Soldier Girl (gxg)

Day 1

"And now we will proudly announce this year's 2016-2017 CCHS Valedictorian! Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a big round of applause for our very own, Alexis Wolfe!'' The principle of my school shouted into the podium's microphone.

I smiled as my friends and family and others in the gym cheered me on as I walked towards the stage. My principle pulled me into a tight embrace as well as my old teachers. I nervously stood in front of the podium and mentally prepared for my speech.

"Hello, I'm Alex and I want to thank some people before I put my hands on my award. I want to thank my friends that helped me with missed assignments on homework. You guys have made me really enjoy my four short years here and I promise never to forget anyone of you guys. I want to thank my teachers who pushed me into making good grades. My basketball, cross-country coaches and band director for getting mad at me when I told them I wasn't going to take either one of them as a profession. And finally and most importantly, my father." The audience clapped and laughed when I brought up my coaches and director. "Because of you, dad, I am the person I am today. Thanks to you, I got to every practice, meet, and football game. I honestly can't thank you enough or any of you wonderful people. They were the best years of my life. Thank you."

~

The cheering stopped and my eyes opened. I could see girls filling up all the bus seats in the moving vehicle with duffel bags on their laps. The girl sitting next to me had the surname Henry written across the tag. My eyes drifted to the bus window to see the passing trees go by.

The anxious and depressed tension in the air made me question my decision of where this bus was headed. The vehicle was currently headed to Norfolk, Virginia where we will all spend the next ten weeks in the Armed Forces School of Music (AFSM). The six weeks after that will be in Basic Combat Training (BCT).

I guess no one back at home would have believed anyone when they were told that Alexis Wolfe would join the US military, no less the band. They were so used to thinking that I would be a WNBA star or running in the olympics. I did have many offers from good colleges but I didn't want to spend the rest of my days playing sports. The idea came to me when I realized that my father wouldn't be able to pay for me to go to some big university.

My love for playing music and being able to pay for me to go to school for a degree was very possible; I just had to join the army. It was highly recommended for someone like me in my position and I didn't think twice to take it. I had scored very high on my ASVAB with the seventy-three so it made sense to me. I passed all the following physical requirements: not too tall, not too fat, not too crazy, and able to play a few musical instruments.

I would be the first one in my family to go into the military. I almost shed a tear when my family cried as I loaded the bus. I got a good pat on the back from my father and very long hug from my sister. My family doesn't show affection a lot so when they all said they loved me as I went, I knew I didn't need them to show it all the time.

The trees stopped appearing like blurs meaning that the bus was slowing down and we had arrived. The campus was huge with multiple buildings put into rows and the main one with the logo and name of the school. Concrete sidewalks were surrounding each building. Women in dark green camouflage started running laps around a large track field. Others were doing jumping jacks or doing trial runs on different courses. All of the sudden, both men and women sergeants started banging at the bus windows as we pulled to a stop. Their shouts were aimed at us through the small thin glass.

"Get off the bus, Privates! Move! Move! Move! Let's go ladies."

"Get your asses outta there and get in line. This is do or die!"