Let's get one thing straight: the outside exercise area at the cadet academy isn't a playground.

It's real shit, and I'd been running it for years. The minimum age to be an army cadet was 12, and I'd been here officially for almost a year now, but Dad had let me come and "play" since I was a little kid, the advantage of being the son of a Colonel and a Major.

Unfortunately for literally everyone, Stryker Phillips had also been here since we were little. Our Dads had been best friends since their days as junior cadets, and Stryker and I had been pretty much forced into being brothers since we were born --two fucking days apart. He held those 48 hours over my head every. Single. Day. I was supposed to be the older one anyway! But of course he had to make a fuss, even when he wasn't even born, and scream his way out two days before me. Whatever. I'm better than him at everything anyway.

The course was simple. Well, simple for those who knew how to run it. None of the other boys at the academy could do it perfectly, not even the third years. It was an obstacle course that only practice could ensure safety of. It was super dangerous, with high jumping points and nets and tires and ropes and balance beams 20 feet in the air and the best part --shooting targets. The first years weren't allowed to use real guns or real bullets yet which sucked ass, but the paint balls we use really hurt if you got hit. Or so I've heard. I never get hit.

It was after school when the competition was set to take place, and all the first years had gathered outside by the course to watch. Even some second and third years which was super cool. When I won I would get some serious cred.

And best of all --Samantha Tate. She was a year older than Stryker than I, and her Dad was also friends with ours so we had grown up with her too. She wasn't into army stuff though, more like pink princesses and dolls and all that girly shit, so she wasn't in cadet training. Her Dad taught some classes here though, and on Fridays after her school ended her Dad brought her to the academy, which meant that today she was here to watch me take Stryker down. She was standing with the rest of the boys in our year, ignoring how all of them were practically drooling over her. This was an all-boys academy, so we rarely got to even see girls. And I didn't blame any of them, she was super pretty. Long golden blonde hair, freckles, these beautiful blue-green eyes. She was perfect. The only problem was that Stryker wanted her too. We'd been fighting over her attention since we could crawl.

The two of us were oozing adrenaline and excitement, and my muscles were twitching, raring to go on this fine day for kicking ass. The New Jersey sky was clear blue, the sun was shining, and the course looked deliciously inviting.

I stared up ahead at the elaborate series of wooden beams and metal bars that formed the middle part of the course, trying to imagine exactly where I would place my feet to maximize my speed. I stretched my elbow in the air over my head in a bicep stretch when Stryker elbowed me in the side.

"Thinking about giving up?" The blond snapped.

"You wish," I snorted.

The crowd around us were chattering and passing something around that I couldn't see. I looked closer and spotted a small clear bag with some round white pills inside.

"What are those?" I squinted.

"Mine," Stryker smirked, snatching the bag back to himself from the hands of all the curious boys on the concrete that rimmed the bark chips under the course.

"Where did you get them?" I asked.

"None of your beeswax Andrews. You're just jealous."

"I'm not jealous," I said firmly, though I felt my cheeks warm a bit, "I just want to know what they are."

"It's a secret."

"You don't know, do you?" I supposed dryly.

"Doesn't matter!" He glared his puke-green eyes at me. "They're mine."

"Stryker, you know I hate your guts, but don't eat those," I warned. "You don't know what they could do to you."

"Aw, scared are you?" Stryker snickered and made a nasty face at me.

Why did I bother warning him? It's not like I really cared whether he lived or died. "No!"

"I got an idea," the blond boy announced. He flashed the baggy to the crowd. "We race for these!" There was an appreciative cry from the boys around us. Samantha rolled her eyes and looked bored.

"I don't want those," I scrunched up my nose. "I don't know what they are."

"Since when did you become a girl?"

"I'm not a girl!"

"Well you sure act like one."

"Just because I'm being cautious doesn't make me a girl."

"You're soft," Stryker flashed me his teeth in a snarl.

"Fine," I snapped. "We race for your fucking pill things." It wasn't a very glorious loot, but we both knew the grand prize was Sam anyway. And besides, if I win I can destroy those pills so no one eats them and experiences whatever the hell they do to you. We learned about mysterious substances in health class and those powdery white pills didn't look too friendly.

I spat in my hand and held it out to him. The blond in front of me copied my gesture and we shook. "You're going down," I glared at him.

"You first bitch."

Oh it was on.

The two of us lined up at the startline, and I took one last look over at Sam before getting down in a ready position.

"3...2...1--

Stryker took off before Trevor even said go. "Hey!" I yelled after him.

"Eat my dust Andrews!"

"Cheater!" I bolted forwards and after him. When I got to the rope net Stryker was already five feet up and I scrambled to catch him. I contemplated yanking his feet out of their position but I wanted to win this fair and square. The cheering of the boys around me bolstered my confidence and I scaled the net and got to the top at the same time Stryker did. I dashed forward towards the singular balance beam that connected the net to the ropes 20 feet in front of us, beating Stryker to it and running along as quick as I could, one foot in front of the other and with my hands out for balance.

Suddenly a force came from behind me and shoved me off to the side of the beam. I gasped and managed to grab the beam with one hand before I could plummet to the ground.

"Gotta be quicker than that!" Stryker smirked from above me. He stepped on my fingers where they were desperately clutching the wooden beam, and took off towards the end. I dug in with my nails to keep myself on and growled while he got ahead by cheating like a little bitch again. I glanced down and over at the crowd laughing at me, and Sam standing off to the side with her mouth wide open. Well, at least I had gotten her attention for once.

I grabbed the beam with my other hand and started forward again with my hands, swinging my legs to go faster until I got to the platform on the other side.

Next were the ropes that we had to swing to and from like monkeys on jungle vines. Stryker was on the third rope out of seven.

I ran and jumped onto the second thick rope, and then started climbing up it as opposed to jumping to the next one. It was just a few feet until I got to the top beam that all the ropes were attached to, and I pulled myself to sit on top of it. It was thinner than the balance beam we had just walked across, and higher. Carefully I got to my feet, for once trying to tune out the cheers of the boys beneath me who were about to witness either my biggest or most embarrassing feat yet.

I held my arms straight out to my sides and inched forward, one foot in front of the other, focusing on my boots and not the bark chips 30 feet below me. Soon I got the hang of it and started taking bigger steps quicker, and I got to the end and jumped off onto the platform about six feet below it, doing a front flip for good measure and landing on my feet.

"Cheater!" Stryker yelled from two ropes behind me.

"Oops," I smirked at him, before jumping off the platform and scaling my way down the long and elaborate wooden structure that led down to the ground part of the obstacle course.

I knew this part like the back of my hand, effortlessly jumping and sliding my way down each wooden bar and the crisscrossed netting and monkey bars until my feet hit the ground and I sprinted off to the next bit. I threw myself onto my stomach and started inching under the wooden bars by my forearms. I heard Stryker hit the bark chips behind me and grunt as he also clawed his way forward to the next part --the walls.

I quickly got to my feet and ran towards the first wooden wall, jumping up to catch my hands on the top of it and quickly pull myself up. I had swung one leg over the top of the wall when Stryker shoved me again and I fell off and landed on my side.

"Cheater!" He snickered as he leapt over me and to the next wall.

"You cheated first!" I yelled as I jumped to my feet and climbed over the second wall a millisecond behind him.

We ran to the second-to-last part of the course and started climbing up the long ropes that led up to another beam. Balanced on it were two paintball rifles, made to shoot at the targets a dozen yards away. I got to the top just before Stryker and pulled myself to sit on the beam, snatching up the rifle and preparing to aim it at the red and blue targets.

Suddenly there was a force jamming into my chest and I tipped off to the side. I barely managed to catch my gun before it fell to the ground, and I clung on for dear life upside down, with my calves crossed tightly around the beam so I didn't plummet 20 feet and crack my head open like an egg. My anger boiled at Stryker's sickening howl of laughter before he aimed his gun at the target.

I gritted my teeth and also aimed my rifle at the target. I didn't have time to right myself, so with my calves burning I lined up the top of the long gun with my eye and stared through the crossed viewfinder. My finger tenderly gripped the trigger and I tried to slow my swinging and stop my trembling in fear of being upside down from such a height. Steadily I squinted with laser precision and then pulled the trigger.

The splotch of red paint hit dead center of my target.

"Yes!" I let my gun go and it fell to the ground. "Fuck you Phillips!"

Stryker lowered his gun and stared with shock at the goddamn perfect shot I had made while fucking upside down.

I bent backwards until my hands found the rope and then I uncrossed my ankles and dropped from the beam, my chest hitting the rope right side up again. Stryker took his shot, swore, and shot again, but I didn't check to see if it had hit as I climbed down the rope as quick as I could without skinning my hands. My army boots hit the bark chips and I turned and sprinted to where the bark chips met the concrete.

The crowd of first years swarmed me and slugged me in the arm and patted me on the back and ruffled my hair in the typical boyish congratulatory manner.

Stryker stalked over to me and spat at my feet. "Cheater."

"You cheated first!" I called.

He glared at me and swept his sweating blond locks out his face.

I smirked and glanced around for Sam. She was standing a bit away from the crowd of clamoring cadets, running her hands through her golden blonde hair and not really paying attention to me or Stryker.

I took a deep breath and walked over to her. "Hey Sam. Did you like the show?"

"Mmm," she didn't sound convinced, but did give me a small smile. "You scared me a little at the end."

I grinned as I felt my insides bubble at her pretty smile. "What can I say, I'm dangerous," I winked.

She smiled again and her blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight. Wow she was pretty.

The adrenaline was still coursing through my veins, so I took the opportunity.

I was just about to ask her if she wanted to hang out sometime, when a voice boomed over everyone.

"What is this?" Corporal Matthews demanded. The head of the academy had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was standing among the crowd of boys. In his raised hand was the small clear bag of pills.

Everyone went silent.

"Well?" The Corporal glared around at all of us. His sharp gaze made every boy either look down at their shoes or up at some random point in the sky.

"Who's are they?" Annoyance started to creep into his tone.

Stryker had his arms crossed and was still fixing a menacing squint at me.

"If no one fesses up you're all running until nightfall," Corporal Matthews glowered.

The faces of the cadets started to look worried and they glanced between Stryker and I.

I bit my tongue in contemplation. Corporal Matthews was infamous for his running drills and I didn't want everyone to literally die when he had us all do them.

I stepped forward. "They're mine, sir."

Inside my boiling rage was getting overpowered by an intense wave of dread. I had been caught with drugs. Was the Corporal going to kick me out of the academy? Is he going to tell my Dad? My Mom? Would they get in trouble for raising such a bad kid? What would they say about it? Would they hate me? Would they take me out of the academy themselves? Should I tell the truth and rat on Stryker? God I hope they don't kick me out, I love it here, this was one of the best army cadet programs in the country! How else was I supposed to become great soldiers like my parents if I didn't go here!

"My office," the Corporal glared down at me. "Now."

I gulped.

He pocketed the baggie and stalked off to his office and I reluctantly made my feet move and followed him with my face burning in shame. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Stryker talking to Sam with his hand on her shoulder. They were inches apart and she was laughing at something he had said.

He made eye contact with me and smirk crept up his face, before he saluted me with a wink.

That bitch.

/

I munched happily on the sandwich Seymour had traded me. He owns the best pizza shop in Chicago, but no one knew it since it was on the South Side and no restaurant critics ever suppose anything down here is of any merit value. But Seymour was pretty cool, giving me sandwiches in exchange for license plates I stole off of parked cars. He told me to never ask why he wanted them, and I never did. Mrs. Lawrence says they're for car scams.

I dangled my feet off the roof of the parking garage on 7th, happily swinging my legs in sequence as I watched the busting city below me and ate the grilled cheese. The wind wasn't too blistering today, even from up here, and it blended with the whistling engines of cars and incessant horns of angry drivers.

Ew. Here comes those Calabreses on their drug rounds. I knew what the gang members looked like, talked like, even walked like by now. Oh and also where they liked to punch. The pain in my gut whenever I spoke reminded me of that. And even if I didn't know all that, a man dressed in all black just standing on a street corner isn't suspicious at all. I watched as, like expected, another man came up to him and they quickly exchanged a packet for a wad of cash.

I was 10 stories up, and my eyesight was pretty good, and for a moment I saw something sparkle in the package before the buyer shoved it into his jacket pocket.

Eh. Not my business. The bruises they'd planted on me had bloomed overnight and now I was practically purple.

I continued eating my sandwich and examining the whirlwind of life below me. Across the street from where the drug trade just took place was Ms. Rivera selling her handmade bracelets. The 25 year-old gave me one once for free because she thought I was cute, but it fell off my wrist when I vaulted off a dumpster running away from a man who's wallet I stole. I felt really bad about losing it (not about taking the man's wallet, he was a rich asshole who I'd seen hassling the girls who worked at the club on 144th) so sometimes I keep her company and get her hair brushes and nailpolish from the drugstore. She taught me how to braid hair and how to be nice to girls.

A man came up to her corner and stared down at the array of colorful cultural accessories and I could see Ms. Rivera begin her flawless flirtatious selling speech. Suddenly and without warning, the man snatched up the shoebox till she kept all the money in, and took off down the street.

I abandoned the rest of my sandwich and bolted towards the stairs to get down from the garage. I jumped down each flight as quick as I could, ignoring the leftover pain in my ankle, then sprinted after the perp.

On the opposite side of the street I saw him pushing and shoving people in his haste to get away. I was smaller and quicker and leaner and I dodged the people who were in my way, until I saw the thief turn the corner and start running south.

I wasted no time and bolted out across the busy road.

Probably not the wisest decision, but I had done it before and hadn't died. Yet. I skidded over hoods and climbed over the roof of a cab and safely (for me) got to the other side and sprinted down the same street the perp had. I spotted his buzzed head farther down the block. He'd stopped running and instead had the shoebox tucked under one arm. I didn't slow for a second, continuing running and poking it out of his grasp so it flew out into the air, jumped up and caught it, then kept sprinting.

"Hey!" I heard him yell. "You little shit!" His feet started pounding the pavement and I quickened my pace.

I didn't look back but I heard shouts of aggravated complaints from civilians as the man ran after me, no doubt carelessly shoving people. I skidded around the corner of 5th and Franklin, knowing there was an alley that led back a street on this avenue.

I vaulted off one of the benches and onto the awning of the flower store that was there and then onto the window sill of the apartments above it.

The man stood beneath me and sneered. "You got nowhere to go," he laughed. "What you gonna do now, thief?!"

I held the box close to me with one hand and jumped.

The man was completely unexpecting as I crashed directly on top of him, my feet hitting each of his shoulders and knocking him right to the ground. As soon as he fell I leapt off him and kept running. With his wallet in the box now too.

I didn't lift my head up as quick as I should've and I accidentally shoved between two men on my way past. "Sorry!" I cried. All I saw was that one was wearing a red shirt and the other a blue one.

"What's in the box?" I heard one of them call out after me but I kept running. "Hey! Hey what's in that box?"

I leapt over a metal garbage can, kicking back my heel as I did so that it toppled over. I heard clanging, and when I looked behind me I saw the two guys I had bumped into tripping over the garbage can and chasing after me.

You have got to be kidding me.

I started to feel winded as I rounded the corner down McDouglas Ave. I pressed my back against the wall and when the two men came round the corner I tripped one up and kicked the other in the groin and then kept sprinting.

I saw the alleyway to the left up ahead. I turned down it and quickly threw the box onto the fire escape grate that was right there, then ran and jumped to catch the last pole on the ladder and pulled myself up, yanking the ladder up after me so the men couldn't follow.