One of the reasons I can't wait to return to school is for stupid moments like this chapter.

Year Four: Barbie Beach Blondes

Atlantic Residence - 7:04 AM

Angela stands beside Orchid who's sitting at Angela's desk in her dorm room. On one of Orchid's shoulders, Angela holds a spray bottle and on the other, a pair of scissors. They both look at Orchid's hair in the mirror, eyeing different hair lengths.

Orchid's always had short hair that went above her shoulders. The moment the ends were touching her shoulders, she knew she needed a cut. Exams start today and she knew her hair touching her shoulders would distract her from performing her drills properly. Usually, her grandma would trim it back on the farm since she didn't want to pay an exorbitant amount for barely an inch of hair, but she's at the Academy now.

Which is why she's asking Angela. Has she had any hair-cutting experience? No. But she's watched a few video tutorials and looked at example photos of Orchid with the goal haircut. Besides, Angela is a jack of all trades.

Angela would've done it for free, but Orchid "paid" her by trimming Angela some curtain bangs.

"I'm liking what you did so far," Orchid says.

"You could cut your own hair," Angela says, pointing at her bangs with the scissors.

"But it's so much fun having someone else do it."

Angela grins. "It is."

"And only you could rock those curtain bangs and not look like you're having a midlife crisis."

Angela puts the scissors and the spray bottle down when she hears knocking on her door. When she opens it, she sees Brody standing there with a bouquet. He points at her bangs and nods approvingly.

"Orchid cut them," Angela remarks, opening the door wider so Orchid could wave at him. "I'm running an underground hairstyling shop called Barbie Beach Blondes, patent pended though probably will be rejected."

"Maybe next time," Brody says, running a hand through his long blond locks. "I actually came to drop these off."

Angela opens the door and Brody walks in, kissing the top of Orchid's new haircut as he hands her the bouquet. Orchid opens the paper covering and reveals many aromatic skinny green stems with small bulbs of purple and pink. Angela peers over and gets the delectable onion scent from the chives. She opens the spray bottle so Orchid could put them inside as a temporary pride.

"For my Beach Barbie Blonde," Brody says.

"Brody!" Orchid exclaims happily. "I can make so many omelettes with this."

"Oddly a fresh harvest in the middle of winter though I wouldn't question it so much." He kisses her forehead and plays with her new locks. "I gotta run back to my dorm but I'll catch you around."

"Come back for some Beach Barbie Blonde Bangs later!" Angela exclaims as he heads out. She sighs. "God, Orchid, you win. Exam season is off to a great start."

-o-

Angela opens the knocks on the door again. This time, it's Naomi holding a tray with five black coffees and a paper bag of fix-ins she got from a campus café. She walks into the room and hands a coffee to Angela, Orchid, Merida and Victoria who have shown up. The girls, minus Naomi, add in their milk and sugars, needing that kick-start since it's the first morning of exams. Merida added some whisky she had hiding under her pillow, Orchid and Angela add milk and sugar, and Victoria tops hers with only whipped cream that Merida had in a mini-fridge. All of them had their whisky shots in them before covering the drinking spout, shaking the cups so they would mix, and licking whatever drips out onto the cup.

All of them hiss at the alcohol taste, and some laughs fill the room as they cheer.

Angela, Merida, and Orchid are in their Operations' training uniforms, Victoria wears a pantsuit and a white button-up, and Naomi has a lab coat over her hoodie and leggings with her glasses in one of the pockets.

"Professionals at best," Orchid cheers, taking another sip of her spiked coffee.

"Oh my god, we'll be drunk," Naomi giggles. "I'm supposed to handle lab equipment today."

Angela waves a hand. "It'll be fine. Nobody's gonna know about this."

"This is tasty and Angela Rogers is a baddie now," Orchid states. "A baddie and a hairdresser."

"Barton and I are still hungover anyways," Victoria reasons, adding more whisky to her cup.

Merida nods. "So, wait, I was drunk from 9 to -?"

"Wednesday," Angela states.

Merida continues nodding, not recalling any of that information. What day was it today? "Huh, well, good for me. New record!"

"It's Christmas somewhere!" Victoria exclaims.

She holds her cup up and they cheers again before taking another sip.

"Wow," Naomi states, putting her cup down. "I say as if I didn't already sip this."

"Fancy," Orchid adds. "Not Stark-fancy, but fancy. Alright, ladies, let's go."

Orchid throws her hair straightener in her bag. She decides to bring it to class since she doesn't trust it just sitting in her dorm. Halfway through an exam, she'll wonder if she unplugged it before leaving, so it's better if it's just on her person at all times.

"I almost burned a barn down once leaving this in," Orchid explains when the girls all give her weird looks.

"Why were you straightening your hair in a barn?" Angela asks.

"I wasn't even allowed to own a hair straightener. Mama said those are the devil's tools."

Merida snorts a laugh. "Your mother also said the same thing about venmo."

"What's venmo?" Naomi asks.

Victoria whistles. "The American devil's tool to send money."

-o-

Academy Training Room - 14:09 PM

Angela and James differ when it comes to strength training. Hers is beating a punching bag while James holds the bag back for his dear fucking life. She's holding back, building momentum. She could knock that bag right off on the first hit. She has before. Sure, it's a test on stamina and reaction time for both of them.

To surprise him, she sends one final punch. James quickly shrinks and throws a Pym disc at the bag to shrink it before catching it. When he returns to his normal size, he holds the punching bag in his palm. He looks up at Angela and she's smiling proudly at her work, sweating so much that loose strands from her ponytail stick to her face.

When she locks eyes with him, he freezes. She has never looked more beautiful.

"Can I kiss you right now?" Angela asks.

"Do whatever you want to me," James responds.

Angela laughs as James walks over. Immediately, he holds her, messing his hands through his damp hair until her ponytail falls out.

-o-

Academy Examination Room 7 - 19:09 PM

Emily: Are any kids cheating?

Daniel: Probably not.

Daniel looks up from the table where he's proctoring a night exam. He's supposed to be working on correcting lab reports in the meantime, but Emily started messaging him. Nothing stands out to him as he looks out at his students. It's only a mass of them hunched over their exams and scribbling against the clock.

But if a student was cheating, he has full authority to revoke the exam. It's more power that he isn't sure he should have.

Emily: Middle right.

Daniel: What?

James is sitting next to Daniel, proctoring one of Professor Nine's exams. Since both examinations were scheduled for the same time in the same room, the students were mixed. One of the few ways to prevent cheating. Daniel looks over at the sheet of paper between him and James where they're in the middle of their tenth game of tic-tac-toe.

Emily: I'm the one cheating. James is sending me pics.

Daniel grins as he marks an X in the middle right, giving him two shots of victory.

Emily: But I'm also helping him.

-o-

Hudson Residence - 20:22 PM

During another joint floor meeting, Brody and Xavier stand in front of their cadets who all eat the free snacks provided during the meeting as an incentive to show up. It always works.

"Alright, boys, before the holidays, if both our floors pass the inspections, every dorm, Xavier and I will streak around campus in nothing by a Santa hat on the last day of classes before the holidays," Brody states.

"What?" Xavier asks as the boys already start cheering, "I've already streaked across camp."

"Of course you have. And if my floor does better than yours, you'll have to run at my pace the entire time."

Xavier hesitates. "You know Vander's going to write us up for it."

"True … how about whoever loses has to show up from Christmas break earlier."

"Deal."

They shake on it.