Destiny's POV:
It was a Friday morning. I was standing there on the field bleachers with my classmates and some of my closest friends waiting to have our class picture taken. My friend Isaac is to my right, Corey is to my left. Nathan, Roy, and Kayden were standing proudly behind me. It was April 3rd and the sun was warm. It was graduation day, and like so many of my classmates I was finally going to fulfill my dream of becoming a detective. I had always wanted to work undercover and now I was one step closer to that dream. My friends and classmates were all skilled police men and women before coming to the academy and had no trouble keeping up with the program. I on the other hand had gotten married after high school and became a housewife.
Just before I turned twenty-two years old I decided I wanted to do more with my life than sit at home, so I enrolled in the local law enforcement academy. I got divorced shortly after. Things were never really ok between me and my ex-husband and I was tired of pretending things were alright. I had no experience with law but that was ok, it just meant that I had to work harder than everyone else and I greatly accepted that challenge.
My friends and I all graduated as top students in the academy, we were the top six to be exact, and thanks to their support and encouragement and a few hard pushes from my instructors I had the honor of graduating as the number one student in the academy. Being the top six students meant we had already been lined up for positions at the local branch located just off the coast here in California. Only the most elite detectives worked at this branch and we had worked hard to earn our positions. The board had decided that since I graduated at the top of my class with no prior experience that I was to partner with detective and Chief James Nixon. I could hardly believe my luck! Chief Nixon was the most elite of the elite and I would be working as his partner. I had heard he was strict and always worked alone so I was worried at first but I couldn't turn down the opportunity that had been presented to me.
I was ready for my new life! It had been three years since my divorce. My ex-husband never supported my dream of becoming a detective. A woman's place is in the home he would say. When I told him that I enrolled in the academy he became outraged. After I came home from my very first classes I was met at the door with a drunken angry embodiment of my husband.
The abuse started shortly after that. I guess I always knew it was there. He would threaten me when he was angry or drunk or he would raise his hand like he was going to hit me. It wasn't a healthy marriage. At first I thought it was my fault and I thought, like most women do, that I could change him, so I stayed. A few weeks went by and it seemed like each day the abuse got worse. I eventually left but not before I was sent to the E.R.
The higher ups at the academy were going to have me kicked from the program but I managed to get them to give me a second chance. I met up with my friends and while my husband was at work we packed my things. I filed for a divorce and a restraining order and never looked back after that. It seems like it was such a long time ago. I had overcome so much in my life. I decided to devote myself to my career, I didn't have time for a man, and love could wait.
It was around four-thirty in the afternoon and the graduation ceremony had since long ended. My friends and I had decided to go check out our office building and introduce ourselves to our soon to be new co-workers. We were starting our new positions on Monday morning but seeing as how we were all a little nervous we figured if we met everyone now things wouldn't be so bad the first day. We lived in town and everything was within walking distance and we found ourselves at the office in no time. We walked through the glass doors and quickly found our designated floors. We had been placed in different departments but on the same floor. That gave us hope that we would still be able to work with one another.
As we rode the elevator to our floor questions swirled in my mind. Would I be able to keep up? Would I really be able to help people? Would I slow my new partner down? The elevator dinged and the doors slowly slid open. I gulped and took a deep breath and then stepped off the elevator.