It was either stay or go.

And the decision was made a lot easier, considering it was lonely now.

Things were different this time around, women were allowed to try-out for any type of combat role. It was interesting and it struck a lot of women. They were all very eager to try out for various roles in combat. Combat medics, infantry, mortars, machine-gunners, communications, anything. And you could join any type of army, navy, marines and this new one, the Airborne infantry.

Of course, it would mean leaving this country.

Only the American Army had allowed this, "experiment", to take place.

There were only two main requirements for women.

They had to be over eighteen. And single.

It was the same requirements for men, too. That and of course, the obvious. You had to be healthy, have no problems which would require long-term medical care and the fitness, well, if you weren't fit before you joined, you'd surely be fit after.

For Noelle, it was a no brainer. She had to go.

In fact, as soon as she saw it printed across the papers on a Monday morning, she had already left her village to board the ship, which would take her across the Atlantic and over to America. Having just turned sixteen on the twenty-fifth of February, Noelle would have to lie. Which could go both ways, easy or hard. She didn't have a birth certificate, or any form of identification. There was nothing to tell them she was eighteen or sixteen. Technically, she wasn't lying at all.

She arrived in Brooklyn on the tenth of July.

It was a very bright and sunny day.

The dock was packed with folks leaving the ship, pushing past like they were in some great rush. Noelle almost got trampled a couple of times and she tripped up, fell and almost cracked her skull during the process of leaving the dock. It was some start to her new life. But she didn't crack her skull, Noelle made it out of the dock and felt a little lost. She had no idea where to go from there.

It was just by chance that she bumped into a guy who worked on the docks.

"Where's Georgia?"

The guy looked at her, like she had two heads.

Noelle cleared her throat, "please?"

He laughed a little, "well, it's about seven hundred miles that way".

She frowned, "eh?"

"What? You think it would be at your doorstep – get out of here, kid".

Noelle looked around her, "where?"

This guy was getting agitated now, "what?"

"Where should 'a get out of here from, mister?"

He sighed, "Jesus Christ – get the train to Virginia, then from there, get another train to Georgia. Bam! You're there".

Noelle nodded, "'awright, thanks".

"Goddamn, kids".

So, it was going to take her almost a day to reach Georgia.

Noelle figured it couldn't have been worse than the journey across the Atlantic. She was sick the entire ten days. Noella was never good with travelling, always suffered badly from it because she wasn't used to being on a vehicle. Which was ironic, considering she was about to enter a training facility to train up and coming Paratroopers. Noelle figured it would be alright, it was just a plane – nothing too scary.

Noelle made it onto the train, without any issues.

She took a seat by the window, two empty seats in front of her.

The train was filling up, but she didn't have anyone sitting with her. Noelle was fine by that, this was a pretty overwhelming experience, loads to take in. She wasn't used to things being so busy and loud, having grown up in a tiny village, sitting two miles away from a tiny town, right by sea. She used to go fishing in the sea, spent plenty of summer days down by the water. And if not the sea, then she'd be out in the forest, running wild and annoying the pit workers, who would be poking out from the pit caves, coughing up black phlegm from their lungs. And it wasn't too long before she was joining them. God, working down in the pits was horrible. Noelle left school at eleven and worked down in those pits for years. She used to crawl though tiny tunnels, collecting coal and the likes. Then she'd put everything in this sack, which was wrapped around her neck. It would weigh her down most of the time. Noelle then had to crawl backwards down this tunnel, where she'd dump all the coal into a huge cart. That's what she did, from when the sun came out, until it went back down again.

Noelle still had a cough. Even though she left the pits a year ago.

She didn't go back to school, worked on a farm instead.

They needed the money, like everyone else, they were living in poverty.

Noelle had reached America with holes in her shoes, a thin grey jacket, a very dirty shirt and trousers which were far too big on her. Some of the people on this train had lovely suits, the women wore long dresses, face full of make-up. Noelle thought they looked like movie stars. No one dressed like that where she was from. They'd get robbed!

Noelle got off at Virginia and boarded the next train.

It was, once again busy. And she soon found herself sitting opposite this man.

He had just sat down, taking the seat by the window.

He looked at her for a moment, taking in her clothes and holey shoes.

Noelle didn't really look at him, he just looked like an ordinary guy, catching a train. Maybe around twenty-years-old, she didn't know. He was older than her, anyway. The people who got onto this train, some of them had nice suits, others just had their slacks on for work.

Starting up a conversation with a complete stranger was odd.

Especially when that stranger was a kid.

"You come from Virginia?" He asked.

Noelle shook her head, looking away from the window.

"No?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I came on a ship". She replied, "then this guy told me to get a train here".

He soon pulled an amused face, "what?"

Noelle shrugged, "I 'dunno. America's pretty big, eh?"

He chuckled, not knowing if she was serious or not but she definitely wasn't from America. Her accent was a dead giveaway, obviously. "Have you got family here?"

She shook her head, "nah – 'no me. Do you?"

He cleared his throat.

Jesus Christ, he thought.

"Yup. I was born in West Virginia".

Noelle nodded slowly, "that's where we 'wir, eh?"

"Yeah, that's right".

"'Awright". She responded, evenly.

His lips twitched, "so, you're from Scotland, then?"

She nodded. "Yeah – 'wis born there and that".

"Right". He said, with a small laugh on the end. "What's your name?"

"Noelle Stewart". She answered, "what's yours?"

"Carwood Lipton".

Noelle pulled a face, "Carwood?"

Lipton nodded, crossing his arms. "Is that a funny name?"

She sighed, "well…we don't have Carwoods in Hillend, that's the truth".

He smiled, "Hillend? Is that your town?"

"It's a village". Noelle told him, "the 'toons Dalgety Bay. Right by the sea".

"Oh, you like the sea?"

"It's 'awright". Noelle shrugged, "do you?"

"Yeah, it's alright". Lipton smirked. "So, what are you doing in America?"

"Am 'gonna join the army". She said, "cause they said it was fine to join, 'fir women".

He nodded slowly, eyebrows twitching. "Which branch?"

Noelle frowned, "how'd you mean?"

Lipton cleared his throat, "uh – navy, marines-"

"oh, Paratroopers".

He stilled a little.

"Yeah, same". Lipton said, after a moment of silence. "Toccoa?"

Noelle nodded, "are 'ye going there too, like?"

"Yeah". He replied quietly, "you think you've got what it takes?"

"Hope so". She mumbled, "cause 'a snuck on a ship to get here".

His first impressions for this kid, they weren't very good.

Lipton was told the best would be at Toccoa and he wanted to fight alongside the best.

Did Noelle give off the impression that she could be the best?

No, she didn't.

At best, Lipton thought perhaps she was a little naive and younger than she looked.

There was no way in hell, she was eighteen.

But judging by what she was wearing, it was plain to see, she didn't have much in Scotland. That perhaps this was her only chance of earing some money for her family. But even then, surely, her family wouldn't allow her to join the Paratroopers and travel across the Atlantic by herself.

It was her coughing which broke Lipton from his thoughts.

She sounded worse than a smoker!

When the coughing ended, Noelle cleared her throat.

"You smoke?" Lipton asked her.

She shook her head, "I can't buy cigarettes".

"You're old enough to buy cigarettes". He said.

He knew he was right! She wasn't eighteen.

"They're 'no cheap". Noelle told him.

Ah, he could have guessed that.

"Worked in the pits". She said, with a tiny shrug. "All that black stuff – makes 'yer lungs bad".

He nodded slowly, staring at this kid with a tiny frown. "You collected coal?"

Noelle nodded, "for ages".

"Explains the cough, huh?"

"It's 'no good for 'ye". She said, "some guys, they worked down there since they 'wur wee things. And they're always sick and stuff".

Lipton could feel himself warm-up to her a little.

Maybe because she was just a kid, desperate for money.

He didn't know but she was a long way from home.

"How old are you?" He asked her quietly, "I won't tell anyone, alright?"

Noelle looked up at him, "eighteen".

Lipton sighed, "there's no way-"

"I am, though". Noelle said, "just look young, probably cause 'am small and that".

He sighed again, holding up his hands. "Alright – I believe you".

Lipton didn't believe her.

She didn't look eighteen, not one bit.

Noelle grinned, showing off teeth. Which were pretty crooked, perhaps a little large. Sort of like two buck teeth at the front, reminding Lipton of a rabbit. Because when she wasn't smiling, her front teeth were still outside of her mouth, resting on her bottom lip. She had a very odd look about her, Lipton thought. She was going to stick out like a sore thumb. Noelle had very large brown eyes, which always looked curious or confused. When she was a kid, the other kids used to call her "Puzzle". Of course, always in a mean way. And if they weren't poking fun at her eyes, it went straight to her teeth.

But there was hope for Noelle yet.

Women could join any combat role.

Maybe Noelle wasn't the only female insane enough to try out for the Paratroopers.

Lipton hoped for her sake she wasn't the only female at Toccoa.

Though she was perhaps a little odd, Lipton found it easy to talk to her.

He spoke about his time at school, his younger siblings.

But he never brought up the accident which could have torn his family apart.

And Noelle, she told him that she had to leave school at a young age.

Which explained a lot.

When the train stopped in Georgia, they both got on this truck, with a driver standing by. It was an army truck, "camp Tombs", written on the side. Noelle and Lipton wondered past the crowd and towards this truck.

"You two need a lift?"

Lipton nodded, "yeah…Toccoa?"

"That's right – get in".

Camp Toccoa was set by the forest. It was a sloppy mess, with mud and red clay. And because the barracks and buildings were under construction, they had tents to sleep in with cots. First impressions of the camp weren't great for Lipton. No one expected to be sleeping in a five-star hotel, but he did expect barracks, like the other army camps. And considering Parachuting was a new concept in American Military history, the place was pretty quiet.

The driver took down their names and told them to report to; "tent E".

Noelle and Lipton made their way down the muddy grounds, passing a lot of tents. Hundreds of them. Some guys were outside, smoking and talking. While others were inside, with little oil lamps lighting up the tents. It was getting dark, they had arrived late on, around eight that night because the journey had been a long one.

When they got inside the tent, a few others were already there.

They all stared at each other, very carefully and curiously. As if sussing the next guy out.

"You brought your kid sister?" One of them asked Lipton.

"Uh – no". He responded, "she's a friend of the family".

Noelle frowned a little, wanting to state that was a lie.

But Lipton gave her shoulder a tiny nudge.

"That's right". She responded.

The other guys face brightened, "oh, cool. You're from Scotland, huh?"

Noelle nodded, "aye".

Frank Perconte, Herman Hanson and Wayne Sisk.

Those were the three guys inside the tent.

And the five of them were all assigned to Easy Company.

They had Lieutenant Sobel as their commanding officer.

"Oh, you'll hate him, alright". Sisk said to them, "he's a real mean son of a bitch".

"Yeah?" Lipton asked, "you guys been living it tough?"

Perconte snorted, "you seen what's around you, man? We're living like animals".

Noelle walked over to one of the cots, where a uniform and boots were set down for her.

She picked up the boots; they had no holes and they were very shiny.

Smiling, she sat down on the edge of the cot and quickly put her shoes to the side. Putting the new pair of socks over her feet, Noelle slipped on the boots. They felt amazing, though, were very big on her. Noelle had tiny feet, these were a size nine.

This place was a five-star hotel for her.

A cot, a roof over their heads, clothes and boots with no holes.

Noelle almost felt like she didn't deserve any of this.

"You guys hungry?" Hanson asked, "I managed to snag a couple of things from the mess hall".

Lipton nodded, sitting on the cot next to Noelle. "Yeah, we could eat".

Hanson gave him two bananas. "It ain't much". He said, "but you'll get breakfast in the morning".

"Thank you". He placed the other banana beside Noelle, who was carefully unfolding her uniform. Lipton smiled a little. Maybe she would be okay here. But in any case, he promised himself to keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed out of trouble.

The conversation was light that night.

They talked about home, mostly. Where they grew up, family and friends.

Noelle had fallen asleep pretty quickly upon arriving.

After she ate, she got changed and promptly passed-out, exhausted from travelling.

And it was a good thing too because at five the next morning, this guy walked into their tent and yelled for everyone to get up. They only had ten minutes to dress, use the latrines and run out into the muddy grass. The man standing before them was tall, with narrow, hard eyes and dark hair. He looked like a man who wanted to be respected. He looked very awkward, not so much of an officer. He yelled at them to stand straight, arms by your side. And he stared at each and every one of the enlisted guys, five of them.

"Name!"

"Carwood Lipton, sir".

"Why are you here, Private?!"

"To fight with the best, sir".

The man yelling at them was Lieutenant Herbert Sobel.

Their Commanding Officer.

"Name!"

"Noelle Stewart".

Sobel leaned down, staring at her. "Noelle Stewart, what?!"

Confused, she looked up at him.

"A 'dinny have another name".

As green as the grass, she was.

The others mentally cringed.

"You say, sir!" Sobel screamed, "that's how you address an officer, Private!"

Noelle blinked. Oh.

"Drop and give me ten!"

"Ten 'whit?" Noelle asked and then quickly added, "sir".

Sobel, who hated her but liked the fact that she was giving him reasons to show off his "toughness", pushed Noelle to the ground. Her hands managed to save her fall, though her nice and clean uniform was now covered in mud.

"Push ups!" He raged, "are you stupid, Private?! You don't have a brain, do you?!"

So, it wasn't the best start to the day. Noelle had already gotten into trouble and while lying in the mud, she tried to think what a push-up was. Sobel had soon squatted by her head.

"You really are stupid, aren't you, Private?!"

Noelle nodded, she had to agree with him there.

"All of you! Get down and show this useless piece of shit what a push-up is!"

After struggling with these push-ups, Sobel led them down to a track.

"You have under twelve minutes to run this mile-track!"

Noelle wasn't look forward to a run. She wasn't an athlete, not like these guys. They had all played sports in school, Noelle wasn't used to running, just crawling through tight and enclosed spaces. So, it was only natural that the others leapt and sprinted in front of her, while she ran at the back.

"Get moving, Private!" Sobel screamed.

It was very hard running on a muddy and wet field.

Noelle tripped a few times, landing in the mud.

Sobel was screaming even more, every time she fell down.

"You're pathetic! Get up, now!"

It had only been one hour into the morning and Noelle was already failing bad at this.

However, she still ended up finishing under the twelve-minute mark.

Sobel ordered them to the mess-tent for breakfast.

Soaking and covered in mud, the five Private's walked towards the tent, joining a line of guys before them. They didn't care about the ten push-ups they had to do that morning, though were a little annoyed that Noelle might start dragging them down more.

"Look, just say sir, alright?" Perconte told her, "stop giving him excuses to yell at you".

Lipton sighed quietly, "this is new for all of us, Frank". He reminded him, "and you're right, he is a hard-ass".

All things considered, Noelle didn't seem to mind that Sobel had spent the morning screaming at her. She didn't take his insults to heart and she didn't care that she was covered it mud, with perhaps a shattered ego. Though, Noelle didn't have much of an ego to begin with. But it did bother her that Sobel made the guys do those push-ups because she couldn't. Why were they being punished for her failures?

After breakfast, Sobel made them do the assault course.

Assault was the correct term; this thing was very intimidating.

A big six-foot wall, large wooden beams going up a slop, monkey bars, rope swings and lots of different sized tunnels. Of course, Sobel expected them to be great the first time around. The three guys who arrived a couple of days before Lipton and Noelle, they took the lead and showed them how to do it properly, as well as three men from the regular Army, who had already been through all kinds of training. They were there mostly to scare you. If Sobel wasn't shouting, they'd shout at you, to instil pressure and fear.

The rope swing and wooden beams were the first obstacle they encountered.

It went fine.

The monkey bars didn't go well for Noelle, she lacked upper body strength.

Hanging there, one of the army guys yelled at her.

"Don't just hang there like a piece of meat! Do something!"

So, she let go and fell into the muddy puddle.

"Goddammit". Lipton whispered, when he reached the end of the monkey bars.

The next stage was the wall.

Of course, Noelle couldn't get over it. She was only five-foot!

With a big jump, Lipton grabbed her arm and yanked her up.

"Thanks". She whispered.

Nodding, they both jumped down.

Tunnels were easy enough, Noelle was used to tight spaces.

She was very skinny, slid right through those tunnels like a worm.

After the assault course, which was a fail on Noelle's behalf, the three army guys started to teach them about drills. Soon, the five of them were lined up. He told them how to stand, how to stay completely still without moving and how important it was to learn these basic drills.

"Left…turn!"

Of course, Noelle turned right.

"Private!" He screamed, "are you really that stupid?! Do you not know your left from right?!"

She shook her head, "no, Corporal".

Taking out a pen from his pocket, he wrote "L" on her left hand and "R" on her right.

"Again!"

Noelle looked at him, "thank you, Corporal!"

"You're an idiot, Private". He said to her, "and you'll wash out before you can wash the ink from your hands!"

By the end of the day, they were all very tired.

Sobel told them to shower and wash their uniforms.

Sisk warned them, "clean everything. Polish your boots until you can see your eyes staring back at you".

So, they didn't go to bed straight away.

Noelle spent most of the night cleaning. Her hands were raw by the end of it. And she was shattered. Everything hurt, legs, arms – everything. Even her hair hurt. She just wanted to go to sleep. Noelle was used to waking up early, being muddy, cold and hungry. Hanson had a very good middle-class upbringing. Though had learned to adjust in just a few days.

"I did a lot of camping". He said to them, "guess I'm used to the outdoors".

Noelle was sure used to it anyway.

Lying in bed, they had one hour before lights out.

Reaching under her pillow, she brought out the notepad and pencil.

They were each given a notepad, just to write down whatever they wanted, really.

"Jimmy,

I am in America now. And it is very wet and muddy. I think it was raining a lot. Maybe it rains a lot over here, like back home. I feel okay. My chest is still sore and I keep on coughing when I run and stuff but it should be okay. I have made some freinds frends FRIENDS. They are very nice and funny. Carwood. Frank. Hanson. And Sisk. Sisk is small not small like me but he is small. So is Frank. Carwood is taller than us and very fast at running. He pliad done sports in school. I am slow not fast like them.

I feel angry at my writing. So I will stop now.

Luv,

Noelle".

Placing her notepad and pencil back under her pillow, Noelle got under the blanket.

Lipton made sure everyone was in bed before he turned off the oil lamp.

"How'd you find it?" Perconte asked the pair of them.

Lipton snorted, "sure is tough, Frank".

Sisk yawned softly into his hand, "you'll get the swing of things – Noelle? How'd you find it?"

"Fine". She replied quietly.

"You 'gotta try harder". Hanson said to her.

"I will".

Lipton cleared his throat, "well, we all need to work on our weaknesses".

"Right". Hanson said, "which clearly lacks in her".

Noelle frowned, "what's that mean?"

"Jesus Christ". He sighed, "you're not strong, Noelle. You're weak and skinny, like a Goddamn toothpick. Why the hell are you even here?"

Perconte, Sisk and Lipton felt a little bad for her.

But Noelle didn't seem at all that bothered, "cause 'am skint – why're you here?"

Hanson was quiet for a moment, "because I 'wanna fight with the best. Just like everyone else". He said, "and you – you ain't the best".

"Alright, let's enough". Lipton said quietly, "let's get some shut eye".

With that in mind, Noelle had a lot to think about.

She could sneak back onto a ship and go home. It was easy getting onto a busy ship, you just had to pretend you were with a family. Noelle picked an Irish family, six kids, two stressed parents. It was easy. And getting home would be fine too and she might just do it. But then again, Hanson might have been saying those things to her, just to push her into doing better.

Noelle didn't know.

She only thought he wanted her gone, that was it.

Noelle would try harder, she thought she was already today.

But she needed to be the best because they were all expecting the best.

…

The next day brought sunshine and more enlisted men.

Now, Easy had around one hundred guys and Sobel started to split them up into Platoons.

Noelle and Lipton remained together in 2nd Platoon.

She was relieved to have him by her side, at least he liked her.

Sobel was demanding the new guys names, shocking them by his screaming. Noelle was used to being screamed at, all you ever heard in those pits was someone screaming your name. It would echo down the tunnels and sometimes, the ceiling would shake, and mud would almost bury you. Those were the scary moments down in the pits. Or, when your head torch would go out and you'd be left in complete darkness. Noelle hated the dark.

"Well, if it isn't Private Goofy". Sobel smacked the side of her helmet.

Noelle was saved when someone laughed.

Sobel's attention was soon drawn towards him.

"What's this? Did you find something funny, Private?!"

He quickly stopped laughing, "no, sir".

"So, why the hell were you laughing?!"

"Uh – I'm not sure, sir".

Sobel shook his head, "idiot".

Getting to know the guys was always going to be difficult for Noelle.

She was quiet, kept to herself in the back of the tent and pretended she was busy, while they all shared their life stories with each other. Noelle overheard things, this guys from Texas, he's married, that guy was from New York with seven brothers.

Each Platoon would eventually have around forty-eight guys, between three Platoons. Easy were apart of 2nd Battalion, along with Dog and Fox. Altogether, the 506 now had three Battalions. Each Battalion had three Companies. Plus, Battalion Head Quarters. It was all very simple, but it took Noelle a lot longer to get the hand of it. In fact, she was still processing it.

Noelle was sitting on her bed, polishing her boots.

She was minding her own business, when she heard one of the new guys say;

"come on, I'll take you round the barrack – you stupid mick!"

"Oh, you're on, tough guy!"

Well, it seemed this guy decided to pick a fight with one of the guys from the regular Army.

Noelle looked back down at her boot, choosing to ignore this.

It's not like they'd get into trouble anyway, it was only a fight.

They had to be clean enough to see your eyes staring back at you.

Noelle looked closely towards her boot – still not shiny enough.

Sighing, she scrubbed harder against the leather.

"Noelle". Lipton picked up a sock from the ground, "put these away".

She looked up from her boot, "sorry, Carwood".

Lips twitching, he sat opposite her on his bed.

He watched her for a few moments, "have you spoken to the guys?"

Noelle shook her head, "I 'dunno what to say".

"Well, saying 'hello', that would be a good start".

"Right now?"

Crossing his arms, Lipton nodded. "Yeah, right now".

Biting down on her lip, Noelle put her boot down.

Getting up, she picked a random guy, who was sitting on his small bed.

"Hello".

Frowning, he looked up.

"My name is-"

"piss off".

Noelle tilted her head to the side.

"Where?"

"Jesus Christ". He sighed, shaking his head. "What do you want?"

She cleared her throat, "I thought I – I'm telling 'ye hello".

From his bed, Lipton sighed quietly. This was going to be tougher than he thought.

But Noelle didn't appear to be giving up just yet.

"That 'was'ny nice".

"I don't care". He grumbled, "I ain't here to be your friend, kid".

Noelle pulled a face, "am eighteen".

He laughed, "no you're not".

"Aye, I 'um". Noelle argued back quietly, "how would I lie?"

"You're not making any sense". He said, "don't you mean; why would you lie?"

"That's what I say's".

"No, you said, 'how', it's completely different".

"How?"

He got onto his feet.

Noelle thought he was about to punch her.

But he ended up laughing.

"You're funny". He said, "what's your name?"

"Noelle". She said, with a grin. "What's yours?"

"Alex Penkala".

He gave her a hand a firm shake, which almost crushed her bones.

Noelle took her hand away quickly.

"How come you wanted to break 'ma hand, then?"

Penkala laughed again.

She gave her hand a shake.

"God, you're something else, huh?" He said, with a smile. "And you're Scottish too? That's pretty cool".

Noelle stuffed her hands into her pockets.

She didn't want that to happen again.

"It's 'awright". Noelle mumbled, "where're you 'frae?"

"Uh…South Bend".

"Where's that then?"

"Indiana".

She frowned, "'ye 'dinny look Indian".

Penkala laughed again.

Noelle looked at him, keeping a natural face.

He stopped laughed with a sigh, "oh, you're serious?"

She nodded.

He cleared his throat, "it's in America".

"Aw, right". Noelle said, "see, 'am 'no 'frae here".

Penkala grinned, "yeah…I think I get it, Noelle".

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen".

Her eyes brightened, "aw, same!"

Noelle was very convincing when it came to lying.

He laughed again, "yeah – you already told me, Goofy".

Noelle set him a toothy grin, "eh – 'whit can 'a say, Alex? Am 'no the smartest, eh?"

Penkala smiled, "look, say what instead, alright? You're 'gonna confuse everyone".

"How?"

He laughed, "Noelle! You 'gotta speak proper, you know?"

"No really, no". She admitted, with a tiny shrug. "Just how 'a speak, 'ye ken?"

"Who the fuck is ken?"

Noelle grinned, "you know".

"Kens, you know?"

She nodded, "yeah".

"So, ken, knows?"

"Aye, ken knows". Noelle said, "ken, kens".

Penkala laughed, lightly shoving her arm.

"Man, you're funny, Noelle".

Noelle sighed, "am all puzzled, with that".

He smiled, "yeah, me too".

"By the way, can 'a ask?"

Penkala's eyebrows twitched in confusion.

"Who's Goofy when he's at home?"

He grinned again, "that means you're a bit…silly?"

"Aw, like a numpty?" Noelle asked him lightly.

Penkala shrugged, "yeah – sure".

He sighed, looking at her.

"How old are you really, Noelle?"

She looked back up at him, "am eighteen…like 'a says".

"Nah, you're not". Penkala said softly, "but, hey – I won't rat you out".

"Like a grass?"

He pulled a face, "what?"

Noelle tilted her head to the side, "like…you won't tell. Like, you won't grass on me".

"Oh, I see". Penkala mumbled softly, "yeah, I won't do that".

She gave his arm a tiny punch, "you're 'awright, Alex".

He smiled, "you're not too bad yourself, kid".

When one of his friends walked over, Noelle left.

She sat back down on her bed, picking up her boot again.

Lipton smiled, while she started cleaning again.

"Was that so hard?"

Noelle looked up at him. "Saying hi? Nah – was 'awright, Carwood".

And from that encounter with Penkala.

Noelle figured everything would be, alright.