"I just went to check on my friend."
Claire made it clear she hadn't been wandering off into restricted areas.
Satisfied with the answer, Priscilla dropped the subject.
Macy Wade hesitated for a second before speaking up. "Claire, if you're going to step out, it's best to let us know. If the instructor shows up and we can't find you, it'll cause a huge mess."
“Understood,” Claire nodded, not arguing in the slightest.
That completely disarmed Macy, swallowing whatever lecture she had prepared.
Tabitha Prince and Lily Lowell immediately dragged Priscilla back into helping them wrestle with their blankets.
A few girls also turned to Claire for help.
Since Claire had already organized her belongings before leaving, she stepped in to guide them.
She didn't do the physical work for them like Priscilla did, but she walked them through the proper folding techniques.
At exactly two-ten, the instructors appeared at their dorm door.
And the Chief Instructor was with them!
The chatter instantly died as a wave of silence washed over the room.
"Good afternoon, Chief Instructor!"
Someone initiated the greeting, and a disjointed but enthusiastic chorus of female voices echoed through the room.
"Good afternoon." Van maintained a completely stern expression.
Officer Miller chuckled. "It's like Officer Brooks and I are invisible. You only have
eyes for the Chief. Is it just because he's better looking than us?”
"No sir! You and Officer Brooks are very handsome too!"
"Yeah, it's just a subtle kind of handsome!"
The girls playfully tossed remarks back and forth.
Unnoticed by the crowd, Van gave Claire a subtle nod.
Van hadn't actually planned on taking this training assignment.
But since he was on leave, running a student bootcamp was a decent way to kill time.
His superiors knew he couldn't sit still, so they cut his vacation short and tossed him this assignment to keep him busy.
During this time, Tilda's family and the Hawk family were deep in negotiations regarding their upcoming wedding.
Now that the two had decided to be together, the elders on both sides wanted to finalize things as quickly as possible.
Given the highly dangerous nature of
Vans career and the fact that he
be retiring a
Soon
was of the essence.
Tilda had her own career to manage as well, meaning they had to squeeze the wedding into his current leave.
With the planning underway, both families were pushing them to lock in a date.
Before getting together with Tilda, Van had been incredibly aloof.
But now that they were official, he practically deferred to her on everything. Whatever Tilda wanted, he agreed with.
Claire had to admit, Tilda really knew how to train a man.
The ensuing training was intensely grueling.
Van wasn't one to compromise. He enforced the rules with brutal
efficiency treating the college
students as if he were breaking in new recruits.
The students were miserable. Behind his back, they constantly complained that it was a tragedy for a man with such a gorgeous facet be southlessly demanding, utterly incapable of showing mercy to the female cadets.
Zara had it the worst.
She couldn't even manage basic dorm maintenance and was constantly berated by the instructors.
Even with the class monitor and Lex stepping in to help, her roommates were growing increasingly resentful.
She was undeniably delicate, and her sheer lack of physical stamina was a liability to the squad.
The entire company had a fairly negative impression of her.
However, the male students still flocked to a gorgeous, wealthy heiress like Zara.
So no matter how much she dragged the team down, there was no shortage of guys hovering around her.
Unfortunately for them, Zara had been surrounded by fawning men her entire life, and she completely ignored them.
It wasn't that she wasn't trying; she was genuinely putting in the effort to learn.
But the pampered heiress simply lacked the physical constitution.
She was making personal progress, but to everyone else, it wasn't nearly enough.
She was too much of a burden, sparking endless complaints from her peers.
Claire, on the other hand, was breezing through.
She was in peak physical condition, making the military drills feel like a walk in the park.
Her relationship with her roommates was cordial enough.
However, when Claire caught Lex scrubbing Zara's sneakers, she was genuinely taken aback.