Prelude to a Kiss
	The very lovely brown-haired, hazel-eyed young lady was bored. Very
bored. Of all the courses she was taking, this was the only one in which she
had to fight to stay awake in. And it was her last class of the day, too!
Four weeks into the first term, it has been, of her first year at the
Exofleet Academy, and so far, it has been a drag. Not that she found school
boring, but she just wanted a little more excitement in her life. Nothing
ever happened.
	Major Colby wasn't a bad instructor, it was just his voice. It tended
to be a monotonous drawl at times. He was a very respected instructor, too,
which probably meant she was going to end up in a course he was teaching at
least once more before graduation. Graduation, that seemed like an eternity
away.
	Aria sighed as she looked at the little drawings and doodles she made
with her electronic pen and pad. Yes, excitement was definitely something she
yearned for. The woman she shared her room with in the women's quarters was a
real party animal, yet she ended up getting the highest marks in her class.
Aria really wished she knew how Megaera did it. She and Megaera got along
well, and could probably be considered friends. Aria went to a couple parties
with her, but didn't stay very long. They just weren't exciting to her.
Especially not with intoxicated guys trying to hit on her and paw her. She
wanted a little more excitement, but not that kind of excitement.
	Sporting events held the boredom at bay for a little while. A fan of
archery, she planned on participating in competitions as soon as she could
find out when they were held. The founders of the academy believed that
sports of all kinds were an important part in a students education, and so
implemented a sports program like no other. Saying that the physical training
of a military academy should be augmented with things the cadets could have
fun with, as well as something that could teach them healthy competition.
	Cooking was something she liked doing, too. But it couldn't occupy
her at all these days. Cooking just wasn't fun unless there was someone to
cook for. Before coming to the academy, she would cook for her father all the
time. She missed her father. Her mom died when she was very young. She
wondered how he was doing these days. Pretty well, she was guessing. He was
an expert in self defense and martial arts, and he taught her what he knew.
	Continuing to be bored, Aria started flipping her electronic pen back
and forth as she looked around the room. The lecture hall was of average
size, and of an average look. There were two aisles going from doors at the
top of the room, down to the podium. Aria sat in an inside aisle seat on the
rooms right aisle. The room was filled with many students, which didn't
surprise her, since it was a required course, and the repetitiveness of the
cadet uniform was beginning to bore her.
	Aria continued her pen flipping for a few more minutes, trying to
keep her eyelids open, until her grip on her pen was lost and it went for a
very short flight into the aisle. It landed on the other side of the aisle,
near a guy sitting in the seat on the other side of the aisle. He was a
handsome guy, about 6 feet in height, short blonde hair, and blue eyes. He
turned his head and looked down at the pen when he heard it hit the ground
near him. He picked it up and looked toward Aria, who was looking in his
direction. He handed back her pen and she smiled and said in a whisper,
"Thank you." he merely smiled back, then turned his head back towards the
front of the room where Major Colby was still lecturing on genetics and their
role in history. Currently he was talking about the first cloned sheep back
in the late 20th century.
	Aria turned to look at the clock in the top center of the back wall.
Another half an hour. Aria sighed.
	Thirty minutes later, after what seemed an eternity to Aria, the
class was finally over. Grabbing her pen and pad, she walked to the door, and
exited.
	She didn't get very far before she heard a voice saying, "Hi." She
turned towards the source of the voice and saw the handsome guy who handed
back her pen.
	"Hi," she replied, smiling. "Thank you for handing me my pen back."
	"Anytime. So what is your name? Mine is Samuel. Samuel Booth," he
said.
	"I am Aria. Nice to meet you, Samuel," Aria said cheerily.
	"Please, call me Sam, or Sammy. So, would you like to go for a movie
or something, sometime?" he asked.
	Aria stood there for a moment, a little surprised. She has only been
asked out once before in her life, and then the relationship that followed
just didn't do anything for her, although it did him. He was pretty hurt when
she broke it off. They remained friends, but she hadn't talked to him in a
long while. She hoped he was doing ok.
	"Uh, sure, I guess so," she said. *Maybe this will give me something
to do to keep me from being bored out of my mind,* she thought.
	Samuel smiled widely. "Great!" he said, "how about tomorrow evening?
They are doing a classics week at the local cinema. I hear that War of the
Wizards is supposed to be pretty good. It was done by one of the biggest
names in movies at the beginning of the 21st century. Timothy Rios, his name
was, I believe."
	"Sure. I have no plans for then, except staying in my room and
reading, and I can do that anytime," Aria said.
	"Ok, so how about I come get you around 1900 hours?" Samuel asked.
	"Sounds good to me," Aria said.
	"Great! I will see you then. I would love to stay and talk, but I
have a class I have to get to, so see you tomorrow," he said.
	"See you then," Aria said, watching as Samuel turned and walked away.
	Aria, finished with her classes for the day, decided to go get
something to eat at the academy cafe. She liked it there, and often did her
classwork there. There was a seat at a small two person table next to a
window that overlooked the river, she loved sitting in. After taking a quick
trip by her room to pick up some work for her classes, she headed over there.
Sometimes the window seat was taken, but fortunately, today, it was free. She
liked looking out the window. It allowed her to think more clearly as she
watched the river flow endlessly along its route to the ocean.
	After setting her books, and other stuff on the table, she went over
and got herself a hot cocoa. Then she went back over to the table to start on
her classwork.
	Losing herself in her work, she was unaware of how much time had
passed when she heard a familiar voice say, "Hey! Aria!" It was Megaera.
Megaera was about 5 feet, 8 inches high. About 3 inches shorter than herself.
Megaera also had beautiful red hair that went down to about the middle of her
back and had the prettiest greenish-blue eyes Aria had ever seen on anyone.
	"Hi, Meg," Aria said as Megaera took the other seat across from her.
"What's up?"
	"Oh, not much," Megaera said. "I just thought I would come join you."
	Aria smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I am gonna go get another hot cocoa.
Did you want anything?"
	"Sure! How about a cappuccino?"
	"Ok, be right back," Aria said, standing up, and walking over to the
counter. A few minutes later, she returned with the drinks. As she sat down,
she told Meg about her impending date tomorrow evening.
	"Hey, that's great! Who is the lucky guy? You know, you really should
go out on dates more often. There are a lot of great guys out there. And it
is fun and relaxing. You look like you could use some relaxation," Megaera
said.
	"His name is Samuel Booth," Aria replied. "Do you know of him?"
Megaera thought for a moment.
	"The name sounds familiar, but that's all," Megaera said, taking a
sip of her Cappuccino. She grinned, "I have a date tomorrow, too." Aria
smiled and shook her head slightly. "Why does that not surprise me?" she
said. Megaera laughed.
	The two talked for another hour, then Megaera looked at the clock and
said, "Well, I need to go see a few of my instructors, so I will see you
later."
	"See you later, Meg," Aria said, as Megaera stood up and walked away.
Aria went back to her class work.
	After another hour, and a few more cups of hot cocoa, Aria finished
up her work, and then headed back to her room in the women's quarters.
Megeara, of course, wasn't there. Probably off having a good time. Aria
envied Megaera's ability to easily have fun.
	After putting her things away, she went and took a shower, and then
grabbed a book and lied down on her bed for a while and read for about 30
minutes, until she dozed off, the book lying on her chest.
*******************
	The next day was pretty usual for a Saturday. Training in the
morning, free time in the afternoons for the cadets. So when 7pm came around,
she was glad to be able to go do something, different. Megaera was gone, out
and about, as she usually was.
	Samuel was prompt, which wasn't surprising to Aria. When you attend a
military academy, late wasn't in ones vocabulary. He was even more handsome
out of the cadet uniform. His blonde hair was nicely combed. He was smiling,
which made him look even nicer. Aria wondered why someone as handsome as he
asked someone like her out (She was very beautiful, but she didn't think
herself so).
	Aria herself was very casual in what she was wearing. After all, they
were going to see a classic film, not the opera. Her hair hung loose, and she
put on the littlest of make up. She was into old movies so she thought she
would enjoy this one.
	"Hi," Samuel said when she opened the door. "Are you ready?"
	"Yup," she replied. "Lets get going."
	Since they had time, and she hadn't eaten anything since her lunch,
they stopped by a restaurant for a quick bite, then headed over to the
cinema. There was still about ten minutes before the film started, so they
talked.
	"So what line of work are you wanting to do? An ExoSquad? Jumptroop?
Security? Medical? That kind of thing," Aria asked.
	"Oh, an ExoSquad. Communication or command," He replied. "You?"
	"A squad as well. Preferably the same as you, communications or
command," she said. Samuel smiled. "So what do you do for fun? Do you do any
sports at all?"
	"I like playing soccer," he said. "Other than that, I am not really
into sports."
	"I like archery myself," Aria said. Samuel nodded thoughtfully.
	"That's nice. Are you any good?" he asked.
	"Yeah, I am decent," she said. The next few minutes was fairly quiet,
then the movie started, and so the two turned towards the screen and watched.
	A couple hours later, the movie ended, and Samuel took Aria back to
her room. They talked a little on the way back, but not much. When they got
to the door to her room, she turned to Samuel. "Well, thanks for the dinner
and show. See you around," she said.
	"Sure. Anytime," he replied with a smile. Aria turned and went into
her room and shut the door. Megaera still hadn't gotten back yet. Didn't
surprise Aria at all.
	Aria sighed. The movie was nice, and she enjoyed it, but she couldn't
say the same for Samuel's company. She didn't not enjoy it, but she didn't
exactly enjoy it, either. Yeah, he was a handsome man, but Aria wanted more
than just looks in a guy. Tired, she got into her pajamas and went to sleep,
wondering if she was going to die of boredom before she finished the academy.
***************
	The next day was reasonably free in Aria's schedule, as she didn't
have any plans, and Sundays were completely free for the cadets. It was a
very nice day, so she decided to go for a walk. Megaera was there, and so
Aria asked if she wanted to come along.
	"Sure," Megaera said with a smile. Aria didn't think she ever saw
Megaera frown. "Where should we go?"
	"How about down near the river?" Aria suggested as they left the
room. Shutting and locking the door, she continued, "it is nice there. The
groundskeepers really do an excellent job with that area."
	"Yeah, they do," Megeara agreed as they walked along. "They take a
lot of pride in it, too, and get really prickly when it comes to people
littering, and otherwise doing anything that could be considered defacing the
beauty of the area."
	"Yeah, and watch out if you do. Having the head groundskeeper married
to the commandant of the academy can make for a pretty bad time for you if
caught," Aria said.
	The two friends continued talking while they walked. Talked about
their respective dates the previous evening, what they did. Talked about
their classes and such. Eventually, they got to the area by the river. There
were some other cadets there as well, this area being a favorite place among
the cadets to relax.
	The day being unusually nice and warm for this time of year, some of
the other cadets took full advantage of it. They set up some volleyball and
badminton nets, and some others were playing football. This was about as much
defacing as the groundskeepers allowed. In fact, they were the ones to set up
the equipment. Aria thought she even saw some of them playing. All in all,
everyone was looking like they were having fun and relaxing. Megaera pointed
to one of the badminton matches and asked Aria, "Want to see if we could join
in?" There were three guys there. Two were in the middle of a singles match.
Three jackets lied on the ground nearby.
	"I am not really up to it. You go join, and I will watch. How about
that?" Aria said. Megaera sighed, and looked at her friend.
	"You really need to learn how to have fun. No offense or anything,
but it almost seems as if you don't even know how," she said.
	"No offense taken. I am just not really interested in playing right
now. Otherwise I would. And I do know how to have fun, Meg. Ever since I came
to the academy, nothing seems to hold my interest," Aria explained. Megaera
just nodded thoughtfully. She understood.
	"Well, I am gonna go join them if I can," she said, pointing to one
of the badminton matches.
	"Ok, I will watch," Aria said, walking over with Megaera.
	"Hey boys, mind if I join in?" Megeara asked, running her fingers
through her hair, and standing in a way that, well, lets just say wars have
been fought over less.
	"Yeah," "Sure," "What are you waiting for, babe?" the guys said. All
answering at once. Aria smirked.
	So Megeara joined in while Aria watched. Aria watched for about
thirty minutes. the four looked like they were having a lot of fun, and she
was about to ask if she could play too, when she heard a voice behind her.
	"Hi." Aria turned around to see Samuel Booth standing there.
	"Hi," she replied, turning her head back towards the four playing
badminton.
	"How are you today?" he asked.
	"Oh, just fine," she said, her voice showing just a slight hint of
boredom.
	"Would you like to go out again next weekend?" Samuel asked. She
turned to look at him.
	"Samuel, I am sorry. I think you are a nice guy and all, but I am
just not interested. I am terribly sorry. Maybe we could be friends though,"
she told him. Samuel, as he heard this, started feeling a little shocked, as
well as a little angry. No one ever rejected him before.
	"No? And why are you not interested?" he asked, his voice showing a
very tiny but of arrogance, as well as slight anger. His face showing it,
too. Aria looked at him, feeling a little angry herself, because of the
attitude he was showing.
	"I am just not interested, ok? When we went out last night, there
just wasn't anything there for me. You are very handsome," she said, and
Samuel got a very smug look on his face. She thought that he did that without
even realizing it. She continued, "but looks aren't everything. We didn't
talk a whole lot, and when we did, it was kind of boring for me, and I want
to be able to talk, and talk well with who I choose to go out with, and enjoy
it. It just doesn't appear to be possible between you and I." As she was
saying this, the smug look on his face slowly transformed into a look of
anger and frustration. Frustration at being balked by her.
	"Geez. We went out once. You really think that is enough to judge
me?" he said, his voice starting to raise.
	"Yes," Aria replied, her voice starting to raise, as well. "And this
argument only re-enforces that decision of mine. You should be glad I even
went out with you one time!" her voice got louder as she reached the end, and
it started attracting a crowd. Including Megeara and the three guys she was
playing with. One of them had a frown, and was obviously not happy with what
was happening.
	"I can't believe you. Do you think you are too good for me? You
aren't, I hope you realize, you little bi-," Samuel started saying, before he
was interrupted by the guy with the frown.
	"Hey! Watch your mouth. She didn't do anything to you," he said.
	"Stay out of this chump. This is between me and this little sow
here," he said. Aria gasped in anger. She didn't like being called names,
especially without reason.
	"Now you listen here," was all she got out before Samuel interrupted.
	"Shut up," he said. The guy who intervened before took a step forward
and was about to say something, but Aria spoke first.
	"Don't' tell me to shut up!" She yelled, quite angry by this time.
	"I will tell you to shut up if I feel like it, and here is a little
help, cause you apparently need it," he snarled, moving his hand back, about
to hit her. Aria, having had training in martial arts from her father,
started to put herself in a defensive position, but the guy who had the frown
moved quite fast, and caught Samuel's wrist in his hand.
	"I wouldn't, if I were you," he said. Aria was just a little angry at
his intervention. She could take care of herself. But it lasted only for the
shortest of moments. She thought it noble, the way he came to her aid. No one
had ever done that for her before.
	"I said stay out of this!" Samuel spat out, swinging at the other guy
with his free fist. The other guy easily blocked it, and the returned a blow
of his own. He hit Samuel in the gut. Not too hard, but enough to knock the
wind out of him slightly. But the guy didn't stop there, he also took one of
his legs and swept Samuel's, causing Samuel to fall to the ground on his
back.
	"Leave her alone. I won't tell you again," the guy said. At this
point, one of the groundskeepers who was playing managed to squeeze through
the crowd.
	"What's going on here?" he demanded.
	"Not anymore, sir," the guy who came to her aid, said. The
groundskeeper looked at him with a stern look on his face.
	"Elan, you do realize that I am going to have to report this to
Adam," the groundskeeper said. Elan. That must be that guy's name.
	"Yes, sir," Elan said.
	"Expect to be called to Adam's office by the end of the day. You, on
the ground, what is your name?"
	"Samuel Booth," he said, standing up. The anger dripping from his
voice. Anger from hating been humiliated like this.
	"You also should expect to be called to his office, and both of you
will probably also be called to his wife's office as well," the groundskeeper
explained. Then he raised his voice, "ok, everyone, back to what you were
doing, the show is over!" People started walking away, chatting amongst
themselves, probably about what had just happened. Samuel was only now
standing up. Staring at Elan and Aria with cold, murderous fury.
	Elan turned to Aria. "Are you ok?" he asked. Aria looked at him.
	"Yeah, I am just fine. I thank you for your help, but I really can
take care of myself," she told him. He bowed to her, which startled her.
	"I beg forgiveness, my lady. I didn't not mean to offend," he said.
She was starting to like this guy.
	"You didn't offend. You didn't know. And I have a feeling it wouldn't
have mattered even if you did," Aria said to him with a slight smile on her
face. He smiled back.
	"May I walk you back to your room?" he asked.
	"Sure," Aria said. "My name is Aria. Your name is Elan?"
	"Yes. Elan Morin Tedronai is my full name," he said, as moved to
start heading to the women's quarters. Aria stayed where she was.
	"Aren't you forgetting something?" she said, nodding her head in the
direction of where his jacket lied nearby where he was playing.
	"Oops! Thanks. I almost forgot it," he said, rushing over to pick it
up. Then Megaera walked up to Aria.
	"I am going to stay and play for a while. See you later, ok?" she
said.
	"Ok," Aria replied, watching Megaera trot back over to where she was
playing as Elan came back. "Ready?" she asked Elan.
	"Yup," he said, smiling. Samuel was still standing away from them,
glaring at them hard. "This isn't over," he muttered to himself.
	"So, what do you like to do for fun?" Elan asked, as they walked
away, and they didn't quit talking until they reached Aria's room. Smiling
and laughing and enjoying each others company the entire way.
End.