all of this, James worried about Kyle, who hadn’t been himself since Zara had ordered him to leave.
‘You there, mate?’ James shouted, as he knocked on Kyle’s door.
He didn’t get an answer so he stepped inside. Kyle’s room was always neat, but now it was also bare, with just a few cardboard boxes stacked up by the window. James noticed that the bed had been stripped and the mattress flipped over. He couldn’t see his best friend, but he could hear the shower running in the bathroom and he pulled a sub-compact pistol out of his tracksuit top as he approached the bathroom door.
James quietly pushed down the handle and was pleased to find the door unlocked. It was hard to see through the steam swirling out of the shower cubicle as he crept inside, gun in hand.
‘Stick ’em up,’ James shouted, as he ripped back the shower curtain.
But it wasn’t Kyle that yelped.
‘What the hell?’ Kevin Sumner shouted, as he dropped his shampoo bottle and covered his privates with his hands.
‘Sorry,’ James said, almost as shocked as Kevin. ‘I thought you were Kyle. What are you doing in here?’
‘We all got back from training this morning,’ Kevin explained. ‘Everyone wanted one of the newer rooms up on the eighth floor, but I had to go in the loo and by the time I got upstairs they’d all been snaffled. But Kyle’s so neat that this room is almost as good.’
James saw Kevin’s grey T-shirt hanging on the towel rail and reached out to shake his hand. ‘Congrats,’ James said. ‘I guess we’re neighbours then. I’m directly across the hall.’
Kevin was dripping and he shivered as he shook James’ hand.
‘I hope there’s no hard feelings about what happened in the jungle the other night,’ Kevin said.
James waved his hand across his face. ‘It’s not like I would have acted any different in your shoes. How was Kazakov after I left?’
‘Brutal, exactly like you’d expect,’ Kevin shrugged. ‘But now it’s over I hardly care. I want a mission. And then there’s the absolute best thing about being a grey-shirt.’
James was curious. ‘What’s that?’
Kevin smiled. ‘You were never a red-shirt, were you?’
‘Nope. I was twelve when I joined CHERUB so I went straight into basic training.’
‘I’ve finally got my own bath and shower,’ Kevin explained. ‘It’s communal over in the junior block and you always end up with some six-year-old trying to climb into your bath, or some joker lobbing cups of cold water at you.’
‘I can see that would get on your tits,’ James nodded. ‘Though you might want to consider bolting the door next time.’
‘Yeah,’ Kevin nodded.
‘So, do you know where Kyle is? He’s been miserable and I’m worried about him.’
‘I think he’s driving the last of his clothes over to Meryl’s house. He said he’d help me to move my stuff out of the junior block when he got back.’
‘Right,’ James said, as he put the gun back in his pocket. ‘And sorry about this …’
As James backed out of the bathroom he realised that if Kevin was home then Dana must be too. But as he headed towards Dana’s room, Kyle emerged from the lift holding a cardboard box loaded with Kevin’s stuff.
‘Hey,’ James said. ‘What’s with your room?’
‘I gave it to Kevin.’
‘I saw that. But Zara said you can stay until Sunday.’
Kyle looked sad as he shook his head. ‘I’m moving out today.’
‘No,’ James gasped. ‘Saturday night’s your big leaving party. Everyone on campus is gonna be there and I know for a fact that Kerry and some of the others are getting you a prezzie.’
‘I’m not coming,’ Kyle said. ‘I told you I don’t want a big fuss.’
‘Give over, everyone has a leaving party.’
‘Well, I’ve got nowhere to sleep now I’ve let Kevin have my room.’
‘Bunk on my floor,’ James shrugged. ‘Hell, you can have my bed if it means you stick around for the party.’
But Kyle turned angry. ‘Stop going on, James. I just want to get out of here.’
And then Kyle sniffed, which made James feel sad and awkward at the same time. ‘I’d give you a hug if you weren’t holding that box,’ James said, as a tear welled up in his own eye. ‘The sixth floor’s not gonna be the same when you’re gone.’
Kyle took the hint and put the box down so that James could embrace him.
‘I’ll miss you,’ James said, pulling Kyle in close and slapping him on the back.
‘Miss you too,’ Kyle said, as a tear streaked down his