Chapter 28

The instructor, a tall man who introduced himself as Lieutenant Walters, spent the next few hours giving us a more in-depth introduction into what lay ahead of us, explained the importance of each book in the big stack of books that lay on everyone's desk, and then began our first lesson in Illinois law. His tone was stern, conveying to everyone unmistakably that his lessons were to be taken seriously and that he wouldn't tolerate any kind of disobedience or slacking.

When we were let go for our thirty-minute lunch break, Aidan walked to the lunchroom with me.

"I'm happy that you made it too," Aidan told me, taking one step for every two steps I had to take. "You seeing all these young kids running around here? I've never felt this old in my life."

"Yeah, I feel the same," I said, glancing up at him.

He was about a foot taller than me, broad-shouldered, and athletically built.

"I tried listening in on the conversation of the recruits sitting next to me before class, and I didn't even know what they were saying. One of them said something about spilling tea. I came to the conclusion that he wasn't talking about actual tea, but I still don't know what that means," he recalled, smirking.

"I think tea just means gossip," I shrugged and picked out a sandwich and bottle of water from a fridge.

Aidan did the same and sat down at the table across from me.

"What was your job in the Navy?" I inquired while I freed my sandwich from the plastic wrap.

"I was an air traffic controller, AC, on the USS Ronald Reagan," he replied.

"That's an aircraft carrier, right?"

"Yeah, it's a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Until the USS Gerald R. Ford class came along, it was the biggest class of aircraft carriers," he explained with a proud glint in his eye.

"Being an AC on such an enormous vessel must have been very demanding," I assumed.

"Oh, yes!" he chuckled.

"And why did you leave the Navy and decide to become a cop? That's a completely different career. Couldn't you have found an AC job in the civilian world?"

"I loved my job in the Navy, and I wouldn't trade the last decade of my life for anything, but I realised that I went from one bubble of being a kid in high school right to the next bubble which was the Navy. Technically, I've never had to fend for myself in the real world as an adult. The Navy took care of me. I wanted to find myself outside of the Navy if that makes sense?" He looked at me questioningly.

I nodded, understanding what he meant.

"And I didn't want to continue air traffic control because I wanted a job that was more on the ground and hands-on, one that includes interacting with people a lot more. Plus, if I'm being honest, I wanted a job that was a little less fast-paced and high pressure. Not that being a cop isn't fast-paced, it is, but in a different way."

I smiled at the last part. "It seems that you had the exact opposite problem to me. My job at my parent's restaurant was much too slow and mundane for my liking. I was looking for something more fast-paced and rewarding."

"Let's hope we've both found the perfect middle ground here," Aidan grinned.

He seemed like a genuine and good guy, and I was glad that I had already met someone on the first day of training that seemed to be on the same wavelength as me and with whom I could see myself be friends with.

"Hey, guys!" Mei arrived at our table and slammed down in the seat next to me. "I've spent so much time introducing myself and chatting to people that I now only have five minutes left to eat my lunch!" she exclaimed and grinned at us.

The serene atmosphere at our table had been washed away by a rush of energy that Mei had brought with her.

Her eyes fell on Aidan. "Hello, I'm Mei," she introduced herself to him.

Mei's hand looked like a child's hand as Aidan shook it. "Aidan. Pleased to meet you."

"So," Mei began and took a bite out of her sandwich, "they're training us in drill formation next. How do you guys feel about that?" she asked with her mouth full of bread.

"I think I'll be fine," Aidan shrugged. "Done it a thousand times."

Mei looked at him questioningly.

"Navy," he simply stated.

"I'm not sure how I'll do," I pondered. "I've never done anything like it. Got any advice for us?" I asked Aidan.

"Yeah, prepare yourself to be yelled at," he forewarned us. "They'll yell at you to get your stress levels up so you learn how to deal with and function under high amounts of stress."

Aidan had been right. As soon as the drill sergeant entered the gym, he began bellowing out orders. First, he quickly rattled through the formations while performing them. I did my best to memorise every one of them. Next, it was our turn to follow his orders. Because we were lined up in rows in alphabetical order according to our surnames, I stood in the very back but could see Aidan a few rows in front of me, towering over everyone.

I got the hang of the steps and formations fairly quickly, and despite the incredible speed at which the orders were yelled at us, I managed to follow them well. Every time someone messed up, we had to drop to the ground and do pushups or flutter kicks.

"Right Front!" the sergeant boomed as he strolled along the last row.

I turned on the heel of my right foot, came to a stand, and found myself face to face with the young woman next to me. I stared back at her, keeping my face blank and watched her eyes widen in panic. Quickly, she spun around and faced the same direction as everyone else.

The drill sergeant hadn't missed her mistake and stepped close to her until his mouth was just a mere few inches away from her ear.

"Did I misspeak?" he roared at her. "Did I misspeak and say Left Front?"

She stayed frozen in place.

"I asked you a question, recruit!" he shouted, and spit flew from his lips.

"No, sir!" she called out loudly and confidently.

By then, most recruits didn't even have to be prompted anymore to drop down and start doing pushups. The young woman had to stay standing where she was. Everyone else had to pay for her mistake, and she had to watch.

The drill continued, and by the time it ended, most of the blue shirts around me were drenched in sweat. They gave us a few minutes to change, then classroom work continued until 6 pm when it was time to leave.

After I had changed back into my own clothes in the locker room, I turned my phone on and saw a message from Jay pop up.

Hey! I hope you enjoyed your first day. Intelligence caught a robbery at a check-cashing store, so I won't be able to pick you up. I'm very sorry. I'll call you later.

Disappointed, I stuffed my phone back into my pocket. I had been looking forward to telling Jay about my day.

I left the building and stopped in front of it to look up the best public transport connection back to my place.

"Intense first day, ey?" Aidan came to a stop beside me.

"Yeah," I agreed and glanced up from my phone. "Intense but good. I'm looking forward to the next few months."

"Are you parked in the parking lot too?" he asked.

"No, my ride cancelled on me. I'm taking the bus."

"Oh. Come on, I'll drive you," Aidan said and started walking towards the cars, leaving me no time to object.

"Thank you," I called after him as I had to jog a few steps to catch up with his long strides.

Aidan was a very calm driver which matched his personality. We spent the short car ride going over the material we'd learned that day.

"Thank you for driving me," I said when we stopped in front of my house.

"No problem, Hailey. I like to drive around and see parts of the city I don't know yet," he explained. "I only moved to Chicago a few months ago."

"Did you live on a base before that?"

"Yeah. I'd never even been to Chicago before, but I've always wanted to live here."

"You chose a great city. Maybe even the best if you ask me," I approved.

"I haven't regretted my decision so far," he smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow! Get some good rest, the day will be physically demanding."

"Yeah, I'll probably go to bed early. See you!"

I watched him drive off and went into my house where I sent a reply to Jay telling him that I was home. Exhausted from the day, I collapsed onto my couch and ordered some food, too tired to cook anything.

Twenty minutes later, Jay called.

"Hey! I'm so sorry I wasn't able to pick you up!" Jay apologised when I took his call.

"That's okay. One of the recruits drove me home. Are you still at work?"

"Yeah, we've had a really busy day. Probably won't get out of here for a few more hours. How was your day?"

"Good. Pretty close to what I expected. Mostly classroom work and formation training. Tomorrow there will be a lot more physical training."

"That sounds good. How did you like drill?" he asked, and I heard a smile in his tone.

"I think it might take a while to get used to it, but I could handle it," I asserted.

"I'm sure you can. When I first joined the military, I had to get used to it too. I'd never been yelled at like that in my life."

I heard the deep voice of Hank Voight call Jay's name in the background of the call.

"I have to go. Everyone in the unit is wishing you good luck at the academy. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Hopefully, I can stop by your place in the evening," he tried to finish the call quickly.

"That's nice of them. Say hello to everyone, please. Talk soon!"

I spent the next few hours on the couch and went to bed before 10 pm, falling asleep the second my head hit the pillow.