The security guards got us settled in the office while we waited for the Headmaster. One of the guards took out a first aid kit and tended to some of my injuries, focusing the most on the cut on my eyebrow.

It was a tense while before the door to the office opened and Constance came in. Despite how late it was, he was still dressed neatly, looking like he was still in Headmaster mode instead of a man who had probably been lounging at home getting ready to go to sleep. I could've sworn I smelled a little wine as he walked past me. Couldn't blame the guy; I was ready for a glass myself, and I didn't even like wine.

Constance sat at his desk, and there wasn't a trace of his usual chilling smile. "I spoke with Officer Kosta on the phone about what he saw."

"Sir-" one of the Blues started.

Constance held up a hand to cut him off. "I want Griffin's account first, Christopher. You and these other students were caught beating him. I highly suggest you shut your mouth and cooperate right now."

The Blue, Christopher, shut his mouth immediately, sinking down in the chair with a pale face. I touched my aching eyebrow, the pain spreading into a headache steadily.

"I just went to the market to get chips and a drink," I said. "Those three were lingering by the cooler, and two of them were blocking it. Look, I'm not going to lie. I was in a mood. I got rude with them." I proceeded to explain everything that had happened, not bothering trying to make myself sound completely innocent.

"And where were you all day, Mr. Flynn? You never returned to class, and no one saw you around campus," Constance said.

"I was in the library," I lied. "You know if I don't want to be found in there, I won't be."

He indeed knew that was true, so he didn't bother prying there. He couldn't prove I had been there, or that I hadn't been. It was a waste of time to go that route.

Instead, he turned on the Blues. "Give me your side."

So they did, going off about my attitude and how I was supposedly using Evan. I could see Evan's irritation growing as they spoke.

He got annoyed enough to cut them off. "Griffin didn't want anything to do with me for this exact reason," Evan said at last. "You can't just beat a guy up for being friends with me. That's fucked. Pardon my language."

"Evan has a point," Constance said, surprising me. His eyes were hard as they rested on the squirming Blues. "When we tell you students to keep the Maroons in line, we do not mean to beat them senseless."

For the abuse that went on here, I knew Constance was pissed about this. He let his Blues toe the line with bullying and abuse, but anything too serious was absolutely not acceptable. Even when I was a Blue, I knew the lines you couldn't cross.

"This is disgusting behavior, and I will be bringing in your parents to discuss a change to the Maroons for both of you," Constance said.

"Sir," Chris spluttered. "Please, we didn't hurt him. We just..."

"Didn't stop it, didn't aid him, and threw him back to his attackers when he tried to get away," Constance said flatly. "What did I say earlier about shutting your mouth?" Chris seemed too lost for words to speak again anyways, so Constance turned to the Maroons. "Your side. Now."

"What's the point? We'll be punished," the girl said bitterly.

"I'm terribly sorry Veronica, did you see me patting the others on the back for their roles? No? Then I'm not sure why you expect to get away with no punishment after doing the most damage," Constance said. "Tell me what happened."

"What happened is you didn't bother punishing him for his bullying when he was a Blue!" Veronica snapped, gesturing to me. "Half the students you punished that he sent here didn't even do anything wrong. He just scapegoated them to protect Hal."

"And look at him now," Constance said. "Do not waste my time any further. Either you tell me what happened from your perspective, or I take their perspectives into account only."

"V, come on," her friend said nervously. "Let's just tell him and be done with it."

Veronica reluctantly told their side, which included pointing out how much of a smug asshole I was. I crossed my arms, wincing as a pain tugged at my shoulder with the movement.

"Take the five of them to wait outside. I'll bring them in for their punishments shortly," Constance instructed the guards when Veronica and her friends were done. "Griffin, Evan, stay here."

The guards escorted my lovely attackers out. When the door shut, Constance's eyes fell on me, and he shook his head.

"I will be contacting your father and your grandfather once you've visited the nurse," he said.

My face paled. "That is not necessary."

"It is," he said. He turned to Evan. "How did you stumble upon this?"

Evan shrugged, but he didn't look at me. "I was looking for Griffin. I guess he's lucky I found him when I did." His expression hardened a little and he looked up. "You're not letting them get away with it, right? Those Blues are sick for doing that. You need to punish them."

"You need to let me do my job," Constance said, and now that chilling smile finally came back. "I've been at this for a long time. I will handle things." He stood up, unlocking a filing cabinet and digging through it, probably for those students' files. "Now, Griffin, go to the nurse. I will contact your family once I have all the information I need from her. If I need to follow up with you for anything else, I will. You'll be informed of their punishments."

He finally turned back to us, five files in hand like I'd guessed. He looked to Evan now.

"Perhaps you'll finally reconsider your friendship with Griffin," he said.

Evan forced that easy smile of his. "Nah, probably not."

He stood up and I copied him. I couldn't wait to take a hot shower and collapse in bed.

"A guard will escort you there," Constance said, sitting back down with the files. If he was tired, he didn't show it.

"You don't have to call them," I said. "It's not like they can do anything now."

"It's my responsibility to tell them about this incident," Constance said. "Instead of wasting your breath arguing with me, why don't you use that energy to get yourself to the nurse."

I grit my teeth but left the office with Evan. One of the guards followed us down the stairs and out of the building.

I had questions for Evan, but I bit them back. We reached the nurse's office, and the overnight nurse fussed over me as she tended to me, making careful notes as she did so. Evan waved the guard away when he tried to tell Evan to go back to his dorm, but he couldn't just wave the nurse away when she kicked him out of the room so she could have me strip down to my boxers to examine the bruises and cuts on the rest of my body.

When she was finally done with me, she sent me away after letting me take some Advil. Evan was still waiting for me, the guard by the door.

"I'll walk him back to the dorm. We'll be fine," Evan said.

"What he said," I said, because I wanted Evan alone for a bit.

The guard nodded and left. Evan and I left as well, heading for the dorms. I made sure we were alone before grabbing his shoulder.

"How did you really find me?" I asked.

His smile wasn't easy this time; it was apologetic. "I was waiting at the top of the hill for you. But I hid myself so no one would see me waiting. I didn't want to get you in trouble. But Hal was worried sick, and no one could find you or get ahold of you. I saw you come up, but you just looked..." He shrugged. "I could tell you didn't want to be found. So I waited until you were heading towards the market and then I left my spot and decided to leave you alone for the night. But then, I don't know, I figured I should at least go make sure you were okay, you know? So I turned back around, and by the time I got to the market, I saw them beating you."

I scrubbed a hand down my face and pulled my phone out of my bag. I powered it up, letting the tons of missed calls and texts come in, and swiping them all away.

I pulled up Hal's contact and texted him, "Not tonight".

"Well, thanks for saving my ass," I said at last. "And uh...thanks for worrying about me, I guess. No use saying I'm fine, huh?"

"None," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Do you need anything?"

"Just a hot shower and a night's rest," I said, not pushing his hand off. I fidgeted with a bandaid on my arm. "I'll see you tomorrow, Evan."

"You have my number." He gave my shoulder a light squeeze before dropping his hand. "But if you don't want me around after tonight, I get it. I really get it now, Griffin."

"I'm not afraid of them," I said, meeting his eyes. "You shouldn't be, either. Stick around. I think I'm getting fond of you."

He grinned, but it was troubled. "I wish it hadn't happened. I'll make damn sure it doesn't happen again."

"Tomorrow," I repeated, and turned away from him.

I went into the dorm and up to my room. I took a deep breath before opening the door and going in.

Hal sprang off his bed, his eyes wide as he took in my injured face. A tidal wave of emotions crashed together in his eyes, from shock, to pure rage, to horror, to guilt, to anguish.

He respected my text and didn't ask me any questions. He just came up to me, framed my face with his hands, and looked over my injuries.

That anguished look on his face, he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to mine, shifted his hand up so his thumb traced just below the cut on my eyebrow. His breathing was ragged as he tried to get himself under control.

I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. He knew I didn't want to talk tonight. I knew there was no point in saying I was fine.

"I'm tired," I said instead.

"Go shower," he said, his voice pained. "You have dried blood in your hair."

I put my hand on the back of his neck and shut my eyes as we stood there, our foreheads pressed together and Hal's body trembling. I wanted to tell him that this wasn't his fault, but I knew he wouldn't listen.

I carefully disentangled myself from him. "Go to bed, Hal. It's getting late. Don't wait up for me."

"Shut the fuck up," he said, no malice in his voice.

He crawled onto his bed as I gathered my things and left for the showers. At this hour, the bathroom was abandoned, and I stripped down behind one of the shower curtains. I stepped under the lukewarm spray of water, pushing the handle all the way on the heat and waiting for the water to slowly warm up.

It melted over my skin, easing my tense muscles. I forced myself to wash my body and my hair before slumping against the stall and closing my eyes. I just let the water pour around me, the sound of it striking the tiled floor of the shower the only noise in my ears.

I stood like that for a long time before finally getting out and putting on sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. I didn't want Hal to see the cuts and bruises on my arms.

I returned to our room, where Hal was waiting up for me. I flicked the lights off and climbed into my bed, collapsing against the pillows and burrowing under my blankets.

"Hey," Hal said. "Your phone."

"Right," I mumbled, grabbing it and shutting it off. Tomorrow was Saturday; I never turned my phone on when it was Saturday.

"You need anything?" Hal said.

"What, gonna read me a story and kiss me goodnight?" I said.

"Fuck you," he said.

That brought a faint smile to my face. "Only if it's a really, really good story first."

"For fuck's sake," Hal said, but it didn't have the usual force behind the words. "Goodnight, Griffin."

The day crashed over me, dragging me down with exhaustion and frustration and even a little fear. Did I deserve what they'd done to me?

Probably. I couldn't blame them.

I'd been horrible as a Blue. Cocky. Too cocky. Always willing to sacrifice anyone so Hal could get away with his antics in class. Always so damn fast to tug at my vest whenever I wanted something.

A bully. I'd been a bully. If you weren't my friend, you were nothing to me. I hadn't cared about the plight of the abused Maroons; I'd only cared about my own friends. Hal, Anika, Thevan. Everyone else was just a worthless nobody to me.

What a guy I was. Is this the man I was trying to preserve when I got out of this hellhole? Had I really learned any lessons along the way?

I thought of Evan. He knew how to play the game around here. Use your power, but use it wisely. A charming smile, the right words, and that tug of the vest to drive it all home. I'd never been good at playing the game. Just my ego and my vest.

My body ached, my headache already starting to creep back in. Could the bully ever really call himself the victim when his targets retaliated?

Shit. I curled my hands around fistfuls of my blanket, my body trembling as tears pricked at my eyes.

I closed my eyes, feeling a tear run down my cheek. I hadn't been strong enough to protect myself. I couldn't even say I was an innocent victim. Karma hadn't bothered biting my ass; it had just kicked it.

Thoughts swarmed my head, and try as I might, I couldn't sleep. So I laid awake in the darkness, sore and troubled and helpless to do anything about the emotions warring inside me.