A/N: Here's another chapter for you to enjoy. I'm not going to update every day, it's more like whenever I can…it's unpredictable! By the way, I said Mort was eight in chapter one, but he's actually TEN years old, sorry for the confusion. Your feature presentation begins now…

As Kenny predicted, most of the class didn't really care. Mr. Campbell caused the class to erupt into laughter when he introduced Private by saying that sadly Andre had to return home, but his identical twin that is just like him is here to replace him.

Their history teacher was curious, but accepted Private's reason of wanting to be independent. She said that she too expressed a name change when she was younger and also got her ears pierced without her parents' permission. She told him that her parents soon accepted that she wanted independence and helped her become a teacher.

The Science teacher was harder to convince as she asked a million questions about why the sweet little boy was acting strange. Private told her that he'd gone through a tough time and grew from the experience. She resolved to accept this and told him she'd try to call him Private, but not write it on the roll sheet. She mainly called him Andre, but he didn't mind.

Kenny was correct about their PE teacher calling them by their last names so Private decided not to bother him with it. He knew their faces by then and could tell which student was not there.

Private's English teacher refused to call him by his new name. She was worried that he might be sick or something might be wrong because of an abrupt change. He calmed her down by smiling and telling her that it was just a new name he wanted to try out. She kept a close watch on him, still refusing to call him Private.

Study hall really didn't care what you were called as long as the tutors and the teacher supervising could be of help.

Allie had accepted this without question.

"Why?"

"Well, now our initials spell park." Allie answered when Kenny asked.

"Huh?"

"Private, Allie, Ramona, and Kenny. PARK." She said.

Ramona grinned. "Yup, I think that's awesome!" she said. "Now I don't have any other reason to question you."

"Hang on, are we forgetting someone?" Allie asked.

Kenny groaned. "Did you hear-?"

"Yes I heard and I was very upset with him." Allie said. "However, he confided in me his side of the story and I think you should give him another chance."

"Does he know what happened to Rico?" Private said. "He bled on me…I was terrified…I thought he wasn't going to make it…"

"Barry told us the truth a week ago." Kenny said. "If it's true then it's my fault too."

"It's more his fault." Ramona growled. "He wrote it, but he doesn't deserve what that jerk said to him Friday night."

"What?" Private said. "What happened?"

"These nasty jerks cornered Barry after dinner and called him so many nasty things that I thought Eggy was going to have dents in his head because I was covering his ears so tightly."

"So that's why he was rubbing his ears." Kenny said.

"Yeah, I don't know what we should do about Barry." Ramona looked over to the boy who was staring at his book. "Is he even studying?"

"No, I passed back the History quiz from last Friday and he did terribly. I pretended to be confused, but I know it was him. You guys did well; even Andre got a B even though he'd been worrying about Rico. Barry just failed. And I know he knew the answers. He'd gotten the review questions correct when we were doing a group review. I only had to help him with three things."

"And he finished really fast." Ramona said. "You don't think he failed on purpose, do you?"

"I don't know. How was he in English class?" Allie said.

"We don't have the same English class." Private said.

"Same here." Ramona said.

"He takes English at the same time that Andr-uh-Private and I take Science." Kenny said.

The four of them watched Barry for a while. He never looked up.

"Have you seen him in the dining hall recently?" Ramona asked.

"Yes, he gets dressed really fast and eats at a corner table where barely anyone can see him." Kenny said. "He hasn't spoken to me in ages. Izzy says to relax and when it's time then the time will come that we shall come back to terms with him. Leonard doesn't want to talk to Barry or see Rico."

"Izzy is weird." Ramona said. "He is so nice, but I have to wonder sometimes if his parents dropped him on the head when he was a baby."

"I have a question." Private piped up.

"Shoot." Kenny said.

"What's up between Julien and that girl…what's her name?"

"Nat?" Allie asked. Private nodded and the girls giggled.

Kenny tried to hide a snicker.

"Yes, her." Private said.

"Well, you'd have to ask Kowalski or Nat for the full story, but Julien's hopelessly in love with her over something that happened. I don't know exactly what happened because I wasn't there. You can also ask Marlene." Kenny said.

"We don't know either; we just think Julien was crazy. You also have to ask Kowalski about Izzy." Ramona said.

"No, you can ask him." Allie said. "Or you can ask Kenny."

Kenny blushed. "Izzy is super nice because he doesn't want to show his mean side."

"He has a mean side?" Private asked.

"I've seen it once and it was when my brother was in second grade. They were eight and I was five." Kenny took a deep breath. "Some kid was pushing Kowalski around and Nat got angry. Yeah, Nat was there. Nat tried defending Kowalski and ended up getting punched by the bigger kid, I think he was a fifth grader. Anyway, Izzy flipped out and I have no idea what happened, but the boy ended up face down on the grass and covered in mud with his hands held behind his back by Izzy."

"Oh dear." Allie said.

"Then what happened?" Private asked.

"Izzy smiled like nothing happened and said 'Now I don't know about you, but I feel much better. Let's not fight.' And then he walked away."

"He just walked away?"

"Yes sir, he did. I don't remember if he got into trouble for it because he moved to New York a week later and I didn't get a chance to ask him. If the bigger kid was upset, he didn't complain. All I know is that my brother and Nat were not bothered by him from then on. Maybe the kid had a revelation or maybe he was afraid that Izzy would come back or possibly he was embarrassed by having his butt kicked by a second grader."

The other three stared at Kenny with their mouths open.

"Unbelievable, right?" Kenny said. "One moment he was a tiny second grader who hated bullying and violence of any sort, the next moment he had a giant fifth grader pinned to the grassy ground of the soccer field. And trust me when I say giant. The big guy was tall and a bit wide. All three of them could easily have used him for shade from the sun. And Izzy was tiny for a second grader. He wasn't super skinny, but he was short. He could have passed for a six year old. He was a few inches taller than me and I was tall for my age. Both of us could have been just entering first grade."

"Both you and Kowalski were tall five year olds." Private said.

"Yup, most people thought we might be fraternal twins because we were less than a foot apart in height, but Kowalski started growing faster when he was ten and now he looks like he could be in eleventh or twelfth grade. He's taller than Rico." Kenny said.

"I noticed that, but Kowalski's only a freshman, right?" Private said.

"Yup, he's a little older than the class..." Kenny looked uncomfortable so Private turned to Ramona.

"Hey Ramona, how come you're not in seventh grade?" Private asked.

"My parents were going through a tough time and I couldn't start school until I was seven. Technically I went to Preschool, but my mom pulled me out before I got to Kindergarten. My brothers and I were in a Preschool/Kindergarten classroom for one year until I moved to first grade. I've always been older than the class, but I didn't get to skip grades until later, then I declined because my best friend was in the same grade. And that would be Allie here." Ramona said.

"I'm sorry you went through a tough time, but it's like fate." Private said. "We wouldn't have become good friends if you hadn't been delayed in getting to Kindergarten."

Ramona smiled sadly.

"Back to the topic of Barry." Allie said, looking back at Barry. He had closed his book and stared at the front cover as if it would give him the answer to life's mysteries.

"We should talk to him." Kenny said, picking up on the change of subject.

The four of them approached Barry. The boy seemed to stiffen and stare harder at his book.

"When I was four, I lost our dog." Ramona said. Barry shifted his gaze to the table. "My mom was taking a nap and my dad was at work and the babysitter wasn't due to come for another twenty minutes. I thought I could take Shadow on a walk by myself so I did. Unfortunately he was obsessed with the smell of meat and followed a Deli truck at top speed. Of course my four year old self couldn't hold on and he slipped out of my grip.

"I returned, splattered with dirt and tears to my home. My brothers were sleeping at the time, but my mom was awake and standing near the door. She told me that she woke up to take care of Eggy when she noticed I wasn't playing in my room. I told her what happened and we made lost dog posters. She made me be the one to tell my dad and brothers what happened. Dad was more upset that I didn't ask mom and that I had crossed the street without permission. My brothers were furious. Eggy didn't know what was happening because he was a few months old, but the other two did. For the longest time they refused to talk to me and they were even angrier when word of the dog showed up."

"Uh-oh." Private said.

"Yes, someone had seen our posters and a month later a dog turned up in their neighborhood. It had been hit by a speeding car. Mom kept telling us that at least it happened fast and he wasn't in extreme pain. The twins screamed, cried and howled at me. It was only when they started throwing things that mom and dad finally had to put a stop to this. They told the boys that it was an accident and that they were lucky that I hadn't been hit by a car when I was crossing the street. Samuel bitterly accepted this, but Bradley was stubborn and refused to talk to me for ages. Samuel was avoiding me a little too until he heard me talking to Eggy. He said that if I had to talk to a baby then it must really be bad for me. Not in that exact context because he was two, but something like that. Bradley eventually forgave me and realized that he'd rather have his sister and no dog than have both his sister and the dog dead."

Barry looked up at her. Ramona offered a smile. "I'm sorry I didn't let you explain yourself." She said.

"I'm sorry too." Allie said.

"Yeah." Kenny said. "I should have closed the computer the moment you got on it."

"I'm sorry, if I'd been faster-"

"Stop." Barry said hoarsely. Private closed his mouth. "You're apologizing for nothing. I am to blame, not you. Interesting story, but it has nothing to do with this situation."

"Yes it does, my brothers were furious, but over time they forgave me. I kept apologizing. They didn't even talk to me at Christmas that year. Well, Samuel said Merry Christmas, but Bradley pretended I wasn't there." Ramona said.

"Why are you forgiving me?" Barry asked.

"Well, not quite." Private said. "You still have a way to go before we can fully trust you again. But I don't want to see you hurt as well."

"We're your friends and we shouldn't abandon you." Allie said. "You know what you did is wrong and now you have to make amends. First off, you have to gain Rico's forgiveness. Second, don't shirk your work. I saw your test this morning, you are better than that. You got none of them right."

"I know." Barry said.

"Why did you do that? After all the time we spent in the group and in class, you could have easily passed."

Barry didn't answer.

"You have to gain forgiveness and start doing well again to be a member of PARK."

Barry looked up confusedly.

"Private, Allie, Ramona, and Kenny." Ramona explained.

"I take it Andre has accepted Skipper calling him Private?" Barry said.

"Yes." Private answered. "We can add you in the group once you've gotten respect and trust back."

"Park B?" Barry asked.

"We can be called that." Allie said.

"What can I do to gain trust again?"

"You can help Hunter with her 'Save the Antarctic Animals' campaign. She's actually part of a larger group in the city." Ramona said. "I can show you where it is."

"Alright, I'll help. I can draw stuff."

"Rico does that."

"He does?"

"Yup, Hunter's asked him plenty of times to create posters for her."

"Wow…I can't believe I never knew…"

"Rico's had a pretty tough childhood; you shouldn't judge him unless you've gotten to know him." Private said. "Though I'm not one to say that I know everything about him, but I do know that he had to work hard to raise money to come here."

"Can I ask him something? I want to know why the rumor is that he was involved in an explosion at the elementary school near his home. I think it has something to do with his mom."

"I don't know where you heard that rumor, but I'm sure it's not true." Ramona said. "After all, what basis can be put on-? Kenny, what are you doing?"

Kenny was clutching his stomach. "I think I ate something bad."

"Can you make it t-"

The question never finished as they jumped out of the way once Kenny retched.

"Kenny!" Barry said. "Dude, what happened?"

The class grumbled and got as far as possible from them. The teacher called a janitor and sent Kenny to the nurse's office. Barry and Private helped him there.

"What did you eat?" Private asked.

"I don't remember…" Kenny said weakly.

"Did you eat?" Barry wondered.

"The thing is…"

"Answer the question."

"A little. I had a tuna sandwich."

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Barry shouted, causing Kenny and Private to jump. "You know Monday tuna is TERRIBLE. I mean everyone knows that, it's called tuna surprise Monday, remember? Tuesday tuna is better, but Monday is 'tuna' surprise. They call it tuna, but I'm not even sure that's what it is, I swear it growled at me the first time I got it. That's the only thing wrong with this cafeteria…you should have just gotten a salad or a hamburger, you know, something that doesn't try to kill your digestive system."

Kenny didn't respond. They entered the nurse's office to find Kowalski there. He was laying on a bed, staring at the ceiling.

"You ate the tuna too, huh?" The nurse said. "Third case I've gotten today. The other two went home. It's Wheeler, right?"

"Taro." Barry corrected, "I'm Wheeler."

"Really?" Private said.

Barry nodded. They placed Kenny on a bed.

"What're you doing here?" Kenny asked, spotting his brother.

"I might have…er…fainted a little." Kowalski muttered. "What about you?"

"Mr. Iron Stomach forgot about 'tuna' surprise Monday." Barry snorted. "Honestly, they should rename it, 'eat it if you can' Monday."

Private smiled.

"And you? Why are you here?" Kowalski asked.

Barry looked down at his feet. "Helping…not that I'm good at it."

"Can anyone actually eat the tuna?" Private asked.

"Rico." Kowalski replied. "Rico's the only one who has ever kept it down with ease."

"Now that's an iron stomach."

"Yeah, I tried once…the results…let's just say it wasn't pretty. Skipper tried once, but he threw up the next morning. He is the only one who has been able to just get up and continue his day as if nothing happened after he threw up."

"What is in that stuff?"

"We don't know." Barry whispered. "But no one can tell them to stop making it because they need to use up the tuna from the previous week."

"Gross." Private said.

"I personally think they don't refrigerate over the weekend." Kowalski said.

"Again, gross."

"Well, since it's the end of the day I can let you go home." The nurse said when the bell had rung. "Do you have someone to help you?" She asked.

"Skipper's coming."

"And we'll help Kenny." Private said.

A few minutes later, Skipper entered with Rico. Rico grinned at Kowalski. Kowalski gave him a glare that said quite clearly 'make fun of me and I'll make that tuna surprise come out'.

"Private, not sick too are you?" Skipper asked.

"No, Kenny ate the tuna surprise."

"Seriously, anyone, someone, please petition to get rid of this stuff." Kenny said.

Rico laughed.

"Sorry kid, but you should know better than to take your chances with Monday cafeteria food." Skipper said.

"Yeah, sure." Kenny mumbled.

"Alright, are we ready to go?" Skipper asked.

"Yup." Kowalski said, pushing himself out of bed.

"No…" Kenny groaned.

"Come on, Barry and I will help." Private said. "Right, Barry?"

No response came. He looked around, but Barry wasn't there. "Where'd he go?"

"Is Kenny alright?" Ramona asked. Rico had opened the door to reveal Ramona and Allie.

"He'll be fine, where's Barry?" Private asked.

"He came to get us, he's right there." She pointed to her left. Barry slid into view and then quickly slid out.

"I've got to go pick up my brothers, see ya!" Ramona said, walking off with Allie behind her.

"Feel better, Kenny!" Allie called back.

"Bye, future wife!" Barry said.

Ramona walked quicker.

"That's hilarious." Kenny said. He was still weak on his feet. He tried to get up, holding onto Private, but he stumbled and fell back onto the bed.

Rico offered to carry Kenny on his back.

"You're only four years older than me, I'm pretty heavy."

On the contrary, Kenny was light when Rico heaved him onto his back. It was like carrying a heavy backpack, but Kenny wasn't that heavy. Kowalski opted to walk without help, but Skipper and Private kept an eye on him.

The boys left the nurse's office and headed down the block. Barry had gone ahead, but now they could see him standing at the end of the block, arguing with someone.

They weren't sure whether to help or to keep going. Rico was attracting odd looks because of Kenny. They thought that he had hurt the child. Of course, Julien would be the only one to make something of it.

"Hey pal, why are you kidnapping the kid?" Julien said in a carrying voice.

"Hey, I'm the kid's brother." Kowalski snapped. "And you are an annoying boy who can't seem to shut up."

"I wasn't talking to you, smarty booty."

"Fish coming back up." Kenny groaned.

Rico barely registered what he'd said before Kenny threw up all over him.

"Kenny!" Kowalski said. He and Skipper took Kenny off of Rico and sat him on a bench.

Rico took off his shirt and put it in a plastic bag he carried around. It was cold, but Rico didn't seem to mind.

"Why do you carry the bag?" Julien asked suspiciously.

"You're more concerned about the fact that Rico has a bag than a kid just throwing up?" Skipper said, shaking his head. "Personally, I'd be more concerned that Kenny won't make it back to the apartments."

"But Rico the psycho has a bag and he could snuffocate your brother."

"First of all, snuffocate isn't a word. Second, Rico is not psy-"

"Skipper." Rico said, holding up his hand. He looked at Julien. Julien suddenly looked nervous. Rico drew a deep breath. "Maybe I…I am…psycho…but…you…you vain…you selfish…you are not a friend…why? Why you want to hurt? You psycho…not me…"

"So you ADMIT you're psycho!" Julien said, still pale with fear. "Ha! I knew it!"

Rico growled.

"Leave before I show you what my brother taught me." Skipper said. "And he taught me to fight back."

"I am not going to run away." He huffed. But he did as soon as Rico took a step towards him.

Private had barely been paying attention. He had been watching Barry argue with an older girl.

The boys decided to intervene because Barry was turning red with anger. Rico put on his jacket before lifting Kenny up again. Kenny said he'd try to give more warning next time. Rico was to take Kenny straight back to his room and take care of him until Kowalski got there.

"…don't want your help!" Barry was saying. "I've been fine on my own."

"Barry-"

"YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT! You can't just disappear and then come back FOUR YEARS LATER AND TELL ME YOU'RE SORRY! I THOUGHT YOU DIED OR SOMETHING! YOU NEVER CAME BACK!"

"Please let me explain!"

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"What's going on here?" Skipper asked.

"Nothing, I was going back to my room." Barry said, his face still red with fury.

"Barry, please let me talk to you." The woman said.

Kowalski put a hand on Barry's shoulder. "Who are you and what do you want with him?"

"I wish to talk to him." She responded.

"I wish to leave." Barry growled.

"I wish for you to answer the question." Skipper said. "Who the deuce are you supposed to be? Are you his mother?"

"Not exactly."

"I told you, I don't want you." Barry snapped. "I don't want to hear why you left! I don't want to know why you thought an eight year old would be fine by himself. I live in a FOSTER home with every kid at least three stinkin' years younger than me! I room with a baby and a kid who can't go to the bathroom without waking me up. Now I have a life and I DON'T WANT YOU TO RUIN IT!"

"Barry, is this your sister?" Private asked softly.

Barry clenched his fists and looked determinedly at the ground. "Unfortunately." He spat.

"Barry!"

"You never answered Kowalski's question." Skipper said. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I am Alexis and I wish to get my brother back." She said.

"Well that ain't happening." Barry said.

"Isn't."

"DON'T CORRECT ME AS IF YOU'D BEEN DOING IT ALL THIS TIME!" Barry screamed. "YOU LEFT ME!"

"And would you like to know why?"

"No. I don't want to know." Barry was shaking now, "I don't want to know why I was so bad you just left me THREE WEEKS AFTER THE FUNERAL! THREE WEEKS! MOM TRUSTED YOU AND YOU KILLED HER TRUST! You killed my trust."

He shot across the street before anyone could respond and ran into the building.

Kowalski was holding onto Skipper's shoulder, trying not to faint again. Alexis sighed, she told them she just wanted to talk to Barry and then she'd leave if he wanted her to.

At that moment, Skipper was interrupted by a tearful Rocky. She told him that their brother, Toby, had been injured in a car accident.

At this point, Kowalski was clutching Skipper's shoulder tightly and had his eyes shut.

Meanwhile, Private had followed Barry without a word.

Unfortunately for Private, Alice was standing next to a familiar person. Private skidded to a stop while Barry disappeared into the elevator.

"Henry? What are you doing here?"

"Your mom wants you back home and you're to stay with me for the rest of the first semester."