The last couple months of Ralph's second year in military school were training-heavy. Ralph and Jack's competition to be top rank in their unit intensified as the school year was about to come to a close. Ralph had become first sergeant before Jack advanced to sergeant major. The day Ralph earned the rank, he and Jack were the last two in the change room at the end of the training session.
"So first sergeant, huh?" Jack spoke into the silence.
"Suppose so" Ralph agreed, pulling his clean socks over his feet.
"I'll have to stop going so easy on you" Jack added.
"Thought you weren't going easy on me" Ralph insinuated. "Remember?"
"I might've been. A little" Jack claimed.
"Why?" Ralph persisted.
"I like you, Langley."
Ralph was pretty sure Jack was lying, he knew him well enough to know he'd never go easy on him. He was only saying that to make it look like he let Ralph catch up to him. He'd never admit Ralph just might be the better soldier. But Jack's last comment made his stomach flip, even though Ralph knew it was just a defence mechanism.
"You don't need to go easy on me. I can out rank you fair and square" Ralph challenged.
Jack felt his skin heat up in anger at Ralph's patronizing attitude. "We'll see about that" he hotly declared, abandoning Ralph in the change room.
Despite the competition heating up between the two boys, they remained good friends. They both pushed themselves to the brink during training sessions, always keeping an eye on the other. They motivated each other to be the best they could be; to be better than the other. Outside military training, they goofed around, made inside jokes, and often went hiking just outside the school together on days when class was cancelled. Ralph still spent more time with Simon than with Jack, and Jack still spent more time with Roger than with Ralph. They never mixed their friends, knowing well that they'd never get along. Ralph couldn't say it, but he secretly hated the person Jack was when he was hanging out with Roger and the other bullies they'd recruited during the semester.
Ralph and Jack sat in the fire pit down at the bottom of the school yard late on a Saturday night in early June, as they often would. After all the other boys had gone inside for the night, Ralph realized that despite being friends for almost two years now, he didn't know much about Jack's life outside of military school.
"So, you got people you're looking forward to going home to this summer?" Ralph wondered aloud.
"Yeah, dad and sister" Jack answered simply, eyes fixed on the fire, refusing to meet Ralph's gaze.
"Where do you guys live?" Ralph asked.
"They live in Dalton" Jack answered. Ralph noted the strange way Jack removed himself from the equation.
"Cool, we're in East Point."
"That's damn close" Jack pointed out.
"It is" Ralph agreed, his voice shaking a little. "Has military school always been your plan?"
Jack dropped his head so Ralph couldn't see the change in his expression. Ralph stared at the blond hair covering his friend's face, waiting for a response.
"Um, not always" Jack finally answered without looking up.
"You don't want to be in the military?"
"I never said that" Jack deflected, lifting his head and staring intensely into the fire.
Ralph was starting to realize it was a touchy subject and decided to drop it. He stared into the fire in silence just as Jack did, shifting his thoughts from home to the final ranking service of the school year that was to be held next week. He knew he was gaining on Jack, and worried about how his friend would take it if Ralph did out rank him.
All the Bainbridge Military Academy boys worked their asses off day and night during the last week of training. This was the last chance they had to prove their deserving of moving up in the rankings.
Ralph made his way to the fitness center gym to get in some extra training three nights before the final service of the year. As he approached the room, he could hear the shouting match from all the way down the hall. Ralph picked up the pace until he made it to peak around the door. Inside the fitness center, Jack and Roger were standing in front of Simon and one of Simon's classmates, Dylan. All four of them were yelling and arguing, all speaking at the same time, making it impossible for Ralph to make out what they were fighting about.
"We need the space more than you do! You're not even sergeants! You're scum!" Roger shouted aggressively in Simon's face. Roger was almost a head taller than Simon, but Simon failed to shrink or back down. Ralph was impressed by his best friend's strength.
"You're bullies!" Dylan shouted back at Roger, stepping to get between him and Simon.
Roger shoved Dylan so hard into Simon, they clashed and hit the floor rather abruptly. Roger spit down on them before demanding they "get the fuck out."
Dylan stood to his feet, and after helping Simon up, shoved Roger back. Jack stepped in and grabbed hold of Dylan's shirt, using it to shove him into the wall beside them. "Unless you want to leave this room on a stretcher, I suggest you find somewhere else to train" Jack said quietly yet sternly into Dylan's face before releasing him against the wall. Simon's eyes widened fearfully, while Roger seemed to have no reaction at all.
Ralph now stood in the doorway as Simon met his eyes. His friend said nothing to Ralph as he and Dylan pushed passed him to exit the gym. Ralph could see in Simon's eyes that he was upset with him; for not standing up to Jack and Roger, for doing nothing but watching them bully him, for simply being friends with Jack Merridew.
"I don't suppose I need to find somewhere else to train too" Ralph finally broke the awkward silence that hung between him, Jack and Roger.
"You don't" Jack assured him. "Right, Roger?"
Roger said nothing as he walked to the back of the room to pull two 75lb weights off the rack.
"Look, I—" Jack began as he approached Ralph hesitantly.
"Don't" Ralph cut him off, putting his hand out to keep space between him and Jack. Jack stopped in his tracks and stared at the younger boy. "Simon's my best friend. You treat him badly, you treat me badly" Ralph said sternly.
"He's a child" Jack claimed.
"We're all children, Jack" Ralph argued. "You don't have to scare people into listening to you. Fear isn't the only way to lead."
"It's one way to do it" Jack countered smuggly.
"Good luck with that then" Ralph glared at him, the disappointment seeping through his eyes like tears. He tossed the elastic band he'd planned to train with onto the floor beside Jack and left the gym before Jack had a chance to react.