I almost didn't recognize Lawson when we got to the Golden Gate Bridge, as he had the hood of his jacket pulled up, looking like someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.

"Are we doing what I think we're doing?" Rachel asked as we walked out to the pedestrian walkway. "That thing you told me about…"

"Yes," Lawson said. "I'm not joining in, I just want to watch."

"Watch what?" I asked, obviously the only one who had no clue what we were doing here.

"You will see." He said in a sing-song voice I'd never expected to hear from him. I rolled my eyes.

"By the way, it's more orange than red."

"I'm a guy, do you think I know the difference?"

"I don't know- I would hope a doctor would at least have a kindergarteners grasp of colors."

As we got to the halfway point of the bridge, I realized that a section of the overhead lighting was out. When we got closer, I could see a whole group of people gathered around in the shadows on the walkway. At first I thought there was some base or bungee jumping going on, but then I could make out someone climbing up the suspension cable to the middle tower. Whoever it was had already made it half way and was quickly reaching the top, with the group below was cheering him on.

"Lawson!" Someone called. A blond guy pushed through the crowd to get to us. I recognized him, but I couldn't remember from where.

"Who's up there now?" Lawson asked the guy.

"Some Andorian guy… first year," He seemed to just notice Rachel and I. "Hey, Danville, looking good."

"Huh?" How did he know me if I didn't know him?

"She doesn't remember anything," Lawson interjected.

"Really? I'm Ryan Garrett, this idiot's roommate."

Garrett! That was the guy that came into the club with Lawson; I did remember the girl I was talking to saying his name. But I don't remember having any kind of interaction with him and honestly didn't want to know what I may have said or done. I hated all these lapses in my memory; I was too young to be senile.

"Nice to meet you, for real this time. I hope I didn't make a bad impression."

"Not at all. That was a good night," He laughed. "I think Lawson put that guy in the hospital."

"That's my job, isn't it?" He said dryly.

"So who's going next?" Rachel asked. The Andorian guy was getting so close to finishing and the crowd was whooping and hollering.

"I'm next in line, but if one of you ladies wants to give it a try, go right ahead!"

We both politely declined. I was so over trying to prove myself, I did that shit on the Enterprise and it just led to getting hurt; in this case it could lead to splattering on pavement below or in San Francisco bay- not to mention there was a steady stream of traffic going by.

"What's the point of this exactly?" I asked Lawson. I leaned against the guardrail so I could get a better vantage point of the action above.

"Tradition," He said, moving next to me. Rachel went to my other side, and swung a leg over the rail so she was perched up on it. "If you get to the top, you get bragging rights. If you don't, you're either dead or embarrassed."

"Have you done it?"

"Me? Hell no. I'm not that stupid." He pulled down his hood, letting the wind ruffle his hair.

There was a celebratory holler from up above. The Andorian had reached the tower, and was pumping his fist in the air. He disappeared around the corner, where I assumed there was an access ladder or something. It was Garrett's turn now, and he was making a show of it. He started up at a good pace, and only slowed down when the spacing between footholds got further apart. If it had been me up there, I would have been frozen in place or shaking- he looked completely relaxed. He had gotten just over half way up when our formerly dimly lit area was overcome with flashing blue lights. Three police cars landed at the curb. Chaos ensued.

We jumped away from the guardrail, and moved back towards the group. One of the cops shone a spotlight up at Garrett, who froze up. An amplified voice came from the cruiser, ordering him to turn around and come down.

"NO!" He shouted back. "I'm not coming down until I'm done!"

Our little posse cheered, not seeming to care however many laws we were breaking. I didn't know whether we should stick around and watch or get the hell out of there. The decision was made for me.

"We should go," Lawson said. "Come on!"

He grabbed my hand, which I had not been expecting. I didn't have time to think about how much I liked it, as he started running and I had to keep up with him. Rachel was already ahead of us, and Lawson didn't let go of my hand until we reached her. I had my fill of running for the day due to the training exercise, and was exhausted, but the thrill of being busted by the police and the desire to not be arrested gave me the burst of energy I needed to go at a breakneck speed. I heard other people running behind me, and turned to make sure it wasn't the cops chasing us; It was only two guys and a girl from our group- the rest were still standing around cheering Garrett on. We didn't stop running until we got to the end of the walkway, which was about a mile from where we were, more or less. I bent over with my hands on my knees, completely out of breath. Lawson was laughing, which was strange considering his roommate was probably going to be arrested as soon as he finished the climb, granted he didn't fall.

"What's so funny?" I asked, coughing.

"We're on the wrong side!"

I looked around, and realized that we were in fact on the complete opposite bank of the bay. Campus was 1.7 miles in the other direction. I did not want to have to walk all the way back, and even if we did we ran the risk of being arrested. The three others that had followed us were too busy laughing to care that we had all made such a dumb mistake.

"Goddammit!" I wined.

"We can't go back that way." Rachel panted.

"No, unless you want to get arrested," Lawson agreed. "Metro stop is right up this way, come on."

Our merry band of six made its way up the street to the nearest bus stop, and nearly missed it as it was already there and shutting its doors. Fortunately they didn't drive off, and we were let on. Rachel, Lawson and I sat together and watched out the window as we went back over the bridge. The police were still parked out by where we were, and judging by the spotlight, Garrett had reached the tower.

"I assume you'll be getting a call later?" Rachel asked Lawson.

"Definitely."

We heard from Lawson the next day that Garrett hadn't been brought to jail, but he and everyone who stayed behind had been issued warnings and the event had been reported to Starfleet administration. Sure enough, come Monday we were all forced to attend an assembly where we were told that unsanctioned training activities by cadets were not allowed- not that it would stop anyone. If Garrett wasn't popular before, he was now; standing up to San Francisco's finest gained him some serious street cred.

As graduation approached, we ran out of time to do stupid, immature shit. I spent all of my free hours trying to cram for my Transporter Theory and Inter-species Protocol exams and slept when I could. The survival course and combat training were getting more and more difficult and it didn't help that all of us were suffering from sleep deprivation.

My family kept in touch, but every time I talked to them I felt homesick so I avoided it as much as possible. My step brother, Jesse, had graduated from med school when I'd been away, and was planning on doing a residency at some hospital in New York City- I begged him to join Starfleet but he had absolutely no interest. Tyler, my stepdad, was doing well for business since spring was in full swing; when the snow went away, people took their cars out to play. My own car was doing well, and Tyler took it out every now and then for a drive so she didn't just sit there and rust. I hated the fact that I would be leaving everything behind for who knows how long, but the Enterprise had more to offer me than anything on earth ever could. That's what kept me from packing my bags and going back home to Maine.

I didn't hear much from my mom for a while, but my stepdad kept assuring me that everything was fine and she was just busy. They had a strange relationship, as my mom was always traveling for her job within Starfleet Intelligence (which she refused to ever tell me anything about due to strict secrecy regulations) but they never grew tired of each other. I guess it's true when people say that distance makes the heart grow fonder. When I finally did hear from her, it was in person. She had a conference at headquarters, and used her free time to hang out with me. She wanted to talk about my academy life, but I really didn't have much to tell. I couldn't exactly tell her about going out clubbing with my fake ID, getting roofied, going to illegal cadet functions… as far as my mom was concerned, I lived a very boring and safe life- I wondered if she ever suspected differently.

We didn't have much time to spend together, but we tried to make the most of it. I got treated to a meal outside of campus for once, which was a welcome break- our diets were strictly managed. Being able to enjoy a delicious burger and fries at a restaurant was a dream come true. After eating, she forced me to get my hair done at some fancy salon; not that I was complaining, but she made it seem like I looked hideous when I didn't think I looked all that bad. I returned to my dorm after a drawn out and overly emotional goodbye with a few shopping bags full of new clothes and my hair back to my natural brown- it was a welcome change, I'd severely neglected my appearance while in space.

Soon, the big day had arrived. The entire student body was gathered in the assembly hall, and all of us who were actually graduating were seated in the lower level of the auditorium. I was told there were a total of 272 of us graduating this time around, which was less than my graduating class when I was in high school- hopefully the ceremony wouldn't be long and drawn out, because I was anxious for it to be over. Rachel sat next to me looking extremely nervous- unlike me she didn't know her assignment, along with plenty of others. I hoped that she would be on the Enterprise, as I didn't want to leave her behind, but I wasn't the one who called the shots.

Admiral Barnett said a few words (you couldn't really call it a speech) before one of the other administrators started reading off names and assignments. Luckily, Rachel and I were closer to the beginning of the alphabet so we didn't have to wait long- and the line was going quickly.

"Danville, Allison- USS Enterprise." I took my diploma and saluted the Admiral, then moved along down the line.

"Decker, Rachel- USS Lexington. Delaney, Michael- USS Hoover…"

Lexington? What the hell? I turned around as we walked back to our seats, and gave Rachel a sad face. She was smiling, so I guess she was happy about the assignment, but I really wanted her on my ship. We sat down and watched the rest of our class receive their assignments.

"So… Lexington." I said, trying to sound casual and mask my disappointment.

"It's okay," She said. No, it wasn't- when I first met her she was all over the Enterprise. It wasn't fair. "I'll keep in touch!"

"You better," I said.

"Garrett, Ryan- USS Lexington."

Well, she had him for company too. I noticed her smiling, and assumed she was moving on from Hayes.

"Larabee, Angela- Starbase 7. Lawson, Alexander- USS Enterprise."

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. This was going to be fun.