Shawn sat next to River in their first class of the day – Physics. Not at all surprising, Ian Brooks chose to sit on the other side of the room from the two, although he was forced to move when the physics instructor told them they were to sit with their platoons. Since most of Shawn's platoon had arranged themselves around River and Shawn already – undoubtedly drawn to River's sunny character, Ian was forced to move over to join them instead of them moving over to join him. He kept his annoyance pretty much to himself, though, and sat down behind Shawn.

The Physics instructor was no stranger to Shawn. Lieutenant Rett was the boy's student advisor and Shawn had had a few discussions with him in the past few weeks leading up to the start of the term. Mainly about the possibility of teasing or ridiculing – which Brooks was a prime example of, although he was the only one so far who had been too vocal about Shawn's age. Other topics had included what subjects the young man should take, what would be expected of him in the first weeks, what kind of extra curricular activities were available to first year cadets, that sort of thing. And also reminding him that if he needed anything, he was the one to come to.

Shawn listened as the course goals were outlined to the cadets, but he wasn't worried. He was good at physics and all the other sciences and maths. Thor and the other Asgard had given him a very solid grounding in them – among other subjects – and he knew that academically there was no way he was going to wash out of the academy. Despite his earlier joke about knowing who to come to if he needed help with his homework, River didn't seem to be worried about the curriculum, either, Shawn noticed. The blonde cadet was taking notes, but he was also doodling on his paper – a sure sign of relaxation.

When the bell rang an hour and a half later, Shawn was more than ready to get up and walk around. He was a little stiff from running laps without stretching and warming up first, and he could use the chance to work out those sore leg muscles.

"Mr. Adams, a word if you would," Lieutenant Rett said as he dismissed the others to their next class. River and a few of the others looked over at him, curiously, and Shawn nodded.

"Want me to wait?" River asked.

"Nah. Just save me a seat."

Shawn worked his way against the throng of bigger cadets all heading for the door, and came down to stand in front of Lieutenant Rett, who was a twenty-seven year old with a build like a prizefighter. The Lieutenant waited until the last of the students had filed out, then looked down at him.

"Bit of trouble on the parade ground this morning?"

Shawn shrugged, and realized that wasn't going to be good enough of an answer for the Lieutenant. It'd work with his mother, but not here.

"No, Sir... just... a misunderstanding."

"One you dealt with fairly easily, from what I hear."

Shawn nodded, feeling as if he'd been caught doing something wrong.

"It wasn't serious, sir." He said. "Just blowing off some steam, I guess."

"We prefer the cadets here don't blow off steam on each other, Adams."

"Yes, Sir."

Rett shrugged, a hint of a smile on his face.

"We don't like our cadets to allow themselves to be pushed around, either, though." The lieutenant said. "So if there are anymore... misunderstandings... feel free to deal with them. Just remember that there will always be a consequence for your actions."

"Yes, Sir."

"You're dismissed to your next class."

"Yes, Sir."

Shawn turned and headed out the door, and almost ran into River and the rest of the platoon – sans Brooks, who he could see heading down the hall already.

"Did you get in trouble?"

Shawn shook his head.

"He just asked me about what happened earlier."

"He should have asked Brooks," Eric Wells said. Eric was a slender black man, who Shawn now knew was from Ellensburg, Washington. "He's the one that started it."

"Or me," River said as the group started down the hall. "I was just as guilty as you were. Probably more so."

Shawn shrugged.

"It's no big deal. I didn't get into trouble, I just got a warning."

"I still should have gotten one, too..."

"I'll share it with you next time," Shawn promised.

The others smiled, and a few minutes later filed in to their next class – Biology. Brooks was already sitting in a seat, and the rest of the platoon walked over and arranged themselves in the chairs around him. He looked almost surprised that they didn't force him to move by sitting somewhere else, but he didn't say anything and neither did Shawn or River. They and the rest of the class were all attentive as the instructor called them to order and then began to outline his own syllabus.

Again, this wasn't going to be a tough class for Shawn. Genetics was pretty easy for him, and biology wasn't as hard as Genetics. Of course, the classes would get tougher as the year went on, but for now he'd be fine. Obviously, he wasn't the only one thinking this, since when the bell rang and they were dismissed to the lunchroom, River made a relieved noise as they were clearing out of the classroom.

"This doesn't seem to be as bad as I thought it was going to be," he told them.

Shawn nodded, and the motion was echoed by several others in the platoon – all of whom were still together, since Brooks – who was the only who showed a preference to be away from the group – hadn't managed to find a clear area to escape the group through.

"It's going to get harder..." One of the others warned. "My friend looked it up on the Internet, and she said it was hard."

"Doesn't seem too hard so far." Said Eric, shrugging. Shawn nodded his agreement.

"It'll get harder," Brooks agreed. "Don't kid yourselves. Half of you are going to wash out the first year."

"Well, thank you Mr. Positive," River growled, throwing Ian a look that plainly said he'd be better off to keep his mouth shut. River wasn't the only one to scowl at Brooks. The rest of the platoon looked as if they'd rather he'd have made his escape and left them alone with their conversation.

"Hey, I'm just telling you the way it-"

"Why don't you shut the hell up?"

Ian colored, and scowled.

"Why don't you make me, Stream?"

River rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah... I've never heard that one before... gee, thanks for being so freaking clever... Brooks." He stepped up to the other cadet, and Shawn wasn't the only one to step between the two before something could happen. Eric rested his hand against Brooks' chest, and Shawn and Theresa did the same to River.

"Easy, you guys..." Shawn said. "I've already had one warning today. I don't want to set a school record my first day of class."

"Stay away from me, Hayden," Brooks warned, pushing Eric away from him. "You're asking for it."

"You going to give it to me?"

"I'd be glad to."

"Yeah? Bring it-"

"What do we have here?"

They all turned at the sound of the cool voice, and Shawn wasn't the only cadet to groan inwardly. The Lieutenant Colonel was walking towards them, his sharp gaze resting on the small cluster of students that were standing still in a hall that was otherwise filled with bustling people.

"Shit..."