On August 19th, the Langley parents packed their minivan full of the boys' bags. For the third year in a row, they made the trip from East Point to Bainbridge to drop off Ralph, and now Jack.
Jeffery and Jack unloaded and brought up all Jack's bags while Ralph and his mom dealt with his. The unloading process took longer this year than it did last considering there were two of them this time, but it was helpful that Jack and Ralph's rooms were next door to each other. Once Jeffery finished helping Jack, he poked his head into his son's room to say goodbye.
"Getting settled?" his father asked as Ralph hung his sweaters up in his closet.
"Yeah, I'm good" Ralph assured him. "Thanks dad" he added as he dropped his clothes to give his dad a big hug.
"I'm always here for you" the man said, wrapping the boy in his embrace.
"Thanks for being so good about Jack. We had a lot to prepare for with this trip to England coming up in two weeks" Ralph said, pressing his chin into his dad's chest as he stretched his neck back to meet his eyes.
"I know" his dad assured him. Something about his tone suggested to Ralph that his father knew Jack had stayed over for reasons beyond just training.
"Hey Simon!" Jeffery said excitedly as the younger, curly-headed boy came into the room, dragging suitcases in each hand, bags hanging off each arm.
"Hi Mr. Langley, how was your summer?" Simon asked politely as he relieved his little arms from the weight of his belongings.
"It was nice having Ralph home, that's for sure. Get up to anything fun?" the man asked.
"I spent most of it in the gym to be perfectly honest" Simon admitted.
"The boys did too" Jeffery Langley laughed. "Mom's waiting for me downstairs, Ralph, are you okay if I head out now?"
"Course" Ralph said as he gave his dad one last hug. "I love you."
"I love you too, kiddo. See you in November" he said, holding onto Ralph a little tighter than he usually did. With the trip coming up in a couple weeks for Unit 8, this would be the first time Ralph would be away from home for more than two weeks. Over the previous two years, he'd gone home every other weekend. He'd seen his parents for a week at Thanksgiving. This year, he'd be in another country from September to November. Jeffery worried his 12-year-old son would get homesick, but deep down he was more worried about himself and his wife. It would be the longest amount of time they'd ever go without seeing him. Ralph could handle it, Jeffery knew, even if Ralph didn't know it. But his wife, he wasn't so sure about.
After Ralph's dad left, both Ralph and Simon continued to unpack and set up their room. Every year it looked relatively the same, with a few of Simon's personal items changing each year. Ralph had remembered to bring a photo of himself and his parents in his little wallet when he started sixth grade, and now seventh.
"How was your summer?" Ralph asked Simon despite having been present when Simon answered his father's identical question.
"It's never a bad summer when I get to be home" Simon sighed with content. "What about yours? Do anything interesting?"
"Uh, no. Nothing interesting. I watched a lot of TV and trained a lot" Ralph vaguely explained.
"Who are 'the boys'?" Simon asked seemingly out of context.
"What boys?" Ralph was confused.
"Your dad said 'the boys' when he was talking about what you did this summer. I thought you didn't have any brothers" Simon questioned.
"Oh, I-I don't" Ralph stuttered as his heart rate picked up. He didn't know why he felt guilty about having Jack over. Simon said before that as long as Ralph didn't turn into an ass, it didn't matter who he hung out with when Simon wasn't around. "Jack slept over a couple nights" he slowly but surely admitted.
"Jack Merridew? He lives in East Point?" Simon questioned with concern in his voice.
"Uh no, he lives in Dalton. It's a little north of East Point. Still in Georgia" Ralph said simply.
"I thought you two left school on bad terms. At least that's what you told me" Simon reminded him. Ralph could hear the judgement in his best friend's voice.
"We did" Ralph confirmed. "But he's gonna be my lieutenant colonel and I don't think it'd be any good for anyone on the squad if the lieutenant colonel and the colonel didn't get along" Ralph defended.
"So you called him?" Simon assumed.
"No, he called me. We exchanged numbers after the end of my first year here."
"And he called you because he's so concerned about doing what's right for the squad?" Simon asked in disbelief.
Ralph opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn't find the words. Luckily, an interruption made it so he didn't have to.
"Gettin' unpacked and what not?" Jack asked as he appeared seemingly from nowhere in the doorway.
"Yeah" Ralph said as he finished setting his side of the room up. Out of the corner of his eye, Ralph saw Simon sigh heavily and turn away; away from Ralph, from Jack, or perhaps from them both.
"Wanna come down to the main hall and play a game of chess? Winner plays Maurice. He's the best on the squad as of right now, but I'm confident I can change that" Jack asked Ralph with a confident smile.
"I was gonna stay here and catch up with Simon" Ralph answered.
Before Jack could respond, Simon cut in. "Go" he said, "we can talk later."
"Si, are you sure? I do want to catch up, honest" Ralph insisted.
"We can talk later" Simon repeated. "Besides, I haven't had a chance to go see how Dylan and the twins are doing."
"Who's Dylan?" Jack chimed in.
Simon awkwardly pressed his lips together, and turned his head from Jack's gaze.
"Simon's friend in his grade" Ralph answered for him. "The one from the gym" he added tensely.
"Oh, right" Jack dropped his head too as the tension hit him too. Simon glanced back over at him and noticed a small amount of regret, or maybe just guilt, in Jack's eyes. Either way, Simon hadn't believed Jack was capable of either emotion. "You comin', Ralph?" the blonde boy asked again.
"Sure" Ralph agreed as his eyes locked with Simon's. "Have fun with the guys" he said to Simon as he grabbed his zip-up hoodie off his desk chair and joined Jack in the doorway.
"Thanks" Simon said softly as he watched Jack sling his arm around Ralph's shoulder as the two disappeared from the doorway.
A few hours later, Simon and Sam walked through the main hall on their way to the dining hall to grab a late night snack. Simon spotted Ralph and Jack sitting at a coffee table next to the fireplace. Jack was playing against a 7th grade boy Simon didn't know by name. Ralph sat at Jack's side and watched the game play out. Roger was also among the group of boys who crowded around the chess board. Simon led the way as he and Sam passed through without Ralph or any of the other boys noticing.
Ralph didn't get back to his and Simon's room until after 2300 that night. Simon was doing push-ups on the floor with headphones over his ears when Ralph quietly pushed the door open in case his friend was sleeping. Simon glanced up at him and dropped onto the floor on his stomach like a pancake.
"Hey" Ralph said, plopping down onto his bed.
"Hey" Simon replied as he removed his headphones from his ears. "How was the game?"
"Intense" Ralph answered honestly. "Whatcha been up to?"
"Catching up, training, y'know" Simon said through heavy pants. "How's Jack? and Roger?"
"They're fine, glad to be back in school I think" Ralph responded awkwardly as he began to undress to change into his pyjamas.
"Can I ask you something, honestly?" Simon said after a few moments of silence.
"Course" Ralph agreed as he pulled his pyjama shirt over his head of brown curls.
"Do you think Jack will make a good lieutenant colonel?"
"I believe he will be" Ralph answered after a moment of thought. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I worry" Simon admitted.
"Bout what?"
"Jack. He's not the most level headed person I know" Simon claimed. "And he treats half the squad like friends and the rest of us like scum."
"He has a good head on his shoulders, Si. I swear it. He just likes to kick back and have fun sometimes. There's nothing wrong with that, we are kids after all" Ralph defended his friend.
"Yeah, but we're also cadets. And I worry about training in on the base in Menwith Hill with him as lieutenant colonel. What if something happens?" Simon suggested.
"What would happen?" Ralph wondered.
"I don't know. Two cadets can't get along, or a physical fight breaks out, or someone gets hurt. I don't think Jack is a very helpful person to have around in situations like that. And without 24/7 adult supervision on the trip, I worry. That's all" Simon explained.
"Captain Benson will be there" Ralph reminded Simon, "and so will I. I know Jack messes around a lot, sometimes at other people's expense... but when it comes down to it, when it really counts, I think Jack would do the right thing."
"I'm not so sure about that."