Chapter 3 –
A loud rumble sounded from Angie's stomach as she walked into the cafeteria. The aroma from the food swept straight to her nostrils as she walked between the long, crowded tables.
Becoming increasingly annoyed at the looks the boys were giving her as she walked past, Angie rolled her eyes as she stretched her neck and looked around the hall to find the girls.
She found them seated at the corner of the hall. They had their schedules open and were chatting amongst themselves.
"Any early starts?" Angie questioned straightaway as she sat between Ruby and Peyton, the youngest cadet of the group.
"Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are six am starts." Ruby answered, causing Angie to cringe. "Tuesdays and Thursdays are seven am starts."
"I will never get used to early morning starts." Angie said.
"We've got obstacle training at one." Ruby carried on.
"Great. Right after we eat too." Angie said cynically as she sat back up and walked towards the front of the hall to grab some food.
She didn't know where to start as she looked at banquet before her. She grabbed a large plate and grabbed whatever looked appetising, which seemed to be everything.
"Someone's hungry." A husky voice laughed from behind Angie, who turned around to see the camp leader Connor James walk up next to her.
A puff of air intended to be a laugh came out of Angie's mouth, she then cleared her throat before speaking. "I'm starving." She said as she grabbed a roasted chicken thigh.
Connor chuckled again before putting his hand out. "Connor James. Camp leader." He introduced himself.
"Angie Moretti. Squad leader." She shook his hand as she replied.
"Pretty name." He complimented.
"Thanks."
"Italian?" He asked.
"Yeah, how'd you guess?"
"I don't know. Basic instinct I guess." Connor shrugged. "I also guessed you were the squad leader. You look like a leader."
Angie found it impossible not to smile at that comment. Especially given the conversation she just had with Major Harrison.
"What school are you from?" Angie wondered.
"I just graduated from Earl Hatton." Conner lowered his voice. "Listen, if you need any help or need someone to talk to, I'm your guy. Don't hesitate to come talk to me if your having any trouble."
"Uh, thanks." Angie replied. "But I should be fine."
"Nicole Faye." The annoying blonde came out of nowhere yet again, practically pushing Angie out of the way to shake Connor's hand. Angie scowled at Nicole when she almost dropped her food. "The soon to be squad leader."
"Hi," Connor shook her hand. "Connor James."
Angie scoffed and rolled her eyes before grabbing more food and strolling back to her table.
"What was that?" Asked Shannon, the raven haired sixteen year old, who was seated across from Angie.
"I know." Angie's voice became high pitched. "That bitch."
Ruby giggled. "We're not talking about Nicole." She said as Angie stuffed her mouth with fried rice.
"Were you flirting with the camp leader?" Peyton interrogated.
Angie furrowed her eyebrows. "Aren't you like twelve?" She asked back, pointing her plastic fork at Peyton. "You don't know what flirting is." She said through a mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"Come on, Ange, we all saw you!" Samantha piped in.
"What is this? An interrogation?" Angie raised her eyebrows and laughed dryly at everyone at the table. "No I wasn't flirting. I was talking and laughing with someone who happened to be a boy. If Connor were a girl would you say I was flirting?"
Everyone at the table remained silent and seemed to be thinking about that question.
"Besides, he came up to me." Angie said in denial.
"Don't do anything you'll regret, Ange." Ruby spoke again. "You heard what Davis said about any funny business." She air quoted at those last two words.
"Ugh, if I hear those words one more time…" Angie finished off her chicken before wiping her face and hands. Upon seeing the girl's bathroom, she got up and made her way there to wash her hands. "Wasn't. Flirting." She had the final word before leaving the table.
As Angie was walking back to her table a boy dropped a fork in front of her. Instinctively she picked it up and gave it back only to realise it belonged to the boy from Wellington Academy who winked at her during the meeting.
"Thank you," A nails on a chalkboard voice came out of his mouth as he took back his fork, cocking his eyebrows up as he did.
"Right." Angie barely whispered before moving forward to leave.
"Anthony Dotson." He held out his hand. "Most people just call me Dotson. But you can call me anything you want." He winked again.
Angie cleared her throat and cringed as she briefly shook his hand. "Can I call you creepy?"
The table behind Angie snorted with laughter. She turned around to see the boys of Madison Preparatory School trying to hold back their laughter.
"Playing hard to get?" Dotson replied. "I kinda like that."
'Is this guy for real?' Angie thought, taking a step back and folding her arms.
"Just leave the girl alone Dotson." Said a deep voice coming from the Madison Prep table.
Angie turned to meet a pair of light steely blue eyes. A fair skinned boy with short, dark brown hair walked up beside her. Angie also recognised him from the meeting as one of the boys that kept peeking at her squad.
"She's not interested." He said.
"Get real Stone." Dotson laughed looking back and forth. "She's interested."
Angie's eyes turned into slits as a dry smile crept onto her face. "I am, am I? I haven't realised yet."
He turned to sit back down before taking a step back towards Angie who moved back another step. "This isn't over." A flirtatious tone snuck into his creepy voice.
"Okay." Angie nodded and looked away as he went to sit back down.
She turned to the boy next to her and grinned sincerely. "Thanks, I guess."
He let out a short laugh. "No problem. I'm Alex." He held out his hand.
"Angie." She smiled again as she gave his hand a firm squeeze.
"Nice to meet you." A large smile appeared. "Although, it didn't really look like you needed my help, to be honest. I just thought I'd help you out of your misery."
Angie gave a long chuckle. "Right. Well, thanks anyway." Her smile faded when she looked over to her table to see the girls were all looking at her. When they realised she saw them they all turned back to their plates or schedules. She rolled her eyes before turning back to Alex with a smile.
"Be seeing you around." She said looking him up and down before walking towards Kempsey Academy's table.
"Hopefully." Alex said before going back to his table.
"Would you consider that flirting?" Ruby asked as Angie sat down. She quickly looked back at her schedule before Angie could say anything.
