Right in the Middle

Knowing not to take any chances, Dack chose the seat in the middle of the three available. One seat over on his left Sherry sat scribbling on her notepad, occasionally looking up to observe the cabin, while one seat over on Dack's right sat Cadet Conner, silent and wide eyed. There were thirteen other youths strapped into the seats lining the cabin perimeter, some chatting nervously while others watched silently. Dack stretched out a little, getting comfortable for the short flight.

Sherry just kept right on scribbling on her notepad, which at first seemed strange until he realised what it was. The tests had already begun. Assesments, grading, observations, everything was done for a reason and Sherry herself was grading the new Cadets. Had Dack made a good impression? A bad one? What kind of effect had it made that he had chosen this seat rather than the one to his left, to his right? What about the fact that he wasn't talking with anyone, but then he wasn't making idle nervous chatter either. He was calm, which would be a good thing, but he wasn't openly social either. All of these questions ran through his head as Dack quietly observed the other Cadets. Most were guys around his age or a little older, one or two a little younger. There were also a few girls, but they hardly stood out from the crowd.

A light came on and from the Starfleet emblem on Sherry's chest came a quick, “Coming in for a landing, Private. Welcome to Anaheim, California.” Sherry muttered something about the stupidity of needing to pick up Cadets from Anahiem, and suddenly the ramp was dropping and she was on her way out again. Dack couldn't hear anything outside, but the cabin went silent. Apparantly everyone wanted to know what kind of people would be coming aboard. Dack wondered if it had been like this every time the shuttle landed, or if it was just this last stop.

Sherry came back up the ramp first, and took her seat resuming her scribbling almost instantly. Following her were two girls that did not fit the others in the cabin. Smiling widely, a bounce in their step, they were anything but nervous. Or pensive. They were also chatting, they knew each other, or they had hit it off when the met on the landing pad. Either way, they were having a much better experience than the other Cadets were. They sat down on either side of Dack, their conversation halted briefly as they worked at buckling themselves in. One his left was a blonde with a strong jaw and a broad, full lipped mouth. If Dack could trust his judgement past the uniform black jumpsuit he thought she was slim though not model skinny. On his right sat a brunette girl, round faced and slightly freckled. She was obviously athletic, just the way she moved and held herself seemed to shout Sporty.

Taking his chance, Dack decided to speak up.