It was six months into Ralph's enrolment at Bainbridge Military Academy. He was more than halfway done fifth grade, and had already advanced from private to master sergeant in that time. Jack was also on the rise, currently ranking as first sergeant; one rank ahead of Ralph.
Official squadrons were assigned at the end of the school year. Ralph's eighty kid training group was condensed to an official forty person squadron. Ralph, Jack, Simon, Roger, and the twins were all assigned to Unit 8 for next year.
Ralph and Simon stayed connected over the summer break. Ralph hadn't been home for more than a week at a time since he started at the academy back in August. His old friends, neighbours and family were stoked to have him home for two months. His parents, especially. Simon and Ralph connected through the fairly new email software every week that summer, after Jeffery had spent hours showing Ralph how to use it. Ralph failed to stay in touch with anyone else from the academy over the summer.
A year after Ralph first begun military school, he felt much better as he packed his bags at the end of the summer than he had a year before. He was starting sixth grade as a master sergeant in his squad. Jack would be the squad's first sergeant, but that could change very quickly as the year progressed, Ralph knew. Jack had previously promised not to go easy on Ralph in their close competition for the top rank. As the new school year began, Ralph wasn't planning on going easy either.
After his father returned home from dropping Ralph off in Bainbridge, the latter saw that Simon's belongings were already there and he was fully unpacked. Typical Simon.
Ralph made his way to the main hall where people tended to hangout and occasionally study when their rooms weren't ideal study spaces. He was hoping to find Simon, but his ears were immediately filled with Jack's unmistakable voice before the boy was even in Ralph's sight. As he made it to the doorway of the main hall, he spotted Jack and Roger laughing at the overweight kid in their squad. Ralph sighed, wondering whether he was a bad person for not wanting to intervene and stand up to Jack and Roger. Jack was evasive when Ralph had questioned him about it a couple months before the last school year had ended. Ralph hadn't sat at Jack and Roger's table in the dining hall one time since that night.
The thing about Jack was that he wasn't so bad when Ralph hung out with him alone. More specifically, he wasn't so bad when Roger wasn't around. Ralph noticed that Roger seemed to bring out the bully in Jack. Certainly, Jack was the stronger leader of the two, but Ralph saw malice in Roger he didn't see in Jack. Sure, Jack took most jokes too far, but he was sure that Jack was just a stupid kid looking to solidify his place in the social hierarchy. Ralph was starting to realize that the malicious intent he saw in Roger was all there was to him.
Simon remained Ralph's best friend at the academy, despite the fact that Ralph spent more time with him in groups than alone. Simon made friends easily and had a handful of people he could choose to spend the day with if he so pleased. Usually, he'd pick Ralph, or he'd invite Ralph wherever he was going. Ralph was a natural leader and everyone Simon befriended was drawn to Ralph, too. Ralph mentored a lot of Simon's now fifth grade friends, in both academics and military training. Meanwhile, Ralph only ever hungout with Jack when it was just the two of them. Jack knew Ralph had no interest in being friends with Roger, and Simon was just as hesitant about Jack as he was about the blond's roommate. Ralph and Jack didn't otherwise have any friends in common. Their different personalities and leadership styles attracted different people. But despite their competition for the top rank, and Ralph's disapproval of the way Jack behaved when he was with Roger, Jack and Ralph remained really good friends throughout the new school year.
One night in mid-January, Jack and Ralph were watching a movie in Ralph's room while Simon was out with the twins training in the fitness center. Ralph and Jack were propped up against the wall, sitting in Ralph's bed. Back To The Future was the only movie the two could agree on. It was getting late by the time the movie was nearing its end, and Simon had still not returned to the room. It had gotten hot in the dorm room and they couldn't open a window without turning the place into an igloo, so both boys had removed their pyjama shirts during the movie.
As the last 25 minutes of the movie approached, Ralph found himself struggling to stay awake. He yawned and yawned, his head dropping onto Jack's shoulder. Jack, who was used to staying up late training, glanced down at him. He turned back to the TV and forced himself to focus on the plot. As if on cue, the phone on the wall started ringing, jolting the younger boy awake and off Jack's shoulder. Ralph crawled off the bed and hurried to answer it.
"It's me" Simon's staticky voice came through the line.
"Hey Si" Ralph said through a yawn. "Whassup?"
"I just wanted you to know that I'm gonna crash in Dylan's room tonight. We're on the fifth floor and I'm too tired to walk back down to second" Simon explained tiredly.
"Okay, have a good sleep. See you tomorrow" Ralph responded and hung up the phone.
"Everything okay?" Jack asked curiously.
"Simon's staying in his friend's room tonight" Ralph said as he crawled back into his bed beside Jack.
"Do you wanna finish this?" Jack asked as he paused the movie with the little black remote.
"Sure, yeah" Ralph said tiredly. He dropped his head back onto Jack's shoulder without thought. Jack brought his hand up and patted the side of his friend's head comfortingly before dropping his hand down and turning his attention back to the movie.
The clock said 2:46 when Jack opened his eyes enough to read it. The TV had somehow turned off in the time that the boys failed to finish the movie. Jack realized Ralph was still leaning on his shoulder, propped up against him, his back on the wall, fast asleep. Jack gently lifted his head and placed an arm under Ralph's to guide him to lay down properly. He kept his arm around the younger boy's shoulder as he allowed himself to lay down too. Ralph's head drifted in towards Jack's chest as he slept. Jack attempted to fall back asleep when Ralph shifted abruptly, draping his arm around Jack's torso. Jack took a deep breath, and began trying to slow his breathing until he finally drifted off.
When Ralph opened his eyes, he first noticed the sun peaking through the blinds. The second thing he noticed was Simon standing on his side of the room, his back turned to Ralph as he stood in front of his dresser.
"Simon?" Ralph said groggily.
Simon turned around and locked eyes with his best friend and roommate, his gaze drifting from Ralph to Jack. The latter was still dead asleep, his arm wrapped around the front of Ralph's chest, who was propped against him, his back to Jack's front.
"I thought you were supposed to get married before you sleep with the person" Simon joked in an unexcited tone as he turned his back to the boys again.
"Ha ha, very funny" Ralph said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the fifth grader.
Ralph grabbed the arm of Jack's that was wrapped around his chest and shook it. Used to waking up on command and on military time, Jack was up almost immediately.
"We fell asleep during the movie" Ralph said to Jack, his hand still grasping the arm over his chest.
"I gathered that" Jack chuckled. "Hey, you made it back alive" the blonde directed the remark to his friend's roommate across the room.
"Is there any reason I wouldn't have?" Simon asked flatly, his back still to them.
"Suppose not" Jack shrugged. As he shifted in the bed, Ralph released his arm and pulled himself up. Jack slid out after him.
"Roger's probably looking for me. See you children at breakfast" Jack smiled smugly as he pulled his shirt over his head and left.
"Doubtful" Simon quietly replied to Jack's last statement after he had already gone.
"I know you're not Jack's biggest fan but you could stand to keep the unkind words to yourself" Ralph suggested to Simon as they both changed.
"You should tell him that" Simon retorted as he finished getting himself ready for breakfast. "You eating with us?"
"Course. I always do" Ralph reminded him.
"Just checking" Simon said simply. "See you down there" he added before making his way to the dining hall.
Ralph met Jack's eyes across the dining hall as he sat down at Simon, Eric and Sam's table. Beside Jack, Roger took a straw to his lips and shot a spit ball at the heavyset kid in their squad, who sat alone two tables in front of them. Ralph diverted his eyes down to his food, pretending he didn't know that Jack was about to take the second shot.