Live and Learn.
Chapter 2.
Monday came around and Kate was not emotionally prepared. They sat in the car outside the Creswell grounds, Maddie took a tissue out of her bag and handed it to Kate who pretended that she didn't need it. Maddie waved it in front of Kate's face waiting for her to give in.
"Mum, you promised..."
Kate snatched the tissue out of Maddie's fingers and waved her hand in the air dismissing her concern.
"It's okay, I'll get it together! Just give me a minute."
Kate blew her nose and flipped down the visor mirror and wiped her smudged eyeliner.
"Are you sure you're okay, I know today, of all days…"
Kate shook her head and flipped the visor back up.
"Okay, were good, let's just go..."
They got out of the car and gathered her belongings from the boot. A young woman approached and smiled politely, Maddie glanced over to Kate wondering what the girl wanted. The girl cleared her throat.
"Hi, I'm Georgia, I don't mean to intrude, but, are you Captain McGregor?"
Kate nodded cautiously wondering how she knew who she was. Georgia let out a yelp of excitement causing Kate and Maddie to jump.
"Wow!"
Maddie's eyes widened at Georgia's reaction and laughed, they walked towards the dorms, Georgia in tow. Kate tried to change the subject deflecting the attention off herself.
"Ah, this is my daughter, Maddie…"
They smiled and shook hands.
"Do you know your mother is a legend?"
Maddie's grin grew as she looked back to Kate wondering if she was talking about the right person.
"No, she never mentioned her legend status."
Kate tried to shield her face, it was going to give her away, her cheeks were now the shade of a ripe tomato.
Georgia stopped in front of Maddie and held up her hands gobsmacked she was unaware of her accomplishments.
"Wait, what? How could you not know? Perfect scores, the valedictorian, the cadet sword, man, she's..."
She focused her attention back to Kate as an even bigger grin crossed her face.
"You're, Princess Perfect..."
Kate shuddered at the title, she had always hated it. It sounded like she was stuck up and bragging about her achievements, and not in a good way. Maddie burst out laughing, this was news to her, but somehow it was believable, she wrapped her arm around Georgia and pulled her away.
"You have to tell me more!"
Kate groaned, she wasn't going to live this down, she rolled her eyes and ran after them.
As Kate unpacked Maddie's clothes on to the bed, Maddie flopped on top of them, eyes focused on Kate, waiting for her to explain. Kate glanced up at her for a split second and continued to unpack, Maddie let out a grunt, she knew she was ignoring her on purpose, she tapped her foot on the ground becoming impatient
"Mum?!"
Kate refused to make eye contact while folding her tops.
"What?"
Maddie snatched the shirt out of Kate's hand and whacked her with it.
"Mum! How could you forget to tell me that you're some kind of Naval legacy? As if the pressure of this wasn't enough, I'm apparently the daughter of some prodigy?"
Maddie's breathing intensified, Kate sat down next to her confused about her reaction.
"Maddie, sweetie, who I was here makes no difference, and even if it did, it doesn't matter, you are brilliant, you won't have any trouble fitting in here..."
Maddie ran her hands over her face and through her hair trying to calm herself.
"I just, Mum, you know I love you, but did you have to be so goddamn perfect..."
Kate wrapped her arm around Maddie's shoulder and kissed her on the top of her head, she didn't want to put any more pressure on her, she did that by herself.
"Maddie..."
Maddie sighed and leaned into her mother's embrace.
"Mum, sorry, I guess it's just I thought I'd be okay, but it's all so overwhelming and..."
She trailed off, Kate gave her another squeeze sensing she was hesitant in continuing her sentence.
"And what, sweetie?"
Maddie exhaled sharply, she didn't want to bring it up, but she was always taught to talk about her feelings.
"It's about Dad, I wish he could have been here, that's all..."
Kate felt all her hairs stand on their end, she hadn't kept Jim a secret, they had often talked about him, but today of all days it was also the anniversary of his death, and she had hoped that it wouldn't be the focus of the day. Kate squeezed her again as a tear escaped her eye.
"He would have been so proud of you, I am so proud of you!"
Tears began to flow from both their eyes, Maddie wrapped her arms around Kate's waist.
"Sorry, Mum, I didn't want to upset you..."
Kate wiped the tears from Maddie's cheeks and held her by her shoulders looking into her eyes.
"No, we should always want to talk about your father. He was a good man, a great man, and he gave me the most important thing in the world, he gave me you. He lives on through you..."
The door swung open startling them both, a girl stood in the door way with a nervous smile on her face, she was immediately alarmed by the tear stained faces staring back at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I..."
Kate stood up and smiled wiping the tears away.
"Oh, don't mind me, just an over emotional mother saying goodbye. I'm Kate and this is my daughter Maddie..."
Maddie waved while trying to tidy herself.
"Hi..."
She stood from the bed to shake the girls hand.
"Hi, I'm Liv..."
Liv entered the room cautiously and dumped her bag on the bed. Kate sensed it was time to leave, she needed to let Maddie settle in.
"Ah, well, I'd better get going..."
Kate gave Maddie another squeeze and resisted the urge to give her a thousand kisses.
"I love you, and remember, I'm only a couple of hours away..."
Maddie nodded and gave her one last hug.
"I love you too, see you soon!"
Kate walked out of the room trying not to lose it, she turned at the door and blew Maddie a kiss.
Maddie continued to pack away her things, Liv plonked herself on Maddie's bed trying to think of something to say. She peered into her suitcase, her expression hardened.
"Hope there's no contraband in there..."
Maddie frowned at the assumption, Liv's harsh expression faded and was replaced with a giant grin.
"I'm just joking!"
Maddie sat herself on the bed next to Liv and rummaged through her bag.
"Well, my mother would kill me if I did..."
Liv tilted her head not understanding the relevance, Maddie laughed and took out a photo of Kate in uniform holding her as a baby.
"She's a Captain in the Navy..."
She passed Liv the photo, Liv raised an eye brow in Maddie's direction.
"Oh snap, so, are you here of your own free will?"
Maddie chuckled as she opened her wardrobe and hung up her uniforms.
"Yeah, of course, she was ecstatic that I joined, but I always loved hearing her stories. I mean, everyone says it's in my blood and..."
She trailed off realising she would have to explain, but it was too late, Liv's interest was already sparked.
"In your blood? So, is your dad in the Navy too?"
Maddie hesitated, she hated explaining her family situation, it always made things awkward. She took a deep breath in as she straightened the shirt on the hanger.
"Ah, he umm, he was in the S.A.S..."
"Oh wow, so you were born into this, hey? But, was? What's he doing now?"
Maddie sat back next to Liv on the bed fiddling with a coat hanger, unable to look her in the eye.
"Umm, he died, well, he was killed in action, there was a bomb and..."
Liv's heart sank, her eyes focused on the floor not knowing what to say.
"Oh, I'm sorry Maddie, that was silly, I shouldn't have asked."
Maddie placed a hand on Liv's shoulder trying to reassure her.
"No, it's okay, it's just, today was the anniversary of his death and..."
Liv's eyes widened as she realised who Maddie's father was.
"Oh my god, Captain Roth was your dad?"
Maddie nodded as a tear rolled down her cheek, Liv lunged toward her pulling her into a bear hug.
"Sorry, I did it again..."
Maddie chuckled as she wiped the tears from her face.
"It's okay, I'm so proud to be his daughter, but I just don't want to be known as the daughter of the hero, you know? I just want to get through our training undetected, well, actually, no, I lie, I want to kick some ass and get straight A's doing it, but I just don't want the added pressure..."
Liv nodded in agreement, she understood.
"Yeah, I get it, my uncle is in the Navy and there's an expectation, my cousin, he's joined this year too, and he doesn't want his fathers reputation to proceed him."
They sat in silence for a moment, Maddie let out a giggle breaking the pause in the conversation.
"Is he hot?"
Liv scrunched up her face and laughed.
"Eww, I hope you mean my cousin and not my uncle!"
Maddie recoiled at the thought and playfully nudged her.
"Uh, duh!"
"Just checking, well, you can meet both of them and decide, my uncle has just started a teaching job here."
"Cool, so if you're stuck he can help you out?"
"Ah no, he's not that cool!"
Liv got up and flopped on to her bed, she bounced awkwardly nearly falling to the floor, she regained her balance acting as if nothing had happened.
"So, are you nervous? I mean in less than 6 months we're gonna be out at sea for basic training…"
"Yes and no, I mean its pretty crazy, but mum said she'd walk me through it before hand..."
"God, I wish my uncle was like that, he's more of a tough love sorta guy."
"Great, I don't think I want him as a lecturer then!"
"Where's your schedule, let's see if we're in the same classes."
Maddie rummaged through her bag and pulled out her diary, Liv eagerly snatched it out of her hand. She let out a giggle opening it to the current week, everything was colour coordinated. Maddie let out an embarrassed snort and snapped it shut.
"Yeah, I blame my mother for my organisational OCD!"
Liv grabbed the diary from Maddie's grip and reopened it, her eyes scanned over the page.
"We're in all the same classes! Yay!"
Maddie peered over Liv's shoulder.
"What about your uncle?"
She ran her finger over the page looking for the familiar name, she stopped on the leadership studies class.
"Yup, damn it, he's our leadership studies lecturer. Just a warning, he can be a bit hot and cold. Apparently he used to be such a cool guy, pretty easy going, some would even call him a bit of a cowboy. But then he got a divorce, his ex moved on, and she got promoted. Then Nathan wanted to live with him, there was a nasty custody battle, he won, but, I dunno, he just seemed to be grumpy all the time. Then there was, umm, some issues and he was posted on shore it and only made things worse, I didn't know whether to feel sorry for him..."
"So, your close to your uncle and cousin then?"
"Yeah, sorry, didn't mean to unload all this random family drama on you..."
Maddie shrugged and pat her on the back.
"Hey, you've seen my cry in the first second of meeting me, we're even!"
Liv grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bed.
"C'mon, I'll show you round, been here heaps, I'll text Nate too..."
They walked down the hallway, Liv pointed out various areas and rooms, it was all a blur to Maddie, she was completely overwhelmed. They stopped at the pictures of the previous valedictorians and sword recipients. Liv pointed to the one dated 1999.
"Hey, that looks like you!"
Maddie squinted at the photo, it looked exactly like her, she sighed.
"Yeah, that's my Mum!"
Liv playfully punched her on the shoulder and scoffed.
"Oh great, so my new BFF is the spawn of Princess Perfect..."
Maddie's eyes widened, she looked around her to see if any one heard her outing.
"Shhh, I don't want people to know..."
Maddie walked away from the photo wall not wanting anyone else to make the connection, Liv ran after her and hooked her arm around Maddie's.
"Why not? Might make things easier around here?!"
"Easier? I don't think so, more like, more pressure and expectations..."
"Well, why don't you use you're Dad's name?"
"That's worse, I'll get pity stares and sympathy!"
There was a moment of silence, Liv didn't want to upset her further, she jokingly slapped her on the back and laughed.
"Princess Perfect it is!"
"So, how did you know about the Princess Perfect thing?"
"I have a Navy family, question is how did you not know? I saw you out the front with Georgia, she wants to be the next one..."
"I don't know, Mum doesn't talk a lot about work now, I mean, I know she loves the navy, but I think she was happier out at sea."
"Yeah, I think my uncle was too, or maybe he preferred it cos he didn't have to deal with issues."
"Issues?"
"Yeah, I guess Nate wasn't exactly willing when he joined, he's been in trouble and..."
"Trouble?"
The voice started them both, Maddie turned to see a tall figure standing behind her. He was attractive, very attractive, but he also looked like he knew it. He brushed his Justin Bieber style quiff away from his face, his eyes blue sparkled, and he flashed his pearly whites . Her eyes narrowed, yeah he definitely knew it. She stiffened as he looked her up and down, she clenched her jaw, placing one hand on her hip and waived her other hand in front of his face.
"Can I help you?"
His eyes darted back up to her face and winked at her.
"Maybe..."
She scoffed and turned her attention back to Liv.
"Anyway, you were saying..."
Liv let out a giggle and wrapped her arm around the attractive boys waist.
"Maddie, this is Nathan, Nate, my cousin, my brother from another mother..."
Maddie barely made eye contact with him not wanting to encourage his smug behaviour.
"Oh..."
He laughed and grasped her hand and bend down and kissed it.
"Oh, that's all I get?"
Maddie snatched her hand back and wiped her hand on her pants to wipe off the kiss.
"Yep..."
She went to walk off but he grabbed her arm pulling her back. She immediately became defensive and grabbed his forearm and twisted him around pinning it against his back. Liv doubled over in hysterics, Maddie leaned in and whispered in his ear.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
Nate shook his head as a large grin crossed his face.
"I see trouble follows you around, Flynn..."
Maddie immediately let go hearing the stern voice behind them, they stood to attention. Nate straightened his shirt and avoided the man's stare.
"Ah, no, Sir, I was simply trying to introduce myself and…"
The man shook his head and put his hand up to stop him talking.
"Sure, sure..."
He looked towards Liv about to say something when Maddie caught his eye, he stood there staring at her. Maddie felt uncomfortable and broke eye contact looking over to Liv for help, Liv cleared her throat breaking the man's trance.
"Ah, this is Maddie…"
He blinked a few times realising he was staring.
"Sorry, you just look familiar, that's all, anyway, I hope Nathan isn't hassling you?"
Maddie didn't want to be labeled as a victim, she stood there trying to look un-phased.
"Nothing I can't handle, Sir..."
"Yes, I can see that, but just take note that we frown upon man handling your fellow classmates."
Maddie dropped her head ashamed of her actions, the man leaned towards her and whispered.
"But sometimes we make an exception, so, carry on."
They watched at the stern looking man walked off, Maddie tapped Liv on the arm.
"Who was that?"
Liv glanced over at Nate, he rolled his eyes.
"My father, Captain Michael Flynn..."
"Well, at least I know there's no favouritism there..."
She walked off feeling satisfied that she had won that round, Liv nudged Nate in the ribs with her elbow.
"Oh, someone who doesn't find you irresistible, that must be a weird feeling?"
She ran off after Maddie leaving Nate with his thoughts, a smile crossed his face.
"Yeah, really weird…"
End Chapter 2.