Last Time: Rebecca decides upon joining the Airborne
"Better to fight for something than live for nothing." - General George S. Patton
Now: Rebecca applies for Airborne school.
Chapter 3 - The Application
Rebecca drummed her fingers nervously against her knee in the recruiting office as she waited for her name to be called. She glanced around at the civilian men all waiting just like her. Each of their faces bore a different emotion; some with their eyebrows knitted as if they were dreading the inevitable, some eyes had a spark of excitement dancing in their eyes. Yet, they all kept glancing at her probably wondering what in the world two females already in the army were doing there. Rebecca quickly dropped her eyes as a man she was looking at made eye contact with her. Her drumming became more intense.
"Hey," Michelle muttered, placing a warm hand over Rebecca's spazzing one. "Quit it."
Rebecca let out an exasperated sigh and quickly folded her hands in her lap. "Sorry, I don't even know why I'm so darn nervous."
Michelle took Rebecca's tightly folded hands and gripped onto it, rubbing soothing circles into them. "Just relax, there's nothing to be nervous about. You're just filling out papers today. Be nervous when there's something to be nervous about."
She was right. Rebecca hadn't even filled out the application yet. The real anxiety-inducing part was the wait. The only date to fill out the application was today and it took about two the three days to find out which woman was picked. Rebecca felt like her heart would give out in that time.
"Clark, Rebecca!" An unfamiliar voice called out.
Rebecca darted up from her chair and walked to the man who called her name. She turned to Michelle, their eyes connecting. "Good luck" was the final thing Rebecca made out from her friend's lips.
"Follow me, ma'am," The young private said.
He was very stern for his age and could only be about twenty years old or so. His dark features and intense gaze made him seem a lot older for his age.
Nevertheless, Rebecca did as she was told and followed the young man. She noticed him looking down at his clipboard and lead her to the application office a few doors down the hall from where the waiting room was. Rebecca looked at the door and read the name plaque on the door, Captain A. Morris.
"This is Captain Morris's office. He'll be asking you a few questions and then you'll fill out the application. Knock before entering. Upon entering give your name and rank and wait for further instructions."
Rebecca's head began to spin and a cold wave washed over her body. She looked at the private and saw him reading off his clipboard. Whoever this captain was, he meant business.
"Good luck," The private uttered as he walked away.
Rebecca just stared at the door, her fist clenching as she prepared to knock. She let out three stern knocks, signaling her arrival.
"Come in," A voice rang.
She slowly opened the door and entered as calmly as she could, not wanting to draw too much attention toward herself. Rebecca picked up her hand in a hearty salute, her eyes seeing the rather uninterested captain writing something down in his notes.
"Lieutenant Clark, sir."
Captain Morris finally looked up from his work to acknowledge to young woman saluting him. He immediately locked his ocean blue eyes with her brown ones.
Rebecca couldn't help but notice right away how attractive this man was, yet so serious. It was like everyone in the office had a stick perpetually up their ass. His blonde hair and blue eyes had the capability of making any girl swoon. Too bad he had the personality of a wet towel.
"At ease, Lieutenant. Sit." He ordered, motioning towards the chair in front of his desk.
Without hesitation, she sat down in the leather-clad chair, immediately sinking into it.
Captain Morris looked down at a file adjacent to the paper he was writing on and dragged the brown portfolio over it. He glanced at her and then back down at the stack of papers.
"So," he began, "You're looking to apply to the Airborne, Lieutenant. Is that correct?"
His quick glance at her made Rebecca feel like a creature under a microscope being carefully scrutinized. Her palms began to sweat.
"Yes, sir." She managed to force out.
Captain Morris picked up his pencil, tapping it on the file. "This is a very competitive program you're applying to and requires a very lengthy application."
He opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out a bound stack of papers, placing it on his desk. "Now, before you waste anymore more of my time and yours, are you sure you want to do this?"
Rebecca examined the stack, second thoughts beginning to fill her head. It was a lot of paper to go through. She quickly shook the thoughts right out of her head. Of course, she was going to go through with it.
"Yes, sir."
The captain took in a deep breath, seemingly annoyed by her answer, he took a pen from his collection on the desk. "Alright, here you go." He sighed, handing over the application and pen.
"Take a seat over by that desk and let me know if you have any questions or if you're done."
She took the stack from Captain Morris and made her way over to the cheap desk and chair a few feet from the monstrous one he sat at. Rebecca took a seat on the creaky chair, took off her cap, and began filling out page one.
As she made her way through the annals of the application, the questions became more and obscure, like how she did in her senior year math class of high school and what was her rank upon graduation. Each minute question she filled out, the more nerve-racking filling out the packet became. The pen began to slip from in between her fingers as her palms quivered.
When Rebecca finally scribbled her last response, she glanced at her watch. It had taken her two hours to fill out the application! She dropped the pen and leaned back the chair, letting out a frustrated sigh. Her writing hand was trembling and cramped. Upon completion, Rebecca got up from the chair, pushing it back into the desk. She felt all the tension built up in her hand melt away as she made her way over to the Captain's desk, cap and application in hand.
He looked up at Rebecca and put out his hand awaiting the stack of papers. "Done?"
"Yes, sir." She replied placing her cap back on.
Captain Morris briefly skimmed through it and looked up back at the flustered woman before him. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You'll receive word in the mail in about two to three days."
Rebecca stood in front of the Captain, her mind scrambled. "Th-thank you, sir," she weakly got out as she began walking towards the door.
As the door closed behind her, Rebecca's eyes fluttered in an attempt to process what just happened. Her legs carried her back to the waiting room where she spotted Michelle conversing with a young man in the chair next to her.
"Hey! Gee whiz you sure took a long time in there."
Rebecca rubbed her face with her hands. "The application was really long." She felt like she had aged ten years in the two hours she was in that room.
Michelle looked at the flustered woman up and down. "You look terrible."
"Thanks, I feel terrible. Sorry for making you wait for so long." Rebecca apologized.
A smirk peeled on Michelle's lips. "Eh, don't worry about it. I made a new friend." She looked at the cute young man sitting next to her and winked. "Come on, let's get back to the hotel."
Rebecca only rolled her eyes and let Michelle lead the way back to her their room.
- End Chapter -
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry about my absense from this story; I just began university and my summer was hell. I'm going to try and upload as much as I can. If you like the chapter please leave a review, fav, and follow to let me know how I'm doing! :3
