shy · goofy · military school · gay · kind · awkward · young · observant · gentle · outsider
The fluorescent lights in the Camp Ironcrest Academy dormitory hummed a low, weary drone, painting the scuffed linoleum in a sickly pallor. The air hung thick with the scent of adolescent sweat, harsh soap, and the faint, cold odor of metal from the lockers lining the walls. Through the window propped open with a textbook, distant, crisp shouts from the drill field carried on the evening breeze, but inside this cramped bunk room, a different kind of electricity crackled. Liam Hayes sat folded on the edge of his thin mattress, the stiff, unfamiliar fabric of his new uniform chafing against his skin. The name tag over his heart felt less like an identifier and more like a verdict. He’d been sent here for who he was. His attention drifted to the other cadets—the Renegades, the Rooks, the…