[center][b][u]Shay [/u][/b] [i]"How many times must I tell you?" The dark-haired teen, often nicknamed raven for her hair, rounded on her parents. "I don't know if I'll join the military! Okay! I don't know!" "That tone," scoffed her mother, equally dark-haired yet with lighter eyes. "How could you not know? We've been training you since you could walk." "Like I had a choice? My first word wasn't even 'mama' or 'dada', it was 'gun'." Shay spat, throwing her hands in the air with disgust, unable to keep herself from trembling with anger. "Not so bad," retorted her father, whose lighter hair did not reflect the female's; yet his eyes were parallel to Shay's stormy grey eyes. Her gaze was striking, not immediately soft. His were, and it was often her parents scorned her for it. As if she could help it. "At least you can use one. Something the military could use. You could be an officer and rise in the ra-" "I told you," She interrupted waspishly, "I don't know if I want to join." "Do you even know what branch?" Her father inquired roughly, trying to look intimidating as his daughter and failing. "No." This on-going argument was making her head spin. Her fingers massaged her forehead as her gaze lifted to the window. Sometimes she wished she could go outside and just fly away. She could have a peace of mind instead of having to duck and dodge these people. "Why not?" Her mother's shrill voice pierced Shay's ears. Holy shit, thought the teenager with increasing exasperation. "Because I have a bunch to choose from and I want to make sure I'm going to choose the right one." The excuse rolled off her tongue before she had time to process it, but she didn't care. "You'd be one hell of a marine." Her father quipped, his dark lips rising crookedly. Shay sighed and remained silent, letting the comment die out. Beautiful, joyous silence, up until her mother forcibly broke it with her nasty remarks. "You better start thinking about it. In fact, you can think about it while you're at Coates Academy, an academy for troubled and disturb-" "TROUBLED!" Shay yelled out at the top of her lungs, a derisive laugh escaping her lips. "You think I'm troubled because I don't know if I want to join the family legacy of military personnel and go to some godforsaken shithole country?" "Don't speak to your mother that way!" Her father jumped to his feet, his gaze losing its' softens, his lips curled into a snarl. His gaze could've murdered Shay if she weren't so brazen herself. "You are going young lady and straightening your attitude out or so help us God!" "Fine!" She screamed back, throwing her hands in the air. "Anything then being around you two controlling my life and making me feel ashamed and stupid for not wanting to immediately throw my life away!" "Throw your life away? Are you kidding! Go to your room and think about what you're saying!" Without a word, she turned on he heels, but instead of going to her room, she strode out the front door. Her motorcycle boots crushed the leaves and stones underneath her, but she didn't pay attention. "Where are you going!" Still remaining silent as her parents pursued her, she grabbed her motorcycle and geared the accelerator and drove out of sight. If only she didn't have to return to her parents later that week.[/i] -------------------------------------------------------------------- The argument from that previous summer rang through her mind's eye. Shay stared ahead at the teacher ahead of her, lecturing about something in English. She hadn't been paying attention nor caring. It wasn't as if she was going to be an English major in college - if she even went. Her dream major was becoming an engineer. Anything she knew she picked that was not militaristic was something her parents would disregard. She wasn't sure what field, but was fascinated with engineering. What was this guy babbling on about? She stared ahead hard, her gaze intent. Still, no words made sense. Why the hell did she need this lecture? She wasn't illiterate. With irritation, she excused herself to the bathroom and stood up, marching out of the classroom. The corridors weren't littered with people like her high school. She sighed and found an empty corridor to sit down in briefly. If someone asked, she'd mutter about being lost. She was new here, after all. Rules were something she often disapproved of herself. "All the teachers are gone!" The voice disrupted Shay's thoughts and forced them to stop. She jumped at the voice and clambered to her feet warily. What? The teachers were gone? The hell was going on? "Do you know what's going on?" "The phones are not working!" "My brother's gone! He was sitting right next to me and-" "I'm getting kind of scared. no one's phone's working, and I can't get online.." Shay moved into the hallway even more. Other students were the Coates Academy uniform properly but she did not. The vest over her dress shirt was half buttoned, the skirt wasn't long enough, but she wore black leggings underneath them. The collar stuck out underneath the dress shirt. Unlike most girls, Shay wore a black and red tie. A messy braid fell down the length of her back with loose strands hanging out. The leather coat didn't help, either. Instead of the dress code flats, she wore motorcycle boots. No way in hell was she going to be caught wearing a pair of shitty flats. "Enough," An irritated tone of voice broke through the chaos. Shay gazed at the speaker eyebrows raised. Who the hell was he? A student or a staff member? She stared ahead, admiring him nonetheless. Still now was not the time for this. She wasn't feeling social anyways. Students dispersed when the boy yelled, "Now!" Except for Shay, who remained standing. She leaned against a locker flickering the lock, and turned to the boy. "What the hell is going on? Did I arrive at a bad time? Cause fuck my luck if so." A smirk tugged at the corners of her cherry red lips. At least she had managed to swap a few lipsticks before her departure from home. Mama Knight wouldn't notice, would she?[/center]