Stars Waited Above Empty Streets by Lorin Wren 197

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Ava shook her head. “No, I’m not. I used to live on Alayna Planet. I only moved to Capitol Planet earlier this year–so I’m definitely not a native.” 

Zoey let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, so you’re from Alayna? That makes sense. When I first saw you, I thought you looked so elegant and poised–like some noble’s daughter. I was terrified I’d say the wrong thing around you.” 

Ava blinked. “Why would you think that?” 

“Well, I’ve heard Capitol people tend to look down on outsiders,” Zoey said sheepishly. “And they say this place is full of elites. Starry Heavens is no exception–tons of rich kids here. I just didn’t want to accidentally offend anyone, you know?” Her voice trailed off into a nervous laugh. 

“That’s ridiculous,” Noelle cut in. “So what if there are elites here? We got into Starry Heavens on our own merit. It’s not like the school lowered the bar just because we’re girls. Stop selling yourself short and acting like you’re beneath anyone.” 

Ava could already see the difference in their personalities. Zoey was more cautious, while Noelle was confident and bold. 

“You both got in through hard work,” Ava said gently. “Don’t underestimate yourselves. That alone puts you ahead of most people.” 

“Exactly,” Noelle added. “Floritte Planet isn’t some backwater. Just because we’re not locals doesn’t mean we should act like we owe them something. I don’t care how rich these Capitol kids are–what, are they above the law or something?” 

Zoey grinned. “Then you must be a total academic ace, Ava.” 

Ava gave her a faint smile but didn’t answer. Instead, she turned to the window and murmured, “Wow, the sky looks beautiful.” 

The other two followed her gaze and were just as captivated by the flaming clouds on the horizon. 

After nearly three hours of winding through the city and its outskirts, the buses finally arrived at the training base. 

Noelle and Zoey had chattered nonstop at first, but eventually they wore themselves out and fell asleep. 

Ava sat quietly by the window, her head resting against the glass, watching the changing scenery pass by. 

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Over 700 freshmen had been brought here. A military officer stepped forward to speak with the school staff leading the group. 

Soon after, the girls were called forward to line up. Ava glanced around–there were only a few dozen female students in total. 

As they walked, one of the supervising teachers began giving instructions. 

“Military training here follows a fully enclosed regimen. Unless there’s an emergency, no one is allowed to take leave. Dropping out will result in forfeiting your training credits. 

“This is a highly disciplined environment. Any violations will be dealt with accordingly. Serious cases may result in expulsion from the university. Please make sure to carefully read the rules and regulations in your dorm rooms. 

“There are five teachers here with you–three male, two female. The facilities obviously won’t compare to home. Girls will be roomed two per dorm. If you have someone in mind to room with, you can come see me now to register.” 

As soon as the teacher finished speaking, the murmuring began. 

Noelle turned to Ava. “Sorry, Ava–Zoey and I are bunking together.” 

Ava nodded in understanding. “No worries. I totally get it. I’ll wait for the assignment.” 

Soon they arrived at the dormitory building, where two soldiers were helping to sort out the rooming arrangements. 

One by one, the girls were paired off and taken to their rooms–until Ava was the only one left standing. 

The other girls had already gone off to unpack, and Ava looked toward the supervising teacher. 

“Excuse me, am I rooming alone?” 

The teacher, Ms. Levis, hesitated for a moment. “Just hang on–I’ll check.” 

She walked over to one of the soldiers and lowered her voice. “How did this happen? All the rooms are filled, and we’ve got one student left unassigned?” 

She was careful not to speak too loudly, not wanting to stress the remaining student. 

The young soldier looked over the list, scratching his head. He had no idea what went wrong. “I’ll report this to my superior right away, Ms. Levis,” he said quickly. 

Ms. Levis was clearly unhappy, but she held it in–there was no way she could lose her temper 

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in front of a student. She pressed her lips together and waited to see how they would fix it. 

The young soldier glanced over at Ava and began relaying the situation to his superior. After a while, he walked over and asked, “Sorry about that. What’s name?” 

“Ava Morren.” 

your 

He nodded and ran back to continue his report. After a few minutes, he returned to Ms. Levis and said, “Our commanding officer has reviewed the situation and is taking it seriously. We’ve decided to assign her to one of the officer dorms for the duration of training. There just happens to be a spare room available there.” 

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