Is this destiny?

The day started early for the people at the Beach house.

Girls gathered in the gym, and Sarah was surprised that all twenty-nine girls showed up. After their talk yesterday, she saw that number of girls was quietly observing from the back, and she assumed that they will not come to do this testing.

Tejan, Ade, Jamari, and Imani arrived at the Beach house just before the testing started, and together with Aiden, they helped so that the testing goes faster. Their job was to watch over girls so that they don\'t overdo it and that they are performing exercises properly because all the data was collected electronically.

They strapped heart rate and oxygen level monitors to the girls and had them do various exercises such as: squats, push-ups, pull-ups, running on a treadmill, step climbing (on a machine), weight lifting, etc.

Everything was done before nine o\'clock in the morning and Sarah told the girls to go and shower before coming back for breakfast. "I will share the results with you by lunchtime…"

…

During breakfast, Sarah observed that most of the girls are in good spirits and are acting like bad things (aka Akmal) didn\'t happen to them. Aiden told her how that is because girls have goals set and are looking forward to the future. Sarah decided to believe him.

Other than the results from that morning, Sarah also received the first report from the psychiatrist which JoAnna hired to talk to the girls. The report contained various suggestions on how to proceed forward, but the main point was that the psychiatrist recommended further sessions only for three girls. Sarah assumed that number will be higher.

Considering that the mood was good, Sarah mentioned camping trip which they are planning soon for everyone and asked if the girls are interested to join.

Girls were not excited about tents, sleeping bags, and catching their own food, and they started coming up with various reasons not to go.

Sarah understood that after weeks (or months) of staying in bad conditions, the girls are finally enjoying luxuries of civilization (aka comfy mattress, a hot shower, and a roof over their heads) and they are not willing to downgrade.

"No need to explain.", Sarah told them. "I understand that you only arrived here, and I don\'t want to push you into making too many changes. There will be more opportunities, don\'t worry about it."

"What is the next opportunity?", Rosa asked.

"When you are ready, we will take you to a ranch in New Mexico for a couple of days. There, you will learn to drive cars and ride horses. Everyone who is sixteen years and older is expected to have a drivers\' license. You will take the exams when we return from the ranch.", Sarah explained.

Girls stared at her with eyes open wide. For many of them, driving a car is only something that women do in movies. To their surprise, Sarah was not done…

"We will also have a trip for you to learn how to ski…"

…

After breakfast, Sarah and Aiden went to the study room, to analyze the results of physical tests, and to come up with personalized programs for each of the girls.

Tejan and Daniel were tasked to watch over girls while they take English tests (reading and writing), as well as math. The goal of those tests is to determine the current levels of knowledge.

Girls also got various questionnaires related to their other hobbies and interests. All this will help Sarah and Aiden to hire the right tutors and provide the correct guidance.

Sarah thought of doing tests related to academics later, but now they confirmed that all twenty-nine girls have an intention to stay, so there is no need to delay these tests.

Ade, Jamari, and Imani were free to mingle with girls who finished tests.

Imani was excited to chat with girls, and Jamari was sticking close to Imani (as usually).

Ade didn\'t feel like mingling. He walked into the garden and sat on a big rock. He stared at the ocean in the distance and wondered, why did he come here? Sarah called Tejan to come and help with testing, and she mentioned that if a girl can come, that would be good, so Imani volunteered. Because of Imani, Jamari was eager to join and Jamari managed to pull Ade to come. It was early morning and Ade was drowsy and he went along with it, but now he regrets it. He is stuck here until evening with not much to do.

Ade heard some shuffling from the bush nearby and he could see that someone is squatting.

"Come out.", he called grumpily.

Ade was surprised to see Hande peek out. He knows who she is, she is the nine years old girl from Turkey. Everyone is talking about the youngest kid in the family. Ade was irked, why is she sneaking around him?

"Are you spying on me?", Ade asked with a scowl.

Hande denied it. "I finished my tests and came out for fresh air and heard you call out. How is that spying?"

There is no way that Hande will admit how since she saw Ade this morning that she is eager to talk to him. He is the youngest one of the kids (before she arrived) and she has so many questions! But she saw him sitting there by himself and she didn\'t know how to approach him, and she ended up hiding and sneaking glances at him.

Ade decided to ignore her. He turned back to stare at the ocean.

Hande observed Ade and wondered why is he acting like she is not there? She tried clearing her throat a few times, but Ade didn\'t show any visible reaction that he heard her. She decided to take an initiative and sit next to him.

Ade looked at her in disbelief. "Why are you so close to me?"

"I\'m not touching you.", Hande stated a fact. "I only wanted to talk to you."

Ade lifted his eyebrow suspiciously. "Do you have a crush on me?"

Hande grimaced. "Who would have a crush on you? Do you see yourself? Other than ugly, you are rude."

Ade could not believe how she insulted him. "Why are you here then?"

"I heard that you were only ten when you joined and that you are already going on dangerous missions. I want to hear how is it… to be the youngest one. Was the training harsh?"

Ade made a face and turned to look at the ocean.

Hande frowned. "Are you ignoring me?"

"You called me ugly and rude. Why would I answer your questions?"

Hande snorted. "Sorry. You assumed that I have a crush on you, and I said impolite things which I didn\'t mean. OK?

"So, you don\'t think that I am ugly and rude?", Ade asked smugly.

"No. You are average looking, but your attitude could use improvement.", Hande said innocently.

Ade felt a sour taste at the back of his mouth. "What could use improvement is your skill in complimenting people."

Hande blinked. "Why would I compliment you?"

"Because you need something from me. If you need something, you need to be nice."

"You want me to lie and call you handsome?"

Ade was sure that he will pass out from irritation. She insulted him again!

He told himself to be cool and not show her that she is hitting a nerve. "No. But if you don\'t have anything nice to say, you should not say anything at all."

"The same applies to you." Hande saw that Ade frowned at her and she reminded him: "The first thing you said was that I am spying on you."

Ade shook his head. "No. The first thing I said to you was to come out from that bush where you were hiding while spying on me."

"Why are you so difficult to talk to?"

Ade sneered. "I can ask you the same question."

Hande pressed her lips into a line and stood up abruptly, with an intention to leave. In her anger, Hande didn\'t pay attention to her footing and she lost her balance. Before she had a chance to scream, Hande found herself in Ade\'s arms.

"Other than your nasty personality, you are clumsy as well.", Ade said with a smirk.

Hande scrambled two steps away from Ade and she watched him as he went back to sit on the rock coolly as if nothing happened.

"You move swiftly.", she said with admiration obvious in her expression. "And you are stronger than you look."

Ade lifted his chin proudly. "Of course. I train every day."

Hande inched closer and sat on the rock next to Ade. "Will you tell me about the training? Please?"

Ade gave her a side-glance. He likes that she changed her attitude. She asked him nicely. Maybe they can be friends.

"What do you want to know?"

Hande\'s face lit up when she realized that Ade wants to talk to her. "You were the youngest one. How was your training different?"

"It wasn\'t." Ade saw that Hande is looking at him expectantly with her eyes open wide, and he continued: "Here, everyone is treated the same. Regardless of age and regardless of gender. We all need to pass the same tests because when you go on a mission, the enemy will not treat you kindly because you are a girl, or because you are younger than others. Actually, they will use that against you. The enemy will treat you as the weak link and attack you first. So, you need to work harder than the others in order not to drag your team down…"

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