“I had to take a GED,” Alexis said, “because my school closed for reasons that were totally not my fault.” She was beginning to feel comfortable with Skye - hopefully all of her teachers would be like this. “Also, I’m pretty sure my grandfather could run a faster mile than I can. He’s the reason I got so into science in the first place.”
Upon hearing Skye’s comment about the higher-ups, Alexis rolled her eyes. “Glad to know our tax dollars are being put to good use,” she said. “Although if I’m getting a free education without having to fill out the FAFSA, I’m okay with it. I shouldn’t be complaining.”
“Sign your grandfather up for operations. I’m pretty sure he’s still got it,” she suggested before leaning forward ever so slightly, a conspicuously amused look forming on her face.
“There’s been an Oscar-worthy story behind every “totally not” I’ve heard thus far. Do tell.”
“So, like high school.” Alexis made a face. As much as she hated high school, maybe this was a sort of second chance at what were supposed to be the best years of her life. “I’ll tell you I’m not really a competitive person right now, but that’ll probably change when the competition starts. My grandfather refuses to play chess with me anymore.”
“It seems like it would just create a divide in S.H.I.E.L.D. when we do graduate, though, if we’ve spent four years competing against each other.”
“Dropped out, wouldn’t know,” she informed with almost childlike pride before gasping at Alexis’s next words. “That’s terrible. Didn’t you think of his weak heart? He just wanted to have a calm, relaxing game of chess until you -” she graced Alexis with a noncommittal wave of hand, “- youths came and ruined it.”
“It does, but the higher-ups are probably also doing it for their entertainment. The game is called “how many versions of biological warfare can sciences come up with before we’re forced to shut them down?” and it’s bound to get messy.”
“But we’re all supposed to be working for the same agency, right? I understand the ego bit - can’t imagine I’ll get along well with any of the ops division - but should we really be keeping secrets from each other?” Alexis stuffed the notes into what was probably the wrong binder and sat back down on the floor opposite from Skye. “Are these blatant newbie questions? Is there something I’m missing?
“Ah, operations. No, you really won’t,” she laughed. “Solid logic, but sadly, useless solid logic. You’ll start working for the same agency as the others once you graduate. Right now you’re all working for yourselves, and as soon as someone says something that has the words “best” and “competition” in it, battle cries and the sound of necks being snapped break out. May the odds be ever in your favour.”
“You’ll get the hang of it soon, really. Or, you know, the lack of “it”. From what I’ve heard from Leo and AC - sorry, agents Fitz and Coulson -, studying here is basically 30% luck, 30% skill and 40% pain. No pleasure. Agent Simmons claimed otherwise, but that nerd gets a kick out of doing her homework.”
“It’s not terrible advice,” Alexis said. “It… thank you. I really appreciate it.” She picks up the last of the notes and sets them on her desk. “Do you know anything about the rivalry? Like, why it’s forming? I may be bad at people, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be friends with them, and I don’t see why division matters.” She shrugs. “But yet again, I’m new here. And you at least know a little more about S.H.I.E.L.D. than I do.”
“It better not be. I’m getting paid to do this,” she said, visibly loosening up as the relief of having said something right washed over her. She leant further onto the edge of the bed, sitting in a cross-legged position across from where Alexis was picking up the last of her notes.
“Oh, you know, it probably has to do with the competition and all of the egos not fitting into one room. Each division is scared their agents will somehow fall in love and then reveal all of the secrets to each other whilst frenching. That kind of scandalous stuff.”
“I’m fine,” Alexis replied. “I’m just bad at people. And disorganized. And kind of ashamed of myself that this is going to be my first impression on most people.” Luckily, her ADHD meds were already stashed away in her desk drawer. The absolute last impression she wanted to leave was that she was the kind of student that abused Adderall and the like to do well. So this wasn’t so bad. Maybe.
“Let’s sort this out.” If there was something she was going to achieve today, it was making this girl feel a little bit better. Skye inched close enough not to violate Alexis’s personal space in the process, and lowered her voice a few octaves.
“Firstly, you don’t have to be good at people, you just have to do good. Just look at the rivalry that’s already beginning to form. Being bad at people is a big plus for you right now, as sciences & tech is probably going to skin everyone who dares to make friendships outside of the division. Secondly, being organised is what they teach you over here. Probably. And it’s fine, really, you have to rely on your brain more than on your notes or schedule. Thirdly, I think you’re not the disaster that you make yourself out to be and my opinion is obviously the most important one,” she proclaimed, allowing a bit of playfulness come into her voice before it got serious again. “You know, I was an outlier too and look at me now. Giving terrible advice at the Academy of all places. Pretty dope, if you ask me.”
Alexis stared at Skye, blinking in astonishment. She’d printed out her nudes?
Wait, no, she’s joking. Probably. With a little sigh of disgust at herself, Alexis looked away from the other girl, who was pointedly trying to maintain eye contact. “I’m Alexis,” she mumbled. “First year, in case it wasn’t obvious.”
Noticing the slight change in her tone and the way the girl could never quite look her in the eye, the part of Skye that was seemingly good at reading people started working at a rapid speed, trying to determine the cause of the discomfort and as to why it could’ve arisen. “Nice to meet you, Alexis. You and me both,” she said, letting silence hang in the air for a little while before continuing, now with significally more care.
“Are you alright? I’m not psychoanalysing you, promise, although I do have some inkblots in my bag. Actually, no, I don’t. Ignore that.”
“You guessed wrong there, Skye. I’m operations. First day of work, huh?”
“I’ve spent the last year trying to convince my team people with powers and illuminati are real. Getting to tell them “I told you so” after all this time is cool. About the powers thing, I mean. Still investigating the illuminati. Care to show me something else? I’m a big fan.”
“Well, don’t let them catch us talking. Apparently there’s a real Capulet and Montague rivalry type of thing happening between the divisions. First day indeed. If you could call this work.”
“You could say that again,” Alexis said. “My roommate’s gonna show up any minute and if this place isn’t perfect she’ll probably hate me, and justifiably so.” As she said that, she accidentally kicked a pile of binders, causing them to fall over and only add to the mess. “Fuck.”Scrambling, she tried to put them back in a pile, but the new one teetered ominously which made Alexis wonder why she even tried. “Should probably go paperless.”
“Yeah. Get with the times. I, for example, have everything on my phone except for my nudes. In case you were wondering, and you definitely are not, but I’m gonna tell you anyway - there wasn’t any awkwardness when I went to get them printed out,” she retorted, half-hoping the girl would realise she’s kidding and half-hoping she wouldn’t, simply to witness her reaction. She knelt down to maintain the eye level with her, picking up the contents of the binder that had made their way under the bed.
“It’ll be fine. Your new roommate could be running a meth lab, for all we know. Everyone has their thing, and mine is apparently not asking for names when I first meet people. I’m Skye.”
Her parents had been gone for five minutes and already Alexis’s room was a mess beyond reasonable repair. “My roommate is going to hate me,” she muttered, arranging a stack of notes with coffee stains on them into a neater pile. It didn’t feel like it was worth trying to clean up before her roommate arrived - she couldn’t remember a moment of her life when anything about her was organized. With a loud groan, she leaned against the wall, fighting the urge to just disappear.
It was too late now, though - the door to her room was still open and as far as she knew, the whole floor could have heard her.
It was Skye’s fifth time getting lost on the fourth floor, all within the first half an hour of her arrival. “Great going. Really professional. Succeeding in life,” she breathed out, taking yet another turn in this maze-like interior, trying not to look like a tourist in hopes someone would still see through her attempts and casually give her directions, no judgement or questions involved. Much to her luck, a room with the door flung open was the first thing she saw when she’d stepped into a seemingly endless hallway, and a loud groan from the dorm made a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. As it seemed, she was well on her way of making a “what the fuck am I doing?” club. Reaching the already-open door, she gave it a few light knocks, peeking into the room.
