Author's note: I'm sorry, guys... my schedule is crazy with school starting soon, so I'm typing as fast as I can.. This story might end up being longer than I intended it to be, depending on a few things, but I don't think anyone will mind... I hope!
Yeah, running in dress shoes hadn't been fun. By the time Shawn, River and Cadet Brooks were finished with their laps and ready to rejoin the rest of the first year cadets, Shawn's feet were sore from rubbing against the stiff lip of his shoe's heels. Not to mention the toes! He didn't complain, though, and neither did River or Brooks. They were all smart enough to know that complaining definitely wasn't going to be a good idea.
The Cadets were divided into groups, called platoons, and much to Brooks' annoyance – and River's – Brooks, River and Shawn were all in the same platoon. Along with six other young men – and three young women – they were told that this was going to be their 'family' for the first year they were at the academy. The Colonel looked at River, Shawn and Brooks, as though waiting for them to say something, but they wisely kept their feelings to themselves and didn't allow anything to even show on their expressions.
"I want you to know three facts about everyone in your platoon by lunchtime," the Colonel said, addressing the whole class. "You will be tested on this, so I suggest you take the next hour or so and get to know each other." He turned and left them all still standing on the parade ground, followed by his cadre of officer instructors. The people in the platoons waited for them to leave, and then started talking – although most of the discussion was about Shawn, who ignored it as well as he could and tried to focus on his group.
"Did you see him take that guy down?"
"I bet he couldn't do it to me."
"That was pretty impressive."
"Brooks sure wasn't expecting it, was he?" There was a soft round of chuckles from that group, and Brooks flushed heatedly, glaring over at them.
"Let's go somewhere else," River said. As much as he enjoyed listening to the mocking of the other cadet, he wasn't going to be able to learn about the other people in his platoon if he couldn't focus on them.
"Who died and made you the boss?" Brooks asked, even though half the group was already nodding their agreement.
"Do you want to stand around here and listen to them make fun of you?" River asked.
"Fuck you, Hayden."
Shawn sighed, but it was purely silent. He wondered who Brooks hated more; him or River.
"I'll go with you, River," Shawn said, heading for the edge of the grounds. He didn't want to hear what everyone was saying, either. The rest of the group followed Shawn, leaving River and Brooks standing alone, glaring at each other, hands lightly balled into fists at their sides. The two of them weren't ready to get into more trouble, however, and there was no way of knowing whether or not they were being watched by the instructors, so after a little more posturing, they both turned and wordlessly followed Shawn as well.
"So... I'm betting I'm the youngest," Shawn said as they stood in a little group well away from the others, "So I'll go first. Then we can just go around the circle."
There were slight smiles all around – except from Brooks, who simply glared.
"I'll tell you all some things about me, and you guys decide what you remember. The Colonel didn't say we couldn't remember the same three things, but it might not be a bad idea to mix it up a little."
The rest nodded; agreeing. As long as someone started, they didn't care who it was, and Shawn's suggestion was a good one.
"So... I'm fourteen. I'm from Colorado Springs, where I've lived all my life. I don't have any brothers or sisters, no pets – although I like dogs – and my favorite color is green."
The others listened, some obviously wishing they had a pen to write something down. Three facts about everyone in the group was really quite a tall order, after all.
"You take karate?" One of the girls asked.
Shawn shook his head, ignoring the way Brooks flushed again.
"I've been in self defense training with some friends of mine since I was ten, but it's nothing too formal."
"It works, though," River said, smiling.
Shawn nodded. "Yeah."
He looked around the group of older cadets, waiting to see if any of them had any more questions for him, and then looked at River, who was standing next to him.
"You want to go next?"
"Sure." River struck a pose, and the girls all smiled, as did a few of the guys. "I'm River Hayden. I'm nineteen. I'm Shawn's roommate. From San Diego, California, and I surf, wakeboard, ski, and fish and do pretty much anything there is to do in the sun. I like dogs, fast boats and pretty girls. My favorite color is blonde."
There were assorted snickers from the guys, and again there were smiles from the girls – all of whom were blonde. River was a good-looking guy, and it was obvious he wasn't above flirting with the girls in his platoon – although that kind of activity was definitely off-limits to the Cadets.
And so it went around the small circle. They all told the group something about themselves; where they were from, what their names were, what they enjoyed doing in their free time, and all of them mentioned a favorite color – including Brooks, whose first name turned out to be Ian. He liked to drive fast, had played football in high school – no big shock there – and his dog's name was Bubba. Bubba was a black lab, Shawn had been interested in hearing, and the only time the scowl on Ian Brooks' face faded was when he was telling the group about big ole Bubba, who Ian was certain was the best dog in the world.
Common ground, Shawn decided as he listened to Hilary Fesk tell them about her hobbies. Maybe Ian wasn't such a turd after all. No one who liked his dog that much could be a complete asshole, after all.
By the time the instructors came to round them up and take them to their first class, Shawn knew the names of all the people in his platoon and was pretty sure he could tell the Colonel something about each of them. Maybe it wasn't something interesting, but it would be something. The people in his group – while all older than him and with different hobbies – were all fairly decent people as far as he could tell. Except Brooks... but who knew?