to wake up later than the cadets due to a very late night training session that almost everyone had collapsed in the past evening. "Lunkorc!" I heard the sharp snap of the Captain behind and stopped dead in my tracks. "We walk in the corridors, please."

"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" I saluted and turned away again in a speed walk. He chuckled at my back as I continued down the corridor towards the General's office. Many people, Cadets and Soldiers alike, stared. It wasn't usual to see anyone, especially me, out of training and running through the corridors: it just wasn't done.

I pushed through the door to the General's office, almost running straight into it. Both Dad and I burst into fits of laughter. He stood from his desk and came over to me. "You excited, little one."

"I'm not little, Dad!" I said nodding. I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, unable to stand still. I just couldn't wait much longer. He went back to his desk and spent ages pulling stuff out of a bag and putting extra stuff in its place. Looking up and peeking at me, grinning, he bent down again and started tying his laces. "Dad!! Hurry up!! Stop making me wait!!" He chuckled and came and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. We left his office, me still bouncing around like a three-year-old on Christmas Eve. People nodded and saluted as we walked passed. We responded in a similar way to the smiles and laughter at my energy. I ran out of the giant double doors and through the high gates. I clambered in the car and was ready to go before Dad had even reached it. We pulled out of the drive and down the tiny road that leads to the city. The car journey seemed to take forever. The roads seemed endless. Time seemed to drag out like never before. I groaned but quickly stopped at the sight of our destination.

The car hadn't even stopped before I jumped out tumbling slightly from the momentum. I heard my dad chuckle and continue driving. Waving, I ran up the steps and pushed myself through the doors. I looked up at marble walls, lined with the cities accomplishments and documents in polished frames. Everyone around me wore suits and shoes that clicked against the floor; had hair that was immaculately styled; carried clipboards and stacks of papers that were almost as tall as I was, and only spoke to each other in hushed voices.

"Are you alright, miss?" I spun around to see a man, aged between twenty-five and thirty stood behind me.

"Yes, sir. I'm meant to be meeting my sister and I don't know how this all works." Replying in the most honest way, I looked down at my feet and laughing slightly at my sheepishness. He smiled and motioned me to follow him through a corridor. The corridor was the same blinding white as the reception but had pictures lining the walls showing the history of the city. The earliest ones showed the city as no more than a village: a few houses, a shop, a church and a tiny primary school. Over time, the pictures became better quality and the city became bigger. A market, cafes and restaurants, more shops, a supermarket, a secondary school, the institution, a sixth form, a Methodist church, a cathedral. More and more were built until tens of thousands of people moved there. I attempted to study each picture as we walked past but, just as I focused on one, we moved forward. I sighed, I would come back and look at them later. My foot caught on the edge of the stone floor we had been previously walking on and the red carpet that started. I looked up to see a tall, brown door and a desk to my left.

"Name." I jumped at the voice. An old lady with wrinkled skin and silver hair sat on a high back chair.

"Um." Name. I needed to give my name but I suddenly felt very nervous. What if Jenna didn't like me? What if we'd got it wrong? What if she didn't recognise me? "Cassi. Cassi Lunkorc. I'm here to see my sister, uh, Jenna."

The lady smiled, "No need to be nervous, dear. She's buzzing to see you. Just go through the corridor and turn left into room five. We'll come and get you once your time up but you have a couple of hours until then. Go have fun." She pressed a button on her desk and ushered me through. It was a plain corridor with cream walls and red carpet that looked so soft that I wanted to take my boots off right there and then. I turned left, as instructed and started counting the doors I went past. I couldn't see in any of them other than number two which had a woman saying goodbye to two young children and an older man. A mother seeing her children, perhaps? The smallest of the children was crying his heart out, not wanting to leave his mum. I smiled at him as I walked past to which he stopped for a moment. I kept walking. Three. Four. Five. This one. Jenna was in there. I held my breath and quickly sorted out my uniform. She might be my sister but I still have to give the right impression. I pulled my hat straight, made sure that my boots weren't scuffed from where I almost tripped, tucked in the front of my shirt that had somehow risen up, and pulled my bag up my back a little. I closed my eyes and let out the breath before pushing the door open and being jumped on.