Chapters 41 through 48 Summary

There's an ROTC competition and Henry makes the finals. They perform in front of an audience of parents and girlfriends. Henry says he has no idea how he came to be there and that he'll soon be out, but that he can't make an obvious mistake because it would hurt Corporal Monty. The two finalists are Henry and Andrew Post, and Henry says that Andrew needs the win. Then Andrew makes a mistake and Henry wins. Col. Sussex says, "congratulations" and smiles as he pins the winning medal on Henry's shirt, which makes Henry think he's not so bad after all. Henry goes home, dropping the medal into a drainage hole along the way.

Another of the boys who attaches himself to Henry is Abe Mortenson, who makes all As because his mother makes him study all the time. Henry's parents...