Selene "Strutter" Lang has dreamed of being a naval aviator ever since she first climbed into her uncle's fighter jet when she was just three years old. Every single day since then, she worked and worked to make that dream a reality, not allowing an...
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Bradley Bradshaw walked through the living room of the apartment, a giant duffel bag full of clothes and necessities in his hands as he quadruple checked to make sure he had everything he could possibly need, then checked again for the fifth time. On that fifth check, he saw one of the romcoms his roommate slash best friend read obsessively just lying on their small coffee table. If it didn't end up in her duffel bag, he would have to hear her whine about it until either her sister or her parents mailed it to her. It was a good thing he did that fifth check.
"You ready?" Bradley called down the hallway as he grabbed the book, the cartoonishly drawn characters that she said was the mark of a genuinely good romcom novel grinning up at him.
As if on cue, Selene Lang stumbled out of her bedroom, her own giant duffel bag in her hands, along with a backpack slung over her shoulder, "Uh, yeah?" She scoffed as she entered the living room. "I've been ready for this since I was three. Are you ready?"
"I was ready four years ago, but—"
Selene dropped her duffel bag on his foot, slamming her backpack into his chest to cut him off, "Bradley, I love you, I really do, but if I have to hear this rant one more time, you'll have to wait even longer to fly with Top Gun because I will have shoved you down the stairs."
Selene and Bradley had been friends their entire lives. Selene's younger sister Danica liked to say they were codependent, and maybe they were, but Selene couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else. Her parents and Bradley's late mother used to say they were like siblings that were sent to separate families, that they were always meant to find each other. She liked that version better.
Before he could say anything back, a rhythmic knocking cut him off. Danica leaned into the doorway, "You guys almost done here? Mom and Dad are waiting in the parking lot, so if you could hurry it the hell up, that'd be nice."
Selene rolled her eyes, "We'll miss you too, Dani."
"You'll miss me better from San Diego." Danica said, snapping her fingers in a rapid succession. "Come on, let's move. I can't wait to turn Bradley's room into my personal walk-in closet."
"Don't touch my room, Danica Rose." Bradley warned, slinging Selene's backpack over his shoulder.
"You won't be here to stop me, Bradshaw."
Selene shoved Bradley out the door, hitting him with her own duffel bag to keep him moving. For the next three months, they would be training at the most elite aviator academy in the country with only the very best pilots the country had to offer. Only one percent of the pilots in the Navy were accepted to Top Gun and they had worked their asses off to get there, each with their own complications.
