Every night before he laid in his half of the bunk Evan tried to count the stars and imaged that somewhere his parents were doing the same. He had gotten the idea from a movie they were allowed to watching during a particularly bad rainstorm, about a mouse that lost his family but never gave up hope they'd find each other again. Sure it was just a movie, animated movie with talking rodents and that, still it gave Evan hope. Some nights when the others entered the room from the two bathrooms they'd throw things at him, yell either at or about him, never would one ask gently his reasons for staring into the darkness, no one cared. Evan didn't care much either.

"It's lights out freak." Someone yells from across the room as Evan turns from the window with a soft whisper of goodbye before climbing underneath the light blanket, the room soon does black. As a few of the boys whispers their conversations to each other he lauls himself to sleep, to a world where he is found loved and every like and dislike to make him unique is known.