(Landon's PoV)

Coming from Nebraska, I should have been very used to sudden changes in the weather. For the most part I was. We literally went from snowing to nineties in a matter of three days last year. But at least back home I had a variety of clothes to help me adapt to the drastically different types of weather. Our army uniforms just made our situations worse.

It was a given that it was going to be hot. After all, we were fighting in a jungle, but it seemed like the second it became May, the temperature decided to jump another 15 degrees. And that's without including the humidity.

We all entered the base exhausted and covered in sweat. My shirt was sticking to my skin.

"I really wish this place had air conditioning," Gavin complained.

"Or decent showers," Daniel added.

Clayton gave a quick sigh. "Fuck it. I don't care how gay it seems." He took off his shirt and threw it on the ground near Daniel, who did a sort of jump to avoid touching it.

"At this point, it doesn't matter," Trevor agreed, following suit. "And I mean, it's not gay if we all do it, right?"

Logan began unzipping his jacket. "Yeah, we're all hot--not like good looking hot--but like temperature hot, you know...it's too hot to think."

They made a point, and within several seconds we had all given into the heat. It felt good to take a few layers off. Our army jackets were so thick.

"Blake," we heard Holly call. "I finished those forms." She looked up from her stack of papers and started to turn bright pink. She was wide-eyed and for once, left utterly speechless.

Although I can't say the experience was any less mortifying for the majority of us. Several guys scrambled to put their shirts back on or hide behind something, including their friends. I panicked and ended up ripping off my bed sheet and slamming it against my chest.

Holly opened her mouth, but no coherent words would come out.

"Enjoying the view?" Ned asked. He was one of the few of us that was not embarrassed in the slightest.

"Umm..." Holly was still trying to gather her thoughts.

"Want a better one?" Kent offered, unzipping his pants.

Holly immediately pushed him away. "If you show me your dick, I will cut it off." She still remained violent as ever, but her voice was much softer. Finally, she was able to ask, "why aren't you wearing shirts?"

Logan gave a sheepish smile. "It's hot."

"Why is that a good enough reason?" she questioned further.

"It's really hot," Marcus tried.

"You just don't understand," Tristan chimed in.

Even Justin appeared flustered. "It probably just feels hotter for us since our outfits are made of thicker material," he attempted to explain.

"Obviously," Peter pointed out. "These jackets are made of a flame resistant NYCO. That dress is 100% polyester."

Holly looked down to examine her dress. "It is?" I expected she had as much knowledge about different types of fabrics as I did.

"Plus your dress has short sleeves and it only goes down to your knees," Gavin continued.

"Although we wouldn't mind if it were a little shorter," Felix said, grabbing the end of it.

Holly hit him with her clipboard and took a step back. "A-anyway," she managed to stutter out. "I have to go give these to Sgt. Blake." She buried her head back in her papers as she left.

"That was so awkward, let's never do that again," I decided. No matter how high the temperature got, I would take heatstroke over humiliation any day.

(Aaron's PoV)

I stared down at my hands. They hurt like hell and were extremely stiff. I rolled up my sleeves, easily spotting the exact line where my skin went from pale to red.

"Stupid sun," I muttered. That was definitely the biggest downfall of summer: sunburns.

"Connor," I tapped on his shoulder. "How's my face look?" I anticipated the worst, seeing as that was the only other part of me not completely covered by clothes.

"Even brighter than your hair," he teased.

I rolled my eyes and pushed him playfully. "Why me?" I groaned.

"It's cuz you're a ginger," Connor pointed out. "I think it's nature's way of saying, 'stay indoors and out of sight.'"

"If only I could," I replied. "I swear, if this whole 'being outside all day every day' thing keeps up, I'm gonna have skin cancer before I turn 20."

My skin must've been as bad as Connor made it out to be, cuz it caught several of the other guys' attention, and enough attention to turn them away from eating I might add.

"What happened?" Daniel asked.

"I got sunburnt," I responded. What did they think happened?

"That's weird," Tristan commented. "None of the rest of us did."

Well that's just fucking fantastic for you guys, I thought to myself in annoyance.

"Why do you think it's just you?" Trevor asked.

"The sun hates me," I replied deadpan.

They laughed. I didn't think they understood that I wasn't joking.

"Maybe you could check in Holly's medicine cabinet," Justin suggested. "There might be some sunblock in there."

"It's no use," I told him. "Sunblock doesn't work on me anyway."

Logan titled his head to the side. "What do you mean it doesn't work?"

What the hell did they think I meant? When I put it on, nothing changes. I'm pretty sure the heat was starting to creep under my skin and into my brain (that's how biology works, right?) making it ten times more sarcastic than usual.

"It just doesn't," I explained.

"Plus, you don't wanna go in there," Sean added. "Holly's scary."

"Well that sucks man," Clayton told me.

Several of the other guys agreed. They were all about to go back to dinner when Gavin realized something else.

"Wait--weren't we in the shade?"

"Yep," I replied bitterly.

(Daniel's PoV)

"Help," Logan pleaded through his jacket, which was covering about half his head.

"Just hold still," Trevor chided.

Logan managed to get his zipper stuck yesterday and was too embarrassed to tell anyone until now.

I peered closer. "I think something might be caught..."

"Daniel! Mail!" I heard Lt. Jason call.

I immediately let go of the zipper and rushed towards Lt. Jason. The name Joy Van Bella was written across the top of the envelope that was handed to me. I hadn't heard from her since we arrived in China.

"Don't leave," Logan begged. "What's caught in where?"

Clayton put his hand on Logan's nearly dislocated shoulder. "Forget about it," he advised. "Daniel's on Joy-time now."

"Oh, shut up," I told him. "The letter could be from anyone."

"Not if you're smiling that much," Trevor pointed out.

I could feel my face growing hotter as they started to laugh. I attempted to ignore them by reading.

Hey Daniel! I'm so glad to hear that you're safe. I wish you were here. It was so weird not having you as my audition partner this year. I think my audition went all right, but I didn't really like the song choice this year. Come to think of it, I don't think anyone did. But I just wish you could have auditioned too. I know you would have made varsity this year.

"Ow, Clayton, that hurts," Logan wailed.

"No, no, I'm on to something. Bend your arm back even further."

Oh yeah and I forgot to tell you. For my birthday last week, Bradley surprised me by taking me out to dinner. It was so romantic. And guess how we got there. He drove us in his car. Isn't that so hot? Well anyways, let me know how things are going with you. Miss you so much!

--Joy

I looked up to see Logan's shirt in an awkward half-on, half-off state. Despite his misery, he seemed to be more concerned about me. "Are you all right, Daniel?"

I set the letter aside. "It's nothing."

"It's Bradley," he guessed. When I nodded, he scrunched up his face just like he always did when his name was mentioned. "I should have known. I hate him."

"I don't" I tried to convince myself more than anyone. "At least I shouldn't. He makes her so happy. I should be happy." What was wrong with me? I had no reason to be jealous. I was being petty. Why couldn't I just be happy for Joy? She had found someone who made her feel special."

"Well you can play martyr, while I hate his guts," Logan offered. "Cuz that's what friends do. They hate people vicariously. And you know what else they do? They help their friends."

"Thanks," I said.

"No," he said, still struggling with his jacket. "I'm talking about me."

"Oh right," I muttered. I got up to get a closer look at his jacket. It looked like there were several threads that came undone and got caught in his zipper. It couldn't be too hard to fix. After all, we were show choir guys. We'd faced tons of wardrobe difficulties before.

I attempted to pick away at the threads, and when that didn't work I started digging my nails into the zipper. Logan was released, but I ended up chipping one of my fingernails in the process. He continuously thanked me, but I just simply nodded in acknowledgement. I didn't really want to bring myself up to talk anymore. I felt awful about the letter. Why did it bother me so much? Was I really such a terrible friend to Joy that I was upset when something good happened to her?

(Gavin's PoV)

It was here. I wasn't dreaming this time. It was really truly here. I finally got one.

A letter from Trixie.

My hands fidgeted as I opened the envelope to reveal her neat handwriting in pink pen.

Dear Gavin,

Happy Birthday! It may or may not be your actual birthday today. I'm not sure. I'm horrible with timing. But anyway, you're sixteen now. That's awesome! Too bad you have to spend it at war. It's totally unfair.

But you've been so sweet to write to me. I'm so sorry I haven't replied sooner. I've been so out of it lately. I just got out of a bad break-up with Cody Larson.

"Hallelujah!" My brain sang. I might actually have a chance.

But if you want to keep in touch, I promise I'll be better about responding.

P.S. I sent you some chocolate, so hopefully that makes your day better.

From,

Trixie

It didn't matter that the letter was a week late or that the Hershey bar was completely melted. Trixie wrote to me. She actually wrote to me. And I knew how much she loved chocolate, so the fact that she was giving it to me was a huge deal. And she even wanted me to write back to her.

I let out a sigh.

"Take it easy, Romeo," Landon told me.

My hands shook and the letter slipped out of them, upon the realization that I wasn't alone.

"Aw, is Gavin in love?" Tristan teased.

I rolled my eyes, although I could already feel my face reddening. "Shut up."

Despite my comments, I wasn't really upset. I picked up the letter and smiled at her signature. There was nothing that could ruin this moment.

(Connor's PoV)

My entire uniform was soaking wet. The amount of rainfall had been gradually increasing over the past several days to the point of pouring. One would think the rain would at least make it seem cooler, but if anything, it just added to the humidity.

Aaron rubbed his eyes and coughed a couple times. "When is this gonna stop?" he groaned.

"If only we could take all the rain from here, and send it home," Sean piped up. "I remember my parents saying that we needed more water. Something about a drought."

"If only we could catch some of this in ziploc bags," I joked.

"Yeah, and send them to the Governor's office," Aaron added.

Sean gasped in excitement, totally unaware of our sarcasm. A few moments later he realized, "oh wait, but we don't have any ziploc bags."

Aaron smiled at him. "And it was almost foolproof." As he looked away, he started to bite his lip and dart his eyes around.

"You all right?" I asked, quiet enough for just him to hear.

"Y-yeah," he responded. "It's stupid really...but...you don't think--I mean with all this rain--you don't think it's gonna flood, do you?" He tried to mask his concern.

"It shouldn't," I told him.

From a few people over, I could hear Matteo's loud voice carrying. I think he was talking about a swim meet or something. Nothing important.

"Oh my God, can someone just mute him?" I muttered.

Evidently, he heard me too, cuz he was glaring at me.

"What's the matter, Matteo?" I feigned innocence. "Is the rain starting to scare you?"

He flushed red. "No! It's just regular rain. Nobody's stupid enough to be afraid of water!"

I felt something grab my fist before I could smash it into Matteo's skull.

"He's not worth it," Aaron advised.

I still folded my arms. "Ignorant asshole."

"I know," Aaron continued, "but he didn't know what he was saying."

"He still said it."

"It's fine," he said. "I mean it's stupid. It's probably not gonna flood." He looked around, holding his breath. After a few seconds, he let it out slowly. "Yeah it's okay. The rain's not a problem, more of an inconvenience." He shook his head, allowing some of the water on his helmet to fall off onto the sleeve of my shirt (which had been drenched in the first place). He smirked at me. "Would be nice if it stopped though."

(Justin's PoV)

The wet climate of Guilin was not something any of us were used to. Back home, Nebraska was in the middle of a slight drought. For the past nearly several months, we had never received more than a couple inches of rainfall at a time. There wasn't much snow either. We had only had one snow day this year, (I remember because Clayton would constantly complain about it), but that day was only canceled because of low temperatures.

After a quick dinner, I made my way to my bed and pulled out my AP Chemistry Pocket Guide. I had brought several smaller books with me because I figured it was better to store a sample-sized variety of information to prevent tunnel vision of just one subject. I brought one for each of the courses I was previously enrolled in plus three which featured detailed information about Guilin and China as a whole.

I stared at the cover of my miniature book. I was supposed to have taken my AP exams last month in order to earn college credit, or at least look good on future college applications. Next year, I hoped, despite it seeming futile.

I began at chapter eight, where I had left off back in late January. The small print didn't bother me. I delved into Lewis Dot Structures and the VSEPR model in an attempt to block out everything else, but that was difficult when Daniel was yelling at Clayton for using his bed sheet as a towel.

"That's gross! I sleep on that!"

Clayton began to rub his ears with the bedsheet. "Well it's not my fault it's been raining everyday for the past week."

"Actually it's not just rain," I corrected. "It's monsoon season."

The guys looked at me with blank expressions. Logan even tilted his head to the side.

"A monsoon is a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by changes in precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of the land and sea," I explained. I noticed my hands were starting to move as I spoke. The gestures reminded me of Audrey and how she could be so passive one moment and passionate the next depending on the topic.

"What does that mean?" someone asked.

"They are a result of changes in the circulation of the atmosphere," I responded.

"We don't understand what you're saying," Clayton articulated.

"Well..." I tried to form the right words. Colloquialism wasn't one of my strong suits. "These strong winds are created by air moving from areas of high pressure to low pressure. They travel from the ocean to warmer land masses in a circulation cell."

Clayton rolled his eyes. A few of the guys gave half-hearted smiles, but they couldn't mask their sheer confusion.

"You don't need to rub it in our faces that you're smarter than us," Clayton sneered.

"I'm not doing that," I argued. I paused to take a deep breath. "I was just trying to point out that monsoon season has been happening for centuries here and it's a vital part of helping the crops grow. The Chinese people have been depending on monsoons their whole life, so they're used to them. That's going to give them an advantage."

"Well you can say that without all the big words that you know we don't understand," Clayton snapped. "For once in your life, talk like a normal human being."

The others exchanged rather awkward glances.

Trevor shrugged. "No offense, but Clayton does kinda have a point. It does make you sound a little stuck up."

"A little?" Clayton scoffed. "Justin, you are the biggest show-off I've ever met."

I started to turn around, but his voice stopped me. "And now, you're just gonna retreat to your book and hang out by yourself cuz you think you're too good for the rest of us."

"No!" I shot back. "I'm going to retreat to my book because I find it more interesting than watching people like you run their mouths when they don't know anything."

I stormed back to my bed and let out a frustrated sigh as I sat down. I tried to distract myself with chemistry, but I couldn't focus. I was just trying to help. Why didn't anyone here listen to me?