Under Different Circumstances

Chapter 27

I stared up at him, my eyes mirroring the affection I saw in his. "Me too. Thank you for today. It was very special to me. You are very special to me."

The corners of his eyes crinkled along with his smile, he cupped my cheek and stroked his thumb over my cheekbone. "How are you feeling about tomorrow?"

"I'm a little nervous," I admitted, "because I don't know what exactly to expect. The next few weeks aren't going to be a walk in the park. I know that for sure. But I'm mostly excited to start on a new path in my life, with a new career, with you," I trailed off, and my mouth curved into a smile. "I have so much to look forward to."

"And I'm excited to be by your side for all of it," Jay smiled back and lowered his lips to mine.

I slid my hand behind his neck and rolled myself back on top of him. Without breaking the kiss, I reached out and switched off the bedside lamp.

The next morning, I got up earlier than I had to and went for a run to clear my head and mentally prepare for the day ahead. A soft fog hung in the streets, and the crisp morning air tingled on my face as I jogged to the local park in my area. A few other people were jogging too and some were working out by the high bars on the playground. I did three laps around the park before taking a different route back to my house. In front of my door, I stretched my legs out, then went back inside and up to my bedroom.

I walked into the room as Jay came out of the bathroom after taking a shower.

"Good morning! You were gone when I woke up," he greeted me and leaned down to kiss me. "Your face is cold," he noticed.

"I went for a run. It's freezing outside today," I explained and walked past him into the bathroom to get ready.

We had breakfast together and after we'd loaded up the dishwasher, I opened a drawer in the kitchen and slid a small metal object across the counter over to Jay.

"What's this?" he inquired, picking up the key.

"You gave me a key to your place, here's one to mine," I said casually.

He retrieved his set of keys from his pocket and added mine to the bunch. "It fits in with the rest of them nicely," he reckoned and rattled the keys.

I grinned and turned around to gather up my things and my backpack with my school supplies and anything else I might need that day.

"Would you like me to drive you?" Jay suggested.

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd appreciate that," I accepted thankfully.

Now that it was time to leave, I did feel my nerves pick up, and I was glad to get a few more quiet minutes in the car with Jay instead of having to drive myself.

As we rounded the last corner and Jay came to a stop in front of the Chicago Police Training Division, I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Jay noticed and grabbed my hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Don't worry. It'll be great," he reassured me.

"I know," I sighed with an appreciative smile and watched a few young guys that looked to be barely out of high school walk into the building. They glanced around anxiously and seemed to be even more nervous than I was.

"Do you know when you'll be done for the day?"

"The information sheet said 6 pm on the first day."

"I'll try and pick you up, then," Jay decided, and I leaned over to hug and kiss him goodbye.

"Thank you," I said in between kisses, finding it hard to make myself get out of the car. "I'll see you later."

I slammed the door shut behind me and started walking towards the building when I heard the car window buzz down.

"Have fun, honey!" Jay yelled after me.

I saw a few people look our way and spun around quickly with wide eyes to find him grinning at me mischievously. I felt like a school kid embarrassed by her parent on the first day of school. His grin confirmed that that had been his plan.

"Shut up!" I hissed back at him but couldn't help grinning too.

I rolled my eyes, waved him off, and kept walking. His little practical joke had been successful in the sense that my nerves had completely evaporated, and I walked into the academy with a smile on my lips.

Right behind the door, stood a sign with arrows showing the way to the assembly hall where the introduction would take place.

I sat down in a chair in the middle of the room and watched it fill with the other recruits. My guess that I'd be one of the oldest trainees at the academy proved to be accurate. Most people around me were in their early twenties, but I was glad to see a few people my age amongst the crowd too.

A tall woman in uniform stepped up to the stage and introduced herself as Commander Wittick before welcoming us to the academy and congratulating us on making it this far. She held a long speech about what lay ahead of us for the next six months, what the department expected from its recruits, what kind of behaviour it wouldn't tolerate, and what values we would have to follow and abide by to graduate from the academy successfully and become respected police officers of the CPD. After she'd finished, an older man took her place and explained the curriculum for the orientation day.

When the speeches had ended, we were ushered to a different room and received our uniforms.

I got changed into my uniform in the women's locker room and stood in front of the mirror straightening out my black tie. I looked down at the blue shirt and black pants I was wearing and touched my fingertips to the metal name tag that had 'Upton' engraved in it. A tingling sensation spread through my body as wearing the uniform made this entire experience of starting at the academy suddenly feel very real and tangible.

"Isn't this exciting?" a petite woman standing next to me beamed.

She had tied her straight, black hair into a neat bun similar to the one my hair was in and brushed out her bangs with her fingers.

I nodded and smiled at her while reading the name on her tag: Cho.

"I'm Mei," she introduced herself with a big smile and stuck out her hand.

I shook it. "Hailey Upton."

Together, we walked to our first classroom. Mei was a very bubbly person and rambled on about how nervous and excited she was, why she'd decided to join the force, and how her parents had been sceptical about whether or not she could do it. Her vigour was sweet but overwhelming, and I settled on simply smiling and nodding along to her stories.

In the classroom, Mei sat down next to me at a long row of tables and turned her attention to the recruit on her other side, giving me a moment of quiet to take in my surroundings.

The room with beige brick walls was filled with multiple rows of desks, a whiteboard hung on the front wall, and the walls were covered in CPD and CFD posters. The air was filled with the excited murmur of the recruits introducing themselves to one another.

In my peripheral vision, I saw a pencil move over my shoulder and tap it from behind. I turned around in my seat to see a tall, blonde man leaning over his desk, pencil in hand. His face looked familiar.

"Hey," he said with his vibrant blue eyes trained on me. "Hailey? I think you sat next to me during the written entrance exam."

"Oh, right! I'm glad to see that you made it too!" I told him even though I hadn't doubted that he would. "Aidan, right?"

He nodded, happy that I remembered him. We had briefly talked before the exam a few months ago. He was one of the recruits who were roughly my age because he'd served in the Navy for nearly a decade before retiring and deciding to become a police officer.

Aidan opened his mouth to say something else, but a man walked to the front of the classroom and began talking, officially beginning the lesson.