"Field two, today." Duo said softly, beginning to unload his books from his black backpack into the black hole he used for a locker. Field two, meaning the old PE field at the back of the school. It was one of the most abandoned and over grown fields of the school.

At that moment, one of Duo's punk friends swaggered up, looking as though he had just rolled out of bed - complete with a hangover - and leaned over Duo's shoulder. "That jock giving you trouble again?" The boy growled, glaring at Heero from underneath his dirty blond bangs.

Duo grinned easily and slammed his locker shut. "Nah. Come on Solo, or we'll miss the grand finale of our bathroom stunt."

The long haired boy sent one last wink at Heero before leading his Gothic friend away.

Heero returned the wink, turning back to his locker before turning to his normal emotionless self. It looked like life was going to be interesting this morning. He could almost already hear the screams that were sure to come from the girl's bathroom.

===

Quatre Rebarba Winner, the towns richest kid, hurriedly made his way towards his locker only pausing to nod briefly towards people who called out morning greetings. His blond hair was slightly messy this morning, the only visible sign of his hurried nature. In contrast, his aqua colored eyes twinkled as they normally did, a bright smile lighting up his face with each person who acknowledged him. He stopped to properly greet one of his closer friends, Trowa Barton, and the two walked down the hallway together.

"Ohayoo," Quatre smiled, falling into the pattern of greeting his long time friend in Japanese. "What's the call for today?"

Trowa Barton, who was taller than nearly everybody in the school grinned, his visible green eye sparkling, the other being hidden behind the hair that constantly fell into his face. "Field two, today." He said softly. Trowa was what you could consider the prep of the school. He was in the "in" crowd, always had the latest gossip, and had what one could call "minions" willing to do his beck and call. Trowa was one of, if not *the* most popular boys in school.

"Duo's field?" Quatre asked in surprise, craning his neck to see Trowa's face.

The tall boy nodded and the two split ways to find their separate lockers. "I hope nothing happened to him," Quatre fretted as he opened his locker and began neatly arranging his books and binders on the shelves there. Duo had been one of Quatre's closest friends ever since second grade, when Duo had been brought in - kicking and screaming.

They only met on field two when there was something serious to discuss. And Quatre would have to wait until second period before he could see Duo and make sure that nothing was wrong. The small blond finished gathering what he would need for first period and hurried on his way - just as the warning bell rang.

===

Chang Wufei was sitting in his usual place in the main office, filing the pile the secretaries had given him into the "Student Profile" files. The Chinese boy gave his short pony tail another hard yank as he failed to locate a file. Really, that particular file was so full of papers he shouldn't have such a problem finding it. Him especially, being the smartest kid in school.

"Where is it...?" He muttered to himself, having already gone through the files about three times now.

"If you're trying to find my file again, don't bother. Kushrenada already has it." A familiar happy go lucky voice said from behind him.

Wufei started, turning around so quickly that his neck popped. Slanted black eyes glared at the American in front of him, before those same eyes turned to look disapprovingly at the small gaggle of similarly black clad students behind Duo. "What did you do this time, Maxwell?"

Duo grinned and flipped his braid over his shoulder carelessly. "Blew up a toilet in the girls' bathroom on the third floor."

Wufei's lips twitched, though he tried hard to prevent it. "Why do you keep doing things like this? It makes my job as office assistant much more difficult than it already is."

One of the Goths behind Duo growled and took a step forwards. "What's it to you, smart boy? Afraid we'll tarnish your perfect record?"

Wufei snorted and handed the paper to Duo. "You can bring that with you and ask Mr. Kushrenada to put it in your file."

Duo grinned and sent him a peace sign, wiggling his two fingers to make sure that his message got across. Wufei snorted in disgust, but nodded discretely at the message. Field two for lunch that day, message received.

"Maxwell, you can come in now." A stern male voice called from the principal's office.

The long haired boy's grin slipped for a moment before he hitched it back up and swaggered into the next room. Wufei sighed and went back to his filing.

===

Five boys lounged on the otherwise empty field two behind Gundam High during lunch. A soft blanket was spread out on the ground and they ate their lunches at their own leisure. The five chose to eat lunch without their normal gangs of friends just to keep up with each other. And it was better to keep their separate cliques separate, if only for the fact that cliques were cliques and if you weren't in a particular clique... you were an outsider and didn't belong. Duo's group especially couldn't stand Trowa's friends and Wufei's companions couldn't stand Heero's. Quatre's group thought themselves to be above all others and couldn't stand anybody else as a rule.

So during lunch, the five boys got together, just like they had during Jr. High. Duo and Heero always sat next to each other and shared their lunches. Quatre, Trowa and Wufei arranged themselves around the other two, laughing at their antics.

"So, why field two today, Duo?" Quatre asked, sticking his straw into his juice box and drinking the whole thing down in one go. "It must have been something important. You usually choose field four."

Field four was the Soccer field.

Duo sighed and gave his four best friends a small smile before deliberate taking a huge bite of his orphanage provided sandwich to delay. Heero poked him lightly in the ribs, causing the long haired boy to choke slightly on his mouthful.

"It better not have anything to do with our summer plans." Wufei growled, hating the idea of one of his best friends missing their trip to China. They had been planning it for nearly three years and Wufei had had to spend a year before that pleading with, first his parents to allow them to go, and then his relatives to allow him and his friends to stay in their homes in China. They had finally gotten the go ahead and planned it for the next summer - all they needed was their passports and enough money to get over there and back.

Duo bowed his head, swallowing. "It might." He said softly. "There's an open house at the church next weekend, you know - in hopes of getting one of us adopted. Sister Helen and Father Maxwell told me they might have found somebody who was willing to adopt me..."

"But you're almost eighteen!" Quatre cried, accidentally squashing his empty juice box in his shock. "What would be the point?"

Duo shrugged before adding the rest of his problem to the pile. "And they told me if I don't get my act together they're going to pull me from The Shack, give me a curfew and limit my privileges back to when I was thirteen."

"You have been acting out more lately." Heero said gruffly, crushing his hamburger wrapper in one hand before opening his orange Gatorade, chugging half of it down. "It's because of Solo, isn't it?"

Duo shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich.

"Well, lets deal with the adoption problem first," Quatre sighed, running one hand through his hair. "We all know that Sister Helen and Father Maxwell love you to pieces and spoil you rotten... and it's only four months till your eighteenth birthday. So that really isn't much of a problem rather than an annoyance."

"However," Wufei cut in. "If they pull you from The Shack, you won't be able to earn money for China..."

"And after the bathroom stunt this morning..." Trowa added. "You'll be lucky if they let you even have your own room any more."

Duo pouted at his friends. "The bathroom stunt wasn't really me. Solo set it all up, I just watched as the girls ran screaming down the hall. And besides, revenge had to be placed upon them."

The four other boys sighed, shaking their heads in ill-concealed humor. Life was always a riot when Duo was around. They settled back into their normal lunch routines, swapping food, teasing each other and generally having fun.

"There's a party at The Shack tonight." Heero commented, just as the bell to end lunch rang. "Duo and I both work from six to ten. Are we going to hang out at the cliffs afterwards?"

Wufei, Trowa and Quatre nodded, smiling. "Wouldn't miss it for anything." They promised.

===

The Shack was the most popular restaurant in the Gundam High 'turf'. It wasn't very large, but it sold every type of fast food available, including deserts. It sat in a small alcove near the beach and was the perfect location for the weekly parties the students of Gundam High always threw.

Duo and Heero were the star employees at The Shack. The two alone could cook, take orders, entertain and clean up faster and more effectively that anybody body else working there. They were often the only two working there during the day and usually it was only on weekends were others brought into to help manage the masses of people who flocked there. Not only that, but despite the fact that they were always working, the two were usually at the heart of the party each and every Friday night. They led and participated in dance contests, competitions on the beach and other such things.