(Logan's PoV)

My arm was shaking under the weight of the ten pound dumbbell. I had no idea how guys like Connor and Aaron could be benching 'God knows how much' on the other side of the weight room.

"This is too hard," Clayton complained, setting down his dumbbell.

Daniel nodded. "And I'm agreeing with Clayton, so that's saying something."

My arm grew more and more sore with each flex.

"You know what workouts we need to do?" Trevor began. "Show choir."

That was the main reason the four of us became friends. Even though we all went to different schools before, we were all in show choir. We hadn't known each other before coming here, but it at least gave us something in common.

I wasn't sure if Trevor was kidding, but I went along with it anyway. "Yeah, I mean, it is a workout. It builds precision and stamina. Plus I'd love to see some of those 'tough guys' try to do a kick-ball-change."

"If those were our workouts, we'd be the best." Clayton picked up his dumbbell again and sort of bounced it in his hands. "You know what? I bet I could do show choir with weights in my hands."

Well it turned out that Clayton couldn't do show choir with weights in his hands. While swinging his arm forward, he lost his grip and caused the dumbbell to fall right on Daniel's right foot.

"What the hell, Clayton?" he exclaimed, clutching it.

"Good thing your boots were on," Trevor observed. "That thing could have broken your toes."

Daniel continued to wince in pain, which caused Sgt. Blake to get suspicious. "What's going on?" he demanded.

"Nothing. Daniel's just being a pussy," Clayton responded.

I turned to Daniel. "Should we tell him what happened?"

"No," he told me. "I hate causing trouble. And all four of us are gonna get in trouble if he finds out what we were doing.

I felt bad for him, but he did make a point. Cleaning bathroom floors did not sound particularly appealing.

"Let's just pick up a small weight and pretend that we're working," I decided.

"And be careful," Daniel added, glaring at Clayton.

Clayton ignored that comment and instead focused on mine. "Pretending to work! I'm great at that!"

(Daniel's PoV)

My foot ached as we ran laps around the gym. I tried to ignore the pain by listening to Sgt. Blake continue to bark orders at us, but that wasn't that much more pleasant.

Don't lose your balance, don't lose your balance, I kept telling myself.

Thankfully, Lt, Jason had called Sgt. Blake into another room. As soon as he left, I gave up and went over to the side to kneel down. Clayton, Logan, and Trevor all stopped too and crowded around me.

"How are you doing?" Logan asked.

I winced. "It just really hurts." I unlaced my right boot and took off my sock to get a better look. My foot had turned a disgusting purple color, and my toes were swollen.

Clayton made a face. "That's disgusting."

Trevor gave a small laugh. "You're lucky Daniel's a pacifist," he told Clayton.

Clayton furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought he was Catholic."

Logan kept staring at my foot. "It looks worse than it did yesterday. Are you sure you don't wanna tell somebody? I'd be willing to take a punishment if it means you could get better," he offered.

"I wouldn't," Clayton interjected.

We heard footsteps coming down the hallway, prompting us to attempt to form a straight line. I hobbled over, hoping to dear God that Sgt. Blake wouldn't notice I was only wearing one shoe.

Only it wasn't Sgt. Blake who entered. It was Lt. Jason and he was beaming. "Guys this is gonna be so much fun," he said, giddiness rising in his voice. He tried to control his laughter. "All right," he began. "Now, when I pull on my right ear, you're gonna say, 'sir, yes sir.' And when I pull on my left ear, you're gonna say, 'sir, no sir.' It's gonna be so funny! Hey Blake, come here!" he called the last part louder.

Sgt. Blake walked in looking rather regretful, "At least use the word Sgt."

Lt. Jason put on a big, tough voice, likely to mock Sgt. Blake. "Recruits! Did you clean the barracks?" He tugged on his right ear.

"Sir, yes sir," we chanted.

"Should I go check?" he questioned, before tugging on his left ear.

"Sir, no sir," we answered in unison.

Lt. Jason had a huge grin across his face. Sgt. Blake however, was not pleased. "50 push-ups," he ordered.

I wasn't able to get down as fast as the other guys, and he noticed.

"Daniel!" he shouted at me. "What happened to your foot?"

"I...uh," I stammered. I should've told the truth, but that would've likely caused trouble. "I was being careless when we were in the weight room yesterday and I dropped a dumbbell on my foot."

"Go to the infirmary now," he told me. "And you'll be cleaning lockers tonight."

I sighed and sunk my head down. "Yes sir."

(Will's PoV)

Rose sat on the countertop with a bottle of Jack Daniels in her hand, tipping it into the sink.

"Rosey, what are you doing?" I asked.

She flinched, then turned back to see it was just me. "God Will, don't scare me like that." She punched me in the arm.

"She's home," I whispered. "What if she finds out?"

"I want it gone," Rose hissed, now shaking the bottle.

Over our nervous bickering, we weren't able to hear our mother come down the stairs. Angered, she grabbed Rose's water bottle. "How would you like it if I cut off your drink supply?" she challenged. "Not so funny now is it?"

Rose stumbled over her words, her eyes brimming with tears.

It's not like there was no way she could obtain water--even without her bottle. We could have easily found a place with a drinking fountain or a sink. But she couldn't understand that right now. Logic is always absent from panic.

"Stop," I pleaded, but my mom looked me dead in the eyes.

"Oh little boy, like you haven't done any worse."

"Will."

I woke with a start. My blankets were falling off the sides of my top bunk and I had broken out in cold sweats.

Matteo had climbed up the ladder to see what was going on. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Bad memory is all," I replied, my voice a little shaken. I had apparently also woken up the choir boys who were in the two bunks on our left.

"You talk in your sleep," Trevor pointed out.

"So I've been told," I muttered.

Matteo looked concerned. "You kept begging for someone to stop. You look awfully shaken up. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." I wiped some of the sweat from my forehead. "I'll be fine."

Clayton sat up, smiling. "So, who's Rosey?"

"My sister," I replied, deadpan.

"Oh," he said dumbfoundedly, upset at his missed chance to tease me.

Daniel eyed the clock. Despite being punished and getting the least amount of sleep, he still looked the most awake. "We should probably just wake up now. It's 4:53. 7 minutes of sleep isn't going to make any difference."

"Says you," Clayton retorted before retreating back to his pillow.

Matteo looked tired too, but he didn't go back to bed. He lowered his voice. "Was that about your parents?"

"My mom," I explained. "But it was just a dream, I'll be fine," I added.

"Well, let me know if you're ever not," he told me.

I didn't deserve a friend like him.

(Gavin's PoV)

Today was Valentine's Day. Not that it was a big deal. Nobody wanted to be the first sap to bring it up, and it sure as hell wasn't celebrated cuz none of us were gay. Well, not openly gay--but we did have our suspicions about Wong-ti and Peter.

After a horrible day of workouts, I had time to write to Trixie. I tried to do it in secret cuz I really didn't want what happened to Matteo to happen to me.

Dear Trixie,

Happy Birthday. You're finally 16. Now you can drive without your parents. I hope you got the car you wanted--or really any car for that matter.

Also happy Valentine's Day, since it's the same day as your birthday. I remembered it's your favorite holiday. I could never forget anything about you.

I quickly crossed out that last line. Okay Gavin, way too much.

But anyways, I really hope you had a great birthday and I wish I could tell you that in person. I can't wait to see you again.

And that was as much courage as I could muster up and write down.

Love,

Oh no, wait.

From,

Gavin