Cross Fire (Book #2) GirlXGirl

Four

       

The plane ride lasted a little over an hour, and when we touched down in Reno we were shuffled onto a bus that was waiting for the trainees like myself. Another three-and-a-half hours on a Greyhound sounded like torture, but as long as Melissa stayed far away, I could manage.

I watched the door to the bus and spotted the same girl who had ridden next to me on the plane. She smiled when she saw me.

"Looks like we're headed to the same place," she claimed. Then she pointed to the seat next to me. "Is this seat taken?"

"No," I answered as I moved my bag over.

She sat and stuck her hand out. "I'm Paige Weston."

I hesitated before accepting her gesture. "Alexa Cortez."

"It's kind of exciting, isn't it?" she asked.

I sighed. "Sure."

She faced me. "You're not much of a talker."

This time I shook my head.

"This reminds me of my college days," she revealed.

She was a college girl. That was actually kind of... hot.

I just nodded and returned to staring out of the window, believing the conversation was over. Yet I couldn't deny Paige's energy was contagious. Plus, she was cute. Like really cute.

Enough, I ordered myself.

The last thing I needed was to get distracted when the next fifty days would be the most important in my life. This time I wouldn't let a girl ruin my chance.

Then familiar gray eyes entered the bus and locked with my own. Melissa took in Paige, who sat next to me oblivious to her stare, and then sat a few seats behind us. I groaned internally.

The fact that she was here, heading to the same camp as me was confusing. It pissed me off because it wasn't fair. After everything she had done, why the hell would Chapman allow her to come here?

But instead of dwelling I just shook the thought, knowing I would have bigger obstacles to face in the days to come.

The bus came to a stop, which forced me awake. An officer stepped onto the bus while we all just stared with anticipation.

"No electronics are permitted beyond this point. If you didn't get the memo, we have a safety box you can put them in and you'll get them back at the end of the program. First is check-in and then orientation."

Everyone rose from their seats and we exited the bus. No one turned in any cellphones, but we still had to wait for them to search our bags. Nerves jumbled when they called my name.

"Cortez!"

I stepped forward. Had they found something? I knew my phone was sitting at home on my nightstand, so there shouldn't be anything wrong...

But he handed me my bag without a word. Just nodded me off so I could rejoin the group.

There were about twenty of us but I figured more buses would arrive with time. For some reason, I assumed that this would be more of a military training camp, yet it looked subtle.

I was relieved to know that I wouldn't be yelled at and harassed. It might've just resulted in me sucker-punching someone in the face and getting kicked out. Chapman would've been disappointed.

Check-in wasn't bad, but when I found out we would have roommates, I became nervous. At the announcement, my eyes immediately traveled over to Melissa who was standing on the far side of the room. I prayed we would be as far away as possible from each other.