To get drunken Mike through the window is nearly impossible. To get drunken Mike through the window quietly is beyond impossible. He's grunting and groaning.

"Can you just shut up for a damn minute?!" Logan hisses, irritated, pulling Mike up by the arm while standing on the other side of the window. Mitch is pushing him up from down below.

But Mike flails like a rag doll and seems even drunker than before. He is almost snoring.

After several fruitless attempts, we finally manage to drag Mike in. He falls to the floor with a thud but doesn't wake up. Mitch gets inside, too, and shuts the window behind him.

Breathing heavily, Mitch bends down over Mike, "Damn, he's heavy... Come on, let's drag him to the room," he takes Mike by the hand.

They make a couple of steps, moving Mike away from the window and stepping into the darkest area of the hall, when we hear a voice behind, disrupting the silence.

"Hey!"

We turn our heads simultaneously.

"What are you doing there?" A figure on the other side of the hall hurries toward us.

Shit... There's no way guys have time to get Mike to the room and hide him.

I start to panic. And the first impulse is to run, but then the strangest idea pops into my mind.

"Logan, come here!" I say hastily. Logan lets go of Mike's hand and comes up to me.

"Take your clothes off," I whisper to Logan fast.

"What?!" Logan asks, bewildered.

"Take your clothes off! Now!" I command. And Logan obeys. He throws his clothes off, repeating after me until we are both only in underwear and t-shirts. I really hope that it's dark enough to hide out strange actions. We throw our clothes into the darkest part of the corridor, where Mitch crouches, trying to merge with the floor. I make a few steps forward, tugging Logan along with me, to the figure, which is close enough to recognize Caulter, who is concerned and flustered.

"Why aren't you in bed?" he asks sternly, his tone clearly signaling that we are likely in trouble. "Were you smoking?!"

"We have a problem! It's urgent! " I start nervously. But this nervousness is an advantage in this situation. "I was sleeping, and then I woke up suddenly. And Logan, too," I nod to his side. "And that happened..." I say and pull my t-shirt up. Caulter's face is lit by the glow from my chest. Logan pulls his t-shirt too, doubling the amount of light. Caulter even squints.

"And... and I... we..." I start to stutter and breathe faster. "I don't know what to do!" I exclaim. "I thought... it... it can't be like that, right?! I'm not even gay! We!" I poke at Logan. "We are not even gay!" I shout out.

Caulter's face softens a bit with compassion in his eyes.

"Adam, please don't scream, ok?" He says soothingly. I let the hem of my t-shirt fall, hiding my shining. "It's okay... calm down. Let's go and have a talk, shall we?" he tries to comfort me, and I feel a slight prick of shame for lying. But...

"Ok," I agree.

"Logan?" Caulter turns to him.

"He's in shock!" I answer instead of him. "Haven't spoken a word since it started!"

"Ok, ok," says Caulter. "We'll figure something out. Follow me."

And we go after him. Logan smiles, lowering his head.

In the office, light hits the eyes, and it takes time to adjust. Caulter offers us seats at the table and sits opposite us.

"How do you feel, aside from it?" he asks, shifting in his chair.

"Um... fine..." I say. And Logan nods.

"Fine," Caulter echoes, musing. I hope it doesn't end up with us being detained in the hostel till the end of our field trip. "Look... shining is quite common," he starts, but I get that he knows very little about it since he doesn't have it. "And there's nothing wrong if it goes for the same sex."

"But... I wasn't gay before," I object, trying to sound concerned and confused. "I don't know how my parents will take it."

"I think I should call your parents in the morning," he says seriously.

"I don't think you can do that," Logan interjects suddenly. "You can't just out him... us like this. I'm sure there's a school rule... or even a law against it."

Caulter frowns. It's clear that he hesitates. He doesn't have enough information on how to address a situation like this.

Thus there is a long pause.

"Then what can I help you with?" sighs Caulter, at last.

"Can you..." I linger on a thought. "Can you maybe give us a piece of advice... how to... what we should do now... relationship-wise? And how... how to approach to tell our parents about it?"

I know I'm fishing for it, basing on a rumor that Caulter is gay. Another pang of shame stabs me, but I try to win as much time as I can.

Caulter takes a deep breath and rubs his chin.

"It's not an easy question," he answers, somehow defeated. "There's no simple answer. If you don't feel safe sharing with your parents, you can go to the school counselor and talk. Don't try to manage everything on your own. Don't bottle up. Don't lie... Speak up. Speak to the people your trust. Speak to each other. Communication is the key," he gives a little smile. "I know it may be hard for you to... process it... but... you're friends, right? I remember you from the camping trip."

Logan and I nod.

"Well, maybe then it's a good thing?" Caulter says reassuringly. "School doesn't require me to inform your parents about shining... But I suggest you talk to your parents when you come back."

We both nod.

"Thank you... sorry for bothering you," I mutter. "It just was unexpected. And I got scared."

"It's ok," Caulter comforts. "So if you feel ok, go back to sleep. Tomorrow is a very busy day!"

As we wander back to the bedroom, Logan chuckles, "You're a dangerous man, Adam Stone."

I only snort.

"Lying so smoothly," Logan adds.

"I'm not proud of that," I object. "If anything, now I have a bout of self-deprecation and self-loathing."

"Come on," Logan consoles. "It was a way out. And it's not like you set him up or something. Don't think too much about it, ok?"

Yeah... I know what he says... but... I can't skip the part that I actually did it for Mike, who insulted me and Logan. Was it worth it?

I mean... I did it not only for Mike's sake. I'm sure Logan and Mitch would have had problems, too, if we got caught. But Mike would have been totally screwed. Will he appreciate it?

I seriously doubt that he'll even remember it the next morning.