The after school flight programme is in the aviation room. I'm the first one here, so I look around, exploring it more. The simulator's are huge. I can't wait to try them!

I'm about to sit in the pilot's seat when the door screeches open.

"Ambitious, huh?" a voice says. I recognise it as Keefe's.

"It's my dream," I say pointing to the pilot's seat.

"Why? You don't want the fame or the money, do you?"

"I want to travel. And the feeling of flying a plane gives me a somewhat sense of control. Like I'm doing something worthwhile in my life," I explain. It's surprising that I'm letting this out. No one's ever asked me why before. It felt good to tell someone.

"Mmmhh. I get it. I do it for my Dad. Well, not for him. I'm not "good enough" for him. Kind of to spite him."

"Is that why your a troublemaker? A 'rebel'?" I ask.

He grins. "Alas, the rumors have reached you. They say I've got nothing better to do than mess stuff up. But that's the last thing on my mind. It's the only way to fight back," he says with a sad smile. I nod and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He immediately steps back.

"Anyways," he says, looking around.

"What about you? Why do you want to be pilot?" I ask, trying to ease the tension.

"Pilot? Nah. I'm thinking personal bodyguard."

"Wait, really??"

"No! Of course not! I'm messing with you," he says looking at me weirdly, "I'm not sure. As long as I'm as far away from land as possible." He smirks.

The door screeches open again and a thin girl with curly brown hair enters.

"Hey, Keefe! Ugh, who are you?" she asks me rolling her eyes.

"I could ask you the same," I remark. She glares at me for a minute before I break the silence.

"My name's Sophie," I say at last, sick of her stubbornness.

"Ugh Stina, can't you be nice for once?" another girl says. I turn to see a blonde girl with light blue eyes. "Hi," she says looking at me, "I'm Marella."

"Nice to meet you Marella, I'm Sophie," I reply with a smile. She returns the smile and we start talking. Not bad. I'm making friends, I think to myself, Grady and Edaline will be happy.

I take a seat in front of the giant screen as the teacher enters. And once again, it's the principal, Mr. Forkle. He starts with going over the quiz we took in the morning. I pop in my headphones and listen to some music as he explains how to do the questions.

Suddenly I feel a hand in on my shoulder. I look up. Fitz's face is staring up at me.

"What?" I ask, irritated.

"Can I have that seat? I've been trying to get your attention for the past 5 min," he says pointing to the seat next to me with my bag on it.

"Oh."

I blush slightly and take off my bag, muttering a "Whatever..." under my breath. He smiles and sits down. Dex scowls next to me. He really doesn't like Fitz...

"Okay," Mr. Forkle says, "Now, you guys can have a go at the simulators. But we only have 15 min, so just take turns sitting inside and I'll go over the top left panel. We'll do the rest tomorrow. The rest of you who aren't doing the pilot or co-pilot course can go to Ms. and Mr. David's rooms for steward/stewardess lessons or to Dr. Elvin for IT. Remember, it doesn't matter what you choose, there will be no discrimination whatsoever. Everyone is a part of our community and will be respected. Understand?" The class nods and splits up.

The only ones doing the pilot and co-pilot course is me, Keefe, Fitz, another girl and a boy. Looks like Stina, Biana and Marella are going for stewardesses. Dex is obviously going to IT. He's been obsessed with technology forever. At least that's what Grady and Edaline told me.

"Hi, I'm Sophie." I introduce myself to the girl and boy. The girl has deep black hair with silver highlights at the bottom.

"I'm Linh." she replies with a shy smile. She's so nice... I like her already.

"I'm Tam." the boy says. He has a similar hairstyle to Linh - black hair with bangs that look like they've been dipped in a bowl of melted silver. I nod and smile. They're probably twins.

"Nice to meet you." I tell both of them. I start to talk to them. Both of them came from a very famous line of singers - the Song's. Though they decided to go into flight instead. I discovered that Linh is only choosing the pilot / co-pilot course because she can't stand handling water in a moving plane. Tam, well he just doesn't like talking to people and being a steward would mean being nice to people - a big no for him. I laugh when he tells me this. But his face is dead serious. I guess it makes sense... I think, but I'm still laughing in my head...

"Students." Mr. Forkle gets our attention and leads us to a simulator. He starts to explain the multiple buttons and levers on the top left panel. I grin the whole time. I can't believe it's finally happening! I squeal in delight (inside my head of course). Still, this is just the beginning. Relax, I tell myself. My smile doesn't disappear though.

I start to take notes like the others even though I know they won't be needed. The only one not taking notes by then is Keefe. Even though Mr. Forkle wants him to. That boy will regret it one day... I think and laugh to myself. The entire group looks at me weirdly and I look at the floor, blushing.

"Nothing..." I mutter, hoping they'll ignore me. I really really don't like being the center of attention.

The class ends and I'm all jumpy on the inside. I literally skip to Dex and Marella when they come out of their rooms.

"Yayyy! That was so fun!" I exclaim. Dex nods with a gleam in his eyes.

"Yeah! I even got to look at the engine's!" he says animatedly. Marella rolls her eyes at us.

"Ugh. We had to watch the safety video a hundred times! It was boring. But it was funny seeing Stina and Biana glaring at each other. Anyways, I've got to go. Bye!" she says fast, leaving me and Dex standing alone.

"Okay..." I say after she's gone.

"Sophie... Do you... Uh... Want to hangout?" Dex asks.

"Yeah! You're my new bestie. You better stick with me." I say, taking his hand in mine. I see his face relax a little but his smile seems off... Anyways, I lead him to my car and we drive to a cafe near the academy.

--+--

I'll continue with the cafe next chapter, don't worry. Have a great day! Hopefully, you liked it! Please vote and comment if you do! Thank you for reading!