The Maplethorn Initiative (Book 1, The Maplethorn Series)

The First Tingle

February gave way to March as winter continued its slow melt into spring. The grass in the yard was still brown, and the trees were still bare, but the days were growing longer, and the sunshine felt warm again.

Cam dropped his backpack on top of a picnic table and straddled the metal bench. "I can't believe how nice it is this weekend!" he exclaimed. "It's almost like summer."

Tober lowered himself onto the opposite bench and tucked his hands under his arms. "You and I have a very different idea of summer."

"Whatever. You're just cold because you're skinny now."

"I am?"

Cam nodded appreciatively. "They could fit two of you in that uniform."

"I suppose maybe I have lost a little weight," Tober admitted, tugging at the front of his jacket.

"Maybe double PT is a good thing?"

"You bite your tongue, mister!"

"All right," Cam laughed. "Hey, do you have to go see Dr. Bensen next week?"

"Mrs. Dr. Bensen or Mr. Dr. Bensen?"

Cam shrugged. "Either."

"Yeah. Missus."

"Me too. I thought we'd be done by now. How many times can she keep asking us the same questions?"

"I know!" Tober planted his elbows on the tabletop and began gesturing with his hands. "But she did something different this week. She usually just wants to know how I'm doing in the Reds—if I feel overwhelmed and stuff—but this time, she kept asking about my family and why I'm here."

"Yeah, me too," Cam said. "It's like she was trying to make me mad on purpose."

"Did you go off on her?"

"No."

"Not even one of your famous Cameron Drexler eye rolls?"

"Nope," Cam answered, shaking his head. "Everything was fine or okay. And I save all of my eye-rolls for you."

"I told her the same thing," Tober drawled. "I guess it was the right answer since we're both still here."

"I guess."

Tober glanced over his right shoulder, making sure they were alone. "What do you think about Liam?"

"What do you mean?" Cam asked, frowning at the question.

"Doesn't he seem different to you?"

"I talked to him about that the other day."

"You did?"

"I saw some of his papers lying around and complimented him on his grades," Cam explained. "I just asked what he was doing differently."

"You mean why he's not dumb anymore?"

"I phrased it a little differently, but yeah," Cam said, tapping his thumbs together. "Burke told me it used to be hard to motivate himself to do stuff, but now once he starts doing something, he doesn't want to stop. He said it happens when he's doing homework and when he's at the gym. He also said it happened once when he was getting ready for inspection. I guess he started polishing his shoes, and before he knew it, he'd polished the whole floor too."

"That is weird," Tober admitted. "But I guess it's better than when he used to get mad and punch things. And our floor has never looked better!"

"I don't know, Tobe," Cam said. "Sometimes, getting mad is what motivates me to do stuff. If I never got upset about anything, I'd probably spend my whole life just lying around."