CHAPTER 4
"SOLDIER BOYS"
Zella woke up slowly, drifting in and out of sleep, until she remembered where she was, and sat up.
"Shit," she said. Her eyes moved across the room. It was modern and small, just fitting a bed, a desk and a wardrobe. The walls were painted white and the furniture was pale wood. Another door stood in the corner – she remembered from last night that it led to the bathroom.
There was a window next to her, too. She climbed out of bed and stared outside, her mouth falling open slightly. It was a massive field, filled with different groups of people exercising and fighting and doing god knows what! There seemed to be lots of noise and shouting, but she couldn't hear any of it through the thick window.
She turned away, mind racing. How were there so many people?! Surely she would've realised that?
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," she called.
The door opened and a SERIOUSLY hot guy was standing there. Tall, built, great hair. The complete package. And probably a great package too… She blinked. Is this another one of those amazing dreams?
"Hi," he said. "Coming?"
"Pretty much," she said before she could stop herself. "Um… I mean… where?"
"To see the Director of Studies," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She looked down at herself. Pink pyjamas. Brilliant.
"Should I change?"
He glanced at her outfit.
"Up to you."
"I'm gonna change quickly," she said, opening the wardrobe to find the SHIELD uniform that everyone outside had been wearing.
"Probably a good idea," he said.
She stepped into the bathroom and slipped into the new outfit. It fit surprisingly well; suspiciously well. A t-shirt with the SHIELD logo, comfy black trackies, and sneakers.
"I'm back!" she said, coming out of the bathroom, seeing him leaning attractively against the doorway, and immediately wishing she had checked her sleepy reflection in the mirror.
"Let's go," he said. He started off down the corridor, lined with matching grey doors, and she raced to catch up with him.
"So what's your name?" she asked.
"Frank," he said.
"I'm Zella," she said brightly. "Nice to meet you!"
"Alright," he said.
They reached the elevator at the end of the hall and he pressed the button. Almost immediately, the doors glided open and they stepped inside. It was so cool: all glass! She could see the huge field and all the people.
"Why aren't you out there, doing press-ups or something?" she asked.
Frank's eyes were trained at a point slightly above the doors.
"Screwed up, got punished."
"Your punishment is hanging out with me? Lucky you!"
The elevator jolted to a halt and he walked out onto the new floor. This one was fancy, with reflective stone floors and a higher ceiling. Zella could see tall glass doors leading out onto the field, and a welcome desk. Frank, however, walked straight over to a glazed glass door off to the side. He knocked twice and waited.
"Yes," said a voice from inside. Definitely female. Frank opened the door for Zella and she went inside. He shut the door without coming in.
"Dad!" she exclaimed. Her father was sitting in one of the chairs in front of this woman's desk. She was small and slight, with curly brown hair and large glasses.
"Sit down, Zella, please," the woman said. "My name is Philippa Bowen. I'm the Director of Studies here at the SHIELD Academy of Operations."
"Mrs Bowen was just going through some forms with me," said Zella's dad.
"All going well?" Zella asked.
"Yes," said Mrs Bowen. "I called you down here so that you could meet your guide for the day. He'll be showing you around the site, introducing you to some of the teachers, helping you to decide which branch of Operations you want to join…"
"You mean Frank? Frank's going to show me round the place?" she said. Yay yay yay!
"Oh no, not Frank," said Mrs Bowen. "Frank is unfortunately suspended from Operations for the moment. No, your guide is waiting for you by the reception desk. His name is Connor Clement. Off you go, then, Zella."
"Oh- okay," she said. "Bye, dad."
He waved at her, and she turned around to go back through the door. Frank was waiting outside, standing like a soldier against the wall, staring into space.
"Hey Frank!" she said.
He gave her the bare minimum of a smile.
"Okay," she said, and walked away, across the smooth floor towards the reception desk. There wasn't anyone there – not even a receptionist. She frowned and looked around. No one. She looked over at the entrance doors, and suddenly she heard the sound of loud footsteps approaching. She spun around.
A boy was running full-pelt towards her from the elevator. He stopped, almost skidding right in front of her, panting. He had short brown hair and tanned skin.
"Hi," he said. "Alright. Okay. I made it. I'm not late, am I?"
"About 5 seconds late," she said.
"Dammit," he said. "I've wasted 5 seconds. Okay. Whatever. Let's go."
"I assume you're Connor?"
"Shoot, I forgot to introduce myself. That's really impolite. I'm sorry. I'm Connor. You're Zella, right?" he asked, running a hand through his sweaty hair.
"Yep," she said with a smile. "I forgive you."
"Okay, great," he said, and smiled back. "Okay. What are we doing? We're doing a tour. Where do you wanna go first? Outside?"
"Sounds good for me."
"Great!"
He led her through the glass double doors, and out into the cold sunshine and crunchy grass.
A/N: New chapter yay! We're at the Academy! Please review or favourite or follow or whatever you feel like :) As always, thanks for reading! Thanks so much to the people who have favourited/followed so far!