Fuck.

There was that awful sound again. I'd been here for almost a year now and I'm still not used to it. I hate having to wake up at 6AM for drills.

I've been at the Wilde Institute-don't let the name fool you, it's a military school-for one year in two weeks and I don't hate it any less than I did back then. Sure, I made friends, and I learned my way around the facility, but I hated it. With every fiber of my being.

Sergeant Jack Noir was our drill sergeant, a seasoned veteran who had fought in many wars. He was a no-nonsense guy, which basically meant he was a dick of epic proportions. He has made people cry on more than one occasion. Ugh. Not getting into his assholeishness this early in the morning.

My clock read 6:05. They gave us five minutes for us to wake up. We were expected to be lined up in front of the mess hall at 6:15, which gave us just enough time to get dressed and brush our teeth. The girls usually got up earlier and did their hair as best they could with what they had.

Sergeant Jack-off wouldn't let us keep a lot of material things in the barracks with us, like hair appliances, hair products, and makeup. The girls usually looked like shit most of the time, so it was rather obvious.

I rolled out of bed and onto the floor, exhausted as usual. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and ran to the bathroom, desperate to get a sink to brush my teeth. As I got there, the last sink became occupied as Sollux Captor grabbed it to put contacts into two different colored eyes.

Eyes were a weird thing at school. Everyone had unique eyes. Mine were weird too. I would even go far enough to say that they were the weirdest.

I ran for the sink all the way on the end, next to the urinals, as Karkat finished up and went to take a piss. I grabbed my toothbrush and paste out of the holders next to the sinks and started brushing.
"Morning, dude."

I turned my head to the side, looking at Karkat. It was our morning routine to greet each other. We weren't really friends; it was kind of just a thing, whether it was at the sinks, the urinals, or the barracks.

"Morning," I said, mouth full of toothpaste.

That was it.

He finished pissing and left. I spat out my toothpaste and rinsed, then ran my fingers through my hair, fighting bed head.

I headed out to lineup a few minutes early, catching up with John, my best friend.

"Hey dude. Morning." I yawned.

"You excited?" He seemed more awake than usual.

"...For what? Is there some kind of USO show today?"

"No, man, I wish. That'd be sick. But my cousin is coming today!"

Shit. That was right. John had told me his cousin was coming to join us at Wilde. He told me over lunch one time, after we had received our mail.

"She's super tough. Or so I've heard; I haven't seen her in like years. My dad wrote me a letter saying she's coming."

"Did he say why?"

And I can't remember what he said after that.

A bunch of the girls were already there. Terezi Pyrope, my best female friend, was standing around talking to a few other girls. Rose, my twin sister, was standing near the side, lacing up her boots, next to Kanaya Maryam, her best friend. Karkat and Sollux were already in position, scared shitless of Sergeant Jack before he was even here.

A whistle blew. I spoke too soon. Before I ran into position, I checked my watch. 6:12. That was strange. Jack was never early. He was always right on time.

Because he was early, a few stragglers ran out of the barracks, not expecting the whistle to be blown this early.

"Get your asses here on time, soldiers!" Jack screamed at them, his eyes almost on fire. Once they were in the proper line up, the sergeant addressed us all.

"Good morning, soldiers."

"Good morning," came the definite reply.

"I hope you all have rested up, because this morning, we have a new soldier joining us. Please welcome Jade Harley."

You can pinpoint the exact moment that my life changed forever.