Thirty-nine hours, two thousand, six hundred and forty-one miles, came the time were her feet stood on solid earth they had never felt before. At last, standing on the opposite side of the Golden Gate Bridge and looking out at the city in San Francisco, California. Finally on her way to enlist in Starfleet.
Starfleet. Months ago, the word was a whispered dream, blown away in the winds of the humid North Carolina air. Starfleet was what ended her brother's life, the start of hers. Space was disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence. Anything was possible when you were millions of miles away from the Earth.
In less than a few hours, she would be standing in Starfleet Headquarters taking her entrance exam, and by the end of the day (if prayer held and wishes kept), she would have received her cadet corps number and would report to the shuttles to be taken to boot camp.
Her feet padded against the concrete sidewalks, adjusting the bag on her shoulder to return to the straps of her backpack. The two were her life now, carrying the only possessions she now had. Clothes, a crumpled bill, and a few small personal possessions. It was all Samuel took with him when he left home as well.
Bumping into someone she walked past, she pushed the curls away from her face that had fallen free, deciding she would be happy if they made her shave her head for basic training. Hell, she would volunteer! Though she came from an Italian family with dark hair and eyes, they were spared from the curly hell that she endured.
Digging the sheet of paper out of her pocket, she glanced down at the address before looking back up at the building she stood in front of, comparing the addresses. Her brother once told her that she would always be welcome to stay at his place in San Francisco, and now that he was gone, who was using it? Asking to stay in the apartment where your dead brother once lived didn't seem like a fully-formed plan.
Pushing open the doors to the apartment building, she headed directly towards the elevators after a quick stop at the front desk (no one was living there, thankfully) and pressed the button and waited for it to come down. Stepping out of the way as the doors opened, she nodded to a mother and her child, always taught that smiling, nodding or saying "hello" to anyone you passed was polite. The woman gave her a strange look, making her eyes drop to the linoleum floors. Apparently this wasn't taught everywhere.
Heading in, she pressed another button that corresponded to the floor number on the sheet her brother had given her so long ago. Turning around, she let the bag she carried on her shoulder drop to the ground as she stared out of the glass and into the city. Behind her, she heard the doors begin to close, and the rushing steps of someone just barely making it into the elevator in time.
Her shoulders tensed, and she prayed to god that whoever it was wouldn't attempt to make conversation with her. It wasn't that she was socially inept—actually, she was—it was just that she wasn't very good at making conversation with strangers. Or anyone for that matter. Plus, she would only be here for a day at the most. Her brother's old apartment was merely a stop for the moment.
The elevator went into motion, and she watched as the ground rushed from underneath her,
view starting to level with the skyline as it continued to rise. Fascinating.
"What, never been in an elevator before?" With a shocking realization, she blushed when the man standing besides her spoke up. Speaking her mind had always been a problem of hers, even when it was unintentional like this.
Clearing her throat to speak, she shuffled the backpack on her shoulders and touched her foot to the bag on the floor. She couldn't be sure if this man was a thief who was trying to steal what little she had. "I have." She responded, eyes still glued to the people who grew smaller and smaller by the second. "It's just a nice view."
"Can't argue with that. Let's see-Haddock, Andromeda. Boone, North Carolina." He continued, making her freeze up. "It's on your tag, if you're wondering why. I can't read minds, as much as I would like to be able to. Kinda young to want to join Starfleet, aren't you?"
Bending down, she grabbed her bag. "No." She grumbled unhappily, looking at the ground to avoid eye contact with the man, noticing he was wearing a Starfleet uniform before doing so however. It wasn't his business to be snooping around her tag and asking if she was old enough to join Starfleet. "And it's Andy."
Hearing his mouth open to speak again, she thanked every god she could think of that the doors opened and she could rush out before she had to continue this more than uncomfortable conversation with the man. Sam was always better at talking than she was.
Un-wadding the paper from her hands, Andy smoothed out the thin sheet and checked the number. Apartment number 1086. Pushing the key in and holding her breath when she heard a click, she took a step into the hardwoods. Barren, though she hadn't expected much more. It was odd to imagine what it would have looked like when Samuel lived here, and doing so pained her greatly.
Letting out the breath she wasn't aware she was holding, Andy tossed down her duffle bag and threw her backpack on the floor, stretching her back and flopping down on the only furniture left. She didn't have long to rest, in a few hours she would have to be on her feet again to head to entrance exams. For now, she would rest. After all, she thought she would have earned it.