Beverly Howard ran a brush through her long red hair as she sighed in quiet frustration. Her first semester at the Academy had been difficult, and she was certain the second would be even more so. That, however, was not the source of her annoyance, wish as she might that it were. No, this was a cadet's worst nightmare, save the ones revolving around their studies: she was getting a new roommate, today, at the end of her last class.

She had started off the year with a small dark haired girl named Claire Voy, and the two had been fast friends, that is until Claire had opted to leave the academy and pursue her medical career elsewhere. Beverly had been saddened by her departure but had grown used to having a room for herself, and had eventually come to enjoy the solitude. Now that was all about to change.

Checking the chronometer briefly, and discovering she was running late, Beverly grabbed her data PADD and disks, then walked briskly into the hall, hoping she could make it across the campus in time to reach her first class of the second half of her first year, advanced Terran comprehensive anatomy. She rounded a corner, nearly falling over in the process, and ran straight into an upperclassmen, jarring the supplies he was packing to the floor.

Beverly moaned softly, and bent over to help pick them up, grimacing as the bell rang a few moments later. There was no way she could ever explain this to her instructor, without getting reprimanded for failure to pay attention to her surroundings. And she had just gotten off probation two months ago!

The older cadet looked at her inquisitively for a moment. "I'm late for my class," she explained starkly, trying to grab the last few microchips, and make it to the anatomy room before the second bell rang, signaling that anyone showing up after that, or, worse yet, failing to, without fair reason was going to be sent to the superintendent, immediately following their class.

The boy regarded her oddly for a moment, and then a smile spread across his tan, square-jawed face. "What are you looking at?" she snapped, and braced measurably for the tongue lashing and lecture she expected, mentally chiding herself for talking before thinking, again, and this time to an upperclassmen. Who would it be next, an admiral?

Slowly his brown hair shook over his head, his eyes twinkling merrily in the bright light of the corridor. He bit his lip, quite viciously she noted, to keep what she was almost certain was laughter, bottled up inside. At last he chuckled loudly, the halls echoing with it. Beverly was beyond disconcerted. "What?" she managed to squeak in a voice filled unabashed annoyance, though, at last, it was underlined with amusement.

At last he stooped long enough to gasp out "What's your name?"

She was perplexed by his behavior, and merely answered "Beverly Howard."

That grin, the one she found so immensely annoying crossed his features again, his eyes overflowing with laughter. "I'm Walker, Walker Keel."

Beverly fought down the urge to say so and stalk off down the hall, at a run. Instead she said, "I am late, Cadet Keel."

No you aren't, Cadet Howard." His voice was fluent and pointed, though there was still a note or two of laughter buried deep within it.

"Yes I am, I have to leave!" She said, much louder than she had intended to.

"Cadet Howard.."

"Beverly" she interjected ferociously.

"Beverly, that was the bell signaling the end of breakfast, not the beginning of class."

"But," she stammered, wondering how she could have thought she was frustrated before, "They're the same thing! Some Cadets don't have class until later, and that's just to tell them there's no more break…" she let her voice trail off upon catching his eye.

"True enough," he stated with blunt audacity, "But I didn't know that was true on Sundays."

"Oh my gosh!" she moaned, her hand flying to her mouth.

He laughed again. "See you around, Beverly." That said, he walked off down the corridor. As soon as she was thoroughly certain he was gone, she thudded her head softly against the wall, wondering, bemusedly, if this had had anything to do with her frustration. Deciding it did, and also deciding that her frenzy was largely due to the acquisition of a new roommate, she began a mental list of grudges to hold against her when she came, tomorrow.