Chapter 43 Cracks in Confidence

“You both are crazy!” he shouted. 

“Don’t ever come asking favors from me again, got that?! I’ve got a mountain of my own problems! I’m sick of this crap! I couldn’t even get five credits from this! Instead, I get broken hands! I can barely scrape by to buy food, and this is what I get?! I can’t believe I put myself through this for nothing.” 

He spat on the ground and turned storming off without another word.

As he walked away, Aria’s voice came from behind, “Hey, buddy! Think fast!”

He turned just in time for something small and plastic-wrapped to hit his chest and fall into his arms. Looking down, he saw a fresh submarine sandwich - an unexpected luxury in a place like the Beehive, where food was scarce and tightly rationed.

Aria called after him, “If you’re hungry, it’s yours. Have a good day!”

He lifted the sandwich, rage still simmering, and almost hurled it to the ground. But halfway through, he paused. With a sigh, he began unwrapping it, taking a bite as he walked away. Just before he rounded the corner, he muttered, “...Thanks.”

Aria knelt by Sierra, her voice wavered as she pushed herself back against the wall. 

"What?! Are you gonna hit me now?! Show me how much better you are, huh? Rub it in my face - how you’re the perfect pilot, a strategist, the top of the class, and apparently, you’re strong too? Well, Miss Perfect! I still hate you!"

Aria leaned in, her eyes sharp as she gripped Sierra's uniform at the chest, pulling her up to her feet. Sierra gasped, her fists instinctively clutching at Aria's arms but finding no give. Aria pressed her against the wall, her body pressed against Sierra's as she placed her arms on either side, effectively caging her in.

Sierra’s body trembled with anger, her hands pressed against Aria’s chest, trying desperately to push her away. She was like a brick wall, unyielding. 

 “Let me go!” she cried out, pushing with all her might, but it was useless.

 “I hate you, Hale! I hate you! Let me go! What is your problem?! Stop holding me!” 

Aria didn’t let go and gave her a warm smile as she held her. 

“Nop! Not until you calm down. I need you to listen to me with a calm mind. Until then, I’ll keep holding you.”

 “I said, let go of me! I got nothing to talk about with someone like you!”

Aria's eyes sparkled, her lips curling into a playful smile.

 “Like me?” 

 “Yeah, you! You’re acting like nothing matters! You don’t care about anything or anyone! You just sit there, bored out of your mind, like you’re above everyone else! And yet, you’re some prodigy! What the hell? How can someone like you - someone so damn talented - be such a disappointment? You could be making a difference, but instead, you’re just messing around! Take it seriously!”

 “But no, you just came here, like it’s some joke, and now you’re screwing everything up. You show no respect for your fellow pilots, no respect for your instructor, nothing! You sleep in class like you don’t give a damn. You act like it’s all beneath you! Who the hell do you think you are, huh? Why even bother being here at the academy if all you’re gonna do is waste everyone’s time?”

Sierra’s fists clenched, her voice cracking under the weight of her frustration.

 “I joined this academy because there was someone I admired - the best pilot I’ve ever seen. She was only 12 years old when she became a pilot! I admired her as I was a kid! The one who was supposed to change things. I worked my ass off to get here. I trained hard. I didn’t have anything. I was just a poor girl, scraping by every day, working jobs just to survive. I saved up every damn credit I could, just so I could train, just so I could become a pilot. But you? What have you done? What the hell have you ever done to earn this? You’re so much better than us, so why aren’t you out there fighting the mutants?! Why are you acting all high and mighty, sitting here in a classroom, among us who are actually trying to make a damn difference?”

Her voice was louder now, raw with emotion, and the anger was starting to crack her composure.

 “You’re just like that damn fool Harry, maybe worse! And because of you two, I had to run extra laps after class, even though I don’t have the damn time! I’ve got a job to go to, just to survive! And you two - you both - ruined it! With your stupid, reckless bullshit! I don’t have time to waste on this! I’m trying to survive, trying to do something meaningful with my life. And you? You think you’re better than us, acting like it’s all some game! Get lost, Hale! You’re a nuisance to the rest of us, and I don’t care what you think! Just stop joking around and get serious, because I don't want another idiot like Harry in the class to sink us even further down than we already are!”

Sierra’s eyes were wide, her face flushed with fury and pain. She was still struggling, still trying to push Aria away, but Aria wasn’t letting go. Her hands slowly dropped from Aria’s chest, defeated, and she stared at the ground, the fight draining out of her. 

“Just… let me go already,” she whispered, her voice much smaller now, vulnerable.

 Without a word, she pulled Sierra into a gentle hug, wrapping her arms around her. 

“Awww, you’re so adorable, Sierra. I like you even more now. You’ve got some real fire, don’t you?”

She gave her a little squeeze, not too tight but enough to let her know she was safe in her arms.

 “It’s okay, you can let it all out. How about telling me about the person you so admire.”

Sierra's eyes glistening with the weight of old dreams.

 “I’m not sure you’d know her.”

Unaware of who stood before her, Sierra continued, “When I was little, I’d hear stories about this young girl, barely twelve years old, who became a pilot. Can you imagine? Twelve. She was even younger than me, yet she took up a role that most people twice her age would struggle with. It blew my mind. She was out there, saving us all, while I was just... I was just this little kid, hiding from the world, hoping someone would protect me. I used to think if someone like her could do it… then maybe, I could, too.”

Sierra took a deep, shaky breath, her hands tightening against her sides.

 “They said she was fearless, relentless - a true defender of the Beehive. She was partnered with another pilot, Elias, who must have been like a father to her. They’d go out, fight mutants, and come back injured and scarred, but still standing, protecting us all. I wanted to be like that. To be able to look danger in the eye and fight back. I wanted… to stand beside her, to be worthy of being part of her squad.”

 “I worked so hard. Every free second I had, I trained. I studied tactics, combat maneuvers, and anything that could bring me closer to becoming a pilot like her. I worked myself to the bone. I studied, practiced, learned everything I could, and even when it seemed impossible... I held on to that dream. I gave up a lot to even make it here, to Pilot Academy. And I know it might seem silly, but every grueling session, every late night, it was all worth it if it meant I could join her squad. Fight with her. And this year... I finally got in."

 "But things just kept falling apart, it’s been rough,” Sierra whispered, glancing down. 

“Life hasn’t been kind. I’ve been alone for so long, struggling to survive on my own. I work every night just to keep going. And here, even after all that effort, things went to shit. We train harder, we take every punishment, but it’s never enough. And now, here you are. You waltz in here, acting like none of this matters. You raised the bar even higher and didn’t even show up when we had to pay the price."

Her frustration surfaced again as she recalled the past. 

“Then there’s Harry, that clown, dragging everyone down. The whole class used to be serious. Even Instructor West wasn’t as hard on us back then. But over time, Harry’s nonsense - it made everything fall apart. And West… he started punishing all of us for Harry’s mistakes. Holding the whole class accountable. Slowly, it got worse, and now...”