Evan didn't bother us the next few days. He seemed to have taken a liking to Quinn and some of Quinn's less shitty friends, sitting with them at lunch. I still saw him leaving the academic building with Jordan, and sometimes even Wyatt, but he always parted ways before they reached us.

Hopefully the lessons here were finally sticking for him. As much as it sucked, and as much as I hated it, Evan learning them meant less trouble for me. I couldn't afford to revel in the breach in social status right now.

Currently, Wyatt, Hal, and I had claimed a table outside the campus market, sipping on smoothies. It was nice out, and Jordan had texted to say he'd meet us when he finished up what he was doing in the library.

We watched as Cara and her roommate, Mikayla, approached our table and sat down. Cara tossed her bag to the ground and held her hand out to Hal.

"Get your own fucking smoothie," Hal said.

"I will. Yours looks good. Let me sample," she said.

"Son of a dog," Hal grunted, but passed it to her.

"The game starts at six tonight," Cara said as she helped herself to a generous amount of Hal's smoothie, ignoring his scowl. "I figure by the time we get off campus it'll be around eight." She glanced at Mikayla. "You want to come?"

"Nope. I have plans tonight," Mikayla said.

I held up a hand. "I know your friend group, so you can just stop right there because I demand to have plausible deniability in anything you're plotting."

"I have no idea what you mean," Mikayla said. "I was just going to finish an essay and watch a movie. Perfectly innocent night."

"Perfectly innocent," I echoed. "Exactly what I'm saying if anyone questions me as to why your classroom is destroyed tomorrow morning."

Mikayla checked her phone and stood up. "Good luck at the game tonight, Cara. I've got to go meet Leo in the dining hall. Sorry I can't make it."

"Probably best if you don't," Cara said with a sigh. "Have fun being perfectly innocent tonight."

Mikayla left and Cara finally handed the smoothie back to Hal, looking down. She was on a short leash too, though hers was in the hands of her parents. Anymore trouble on her part and they would ban her from going to soccer camp over the summer. As much as she wanted to spend time with Mikayla and her friends, they were trouble Cara couldn't afford to be part of in her current predicament.

"Hey, drop the wounded puppy look. We're going out on the town and inexplicably being drawn to Denny's at some point," Hal said.

"Hell yea," Cara said, forcing herself to grin. "Pancakes!"

"Alright Cabin Fever, calm down," I said.

"I can come, right?" Wyatt asked, looking to me since he knew Hal would say no.

"Your risk to take," I said. We rarely got caught sneaking off campus, but there would surely be Blues out tonight. A popular little food place always gave discounts if the Constance Academy teams won, and it drew in the Blues and any Maroons who could get permission to get off campus.

We'd just have to avoid that section of town if they won tonight, though. We'd managed before, but the risk was still there.

Getting caught off-campus wouldn't be enough to crucify me or Cara. It would just get us in trouble with the head of our dorms.

"I'm coming," Wyatt said confidently.

"Great," Hal said dryly.

"You know, you don't always have to be an asshole," Wyatt said.

"You know, I like being an asshole," Hal said.

"His name isn't actually Hal," I said.

"Well, yea, I know," Wyatt said in confusion.

"His real name is actually Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way," I said.

"It's true," Hal said with a nod. "I'm super emo and only dress in Hot Topic clothing to prove how emo I am. I claim to hate mainstream music but my favorite band is Panic! At The Disco, a fucking mainstream band. I hate all people and am so edgy I cut my wrists on it."

"Well, this got dark," Cara said.

"I'm an asshole, it's just my personality, fucking deal with it," Hal said to Wyatt.

Wyatt pouted. "I don't know why Griffin puts up with you sometimes."

"If I don't have Hal, then who else will tell me I'm a dumbass at least twelve times an hour?" I said.

"Twelve? She hit Irene's truck, I've been slacking," Hal said with a frown. He looked to me. "You're a dumbass. What am I up to?"

I thought back through the last hour. "That's only six, I think. Seven? No, no, six."

"Halfway there, and we still have twenty minutes to go," he said in relief.

"Oh no. Tell me he's not bringing them over here?" Cara said, looking past us.

I looked up and caught sight of Jordan, walking with Evan and another Blue. They were talking, passing a packet between them.

They approached our table, but Evan and the other Blue kept walking past without paying us any mind. Jordan sat down and set his bag at his feet.

"I thought I saw Evan in my dorm hall last night," Cara said. "Didn't realize he was buddy-buddy with Siggy now."

Right, right, that was the name of the other Blue that had been with them. Jordan wasn't very popular amongst the Blues because of his association with us, but he still had friends.

"He's easy to talk to," Jordan said with a shrug. "The three of us got assigned to a group project for science. That's all."

"So you're friends now?" I said.

"Yes," Jordan said carefully. "I guess you could say that."

"There is no guessing. You're either friends, or you're not," I said.

"Then we are," Jordan said. "Like I said, he's easy to talk to. He still...resists...the social structure here, but he's not causing any trouble for you anymore. So, I don't see a problem with it."

"Oh, what, you thought that's why I was asking? I don't have a problem with it, I'm just nosy," I said.

Okay, maybe I did have a small problem with it. I mean, if Jordan was hanging around with Evan, and the Blues were trying to teach him the way things worked here, what if it reinforced those social rules in Jordan?

No, no, Jordan was one of my best friends. He wouldn't abandon me just because of a vest. He wasn't that type of person. He might stay more firmly on the Blue side than the Maroon, but he wasn't a bad person, and he tried his best not to be judgmental or condescending.

"Let's go grab smoothies," Cara said to Jordan, getting up.

They left the table and I traced a pattern in the condensation of my smoothie. Hal kicked me lightly under the table, but when I looked up, his gaze was on a group of students playing frisbee nearby.

I had Hal. I always had Hal. Even if I lost everyone else, no one could take him from me, and I took an almost guilt-inducing amount of comfort in that fact.

Wyatt reached in his bag and pulled out a small bag of chips, opening them and angling them between the two of us. I helped myself to the snack as we waited for the others to return.

They came back and we all decided to work on our homework outside together. It was nice out, warm enough that we'd sought a table in the shade, but that just meant it'd be a nice night out when we snuck off campus tonight.

When our homework was done, we parted ways, making plans to meet up for the game tonight. Hal and I returned to our dorm and argued over what to binge-watch for so long that we only had time to actually watch one episode of the first show we clicked on when we pulled up Netflix.

We changed into comfortable clothes as it got closer to the time for the game. I didn't want to risk wearing my uniform off campus tonight. It was too easy to be spotted that way. At least in normal clothes we had a chance of ducking into a crowd if the Blues came around.

Hal and I left the dorm and started the walk to the fields on the other side of campus. Since sports weren't a top priority, the sports fields sat way in the back of campus, which was a pain in the ass to walk to when you lived in the far away dorm that we did.

But after a long walk, we finally reached the fields. It wasn't packed- sports games here rarely were. But there was a fair amount of people in the stands bordering the field, and I took out my phone to ask Wyatt and Jordan where they were.

"Still walking here," I announced to Hal when Jordan replied back. "Let's grab a seat and I'll let them know where we are."

Hal muscled through the students lingering in our way and I followed after him. We settled in a higher up spot so we'd have a better view of the field, and I texted Jordan to let him and Wyatt know where to find us.

I spotted Caroline with her friends, laughing as they talked with each other. She didn't notice me, so I looked away.

"So what's this about Caroline bitching a lecture at you?" Hal demanded. At my expression, he glared at me. "I didn't forget, Griffin."

I sighed and explained what had happened in the library. Hal's expression grew angrier, but he would never cause a scene towards Caroline out in the open. Pity the fool who antagonized the Headmaster's children.

"She did it as privately as she could," I said as Hal dug his nails into his palms to calm his rage. "Don't blame her. We all have a role to play."

"Fuck roles. I hate this Academy," Hal said.

"You and me both," I said with a sigh. "It's almost over. The end of the year is the end of this hell."

"Small fuckin' favors," Hal said.

I spotted Wyatt squirming his way through the crowd, and narrowed my eyes as Jordan and Evan emerged behind him. I wasn't surprised at Hal's reaction.

"Oh- for fuck's sake," Hal said in irritation. "Not this again."

But rather than branch off, Evan stayed with the two as they came up to where we were and sat down. Jordan offered me a smile in greeting, shrugging an apology at me.

"Why is he here?" Hal demanded.

"Because I want to be here," Evan said. At Hal's expression, he gave a lazy smile. "You know you don't scare me, right?"

"You know I should, right?" Hal said.

"Yes, yes, you can hit very hard and you're very scary," I said, putting a hand on Hal's arm to keep him from proving that. "Chill out, Ebony Alzheimer Raven Lady."

"Was that my name earlier? I don't think that was my name earlier," Hal said.

"Close enough," I said dismissively. "Go ahead and put in your headphones to listen to totally not mainstream bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco."

Hal snickered, but then caught sight of Evan's lazy smile and the anger came back. I pressed my fingers into his arm a little tighter.

"Don't. Caroline is here," I said in a low voice.

"Don't," he mocked, but turned his head away from Evan.

"Glad we're all friends," Evan said, and I wondered if his goal was to get his teeth knocked out by Hal before the week was up.

Wyatt was staring at him in amazement, not used to seeing Blues actually hold their ground so calmly against Hal. He looked to Hal to see what Hal would do, but I still had my hand on his arm in a reminder to behave.

Hal and I fell into talk about the show we'd watched while Jordan and Wyatt talked with Evan. I realized how ridiculous it was for us to ignore them, but I couldn't think of a way to bridge our unrelated conversations and keep Hal and Evan from starting up again. Evan seemed to get a kick out of defying Hal's anger.

But I was spared the effort as the teams took the field. A student was acting as an announcer for the night, reading off the starting line-up names as they took the field. When Cara's name was called, Hal abandoned his grudge towards Evan in favor of paying attention, and I finally dropped my hand from his arm.

The game started up, Cara holding the goal. Students around us talked casually, many of them only half focused on the game. But our friend was on the field, so we ignored conversation to watch the game, cheering whenever Cara made a save, and grumbling when the other team managed to score two goals on her in the first half.

Sports weren't really my thing, but I didn't mind watching when I knew the people on the field. Sports were one of the rare times the Blues and Maroons mixed together, forced to get along if they wanted to have strong teamwork to win games. Sometimes I suspected that was part of the reason why sports weren't so big here.

I was almost a little bummed when our team managed to win the game. That meant more Blues out in the town tonight. Damn discounts targeted at teenagers.

The stands began to clear out and we walked down them. I expected Evan to head off, but he stuck around with Jordan.

"Uh...Jordan?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, uh..." Jordan rubbed the back of his neck. "He's coming with us?"

"Like hell he is," Hal said, spinning around.

"Like hell I am," Evan agreed. "Can't wait for our night on the town, boys."

"Hal!" I said, grabbing the back of his shirt. "I swear, I should get paid for babysitting you."

"Well why the fuck would Jordan invite him?" Hal demanded, and I could tell by his expression just how upset he was over it.

"Because we're friends," Jordan said. "And Evan hasn't been around the town yet."

"Then take him this weekend. You're Blues. You can go without getting in trouble," Hal said.

"From what I read, if we sign out together, you guys won't get in trouble," Evan said. "You should be glad I'm coming along."

Hal clenched a fist. "Think you're so damn smart? That doesn't work for us. Griffin and I aren't allowed off campus. And if you sign out Cara, they'll get suspicious and check our room for us. Guess what happens when they see we're not there?"

"He had no way to know that, Hal," Jordan said.

"He had you," Hal said furiously. "But you didn't mention that. You just invited him without asking us."

"Alright, alright, it was stupid anyways," I said, because I didn't know if we could trust Evan not to tell anyone we'd snuck off campus. The punishment wasn't that big for getting caught, but I didn't need to put myself on the Headmaster's shitlist over it. "You guys go with Cara. Hal and I will chill on campus."

Jordan shook his head. "Evan won't tell anyone. Griff, I wouldn't bring him along if I thought he'd tell someone. You know that."

"I trust you. That doesn't extend to him," I said.

"I couldn't care less if you sneak off campus. I have no reason to go tattling about it," Evan said.

My phone buzzed in my pocket before I could respond to that. I took it out and checked the message on it.

"Heard your team won. See you around town tonight."

Shit.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket, glad Hal was too busy being mad at Evan and Jordan to be paying attention to me. Evan watched me, waiting for my reaction.

"If you sell us out for sneaking off campus, you'll learn pretty damn fast why Maroons are considered delinquents," I said at last.

"Wait, what?" Hal said, eyes shooting to my face. "You're...but...what!"

"We're going out," I said. "I want to get off this campus, and I refuse to be afraid of some new Blue who hasn't learned the rules yet."

Evan smirked, just a little. "Then let's find your other friend and get out of here."

We waited for Cara to join us, hair wet from the quick shower she'd taken in the locker room. She had the same outburst as Hal at the news of Evan joining us, but I let Jordan deal with calming her down as we started back towards the other side of campus.

When Jordan's attempts kept failing, I stepped in. "Hey, that was a nice save on that penalty kick."

"Yea?" Cara brightened. "I've been practicing on reading body language to better predict where those shots will go." She rubbed at her chest. "Hit me pretty hard though when I stopped it. I've got to get better at angling my body so my stomach takes those hits. Less chance of injury that way."

"Okay, but you running right up and snatching the ball from that girl's feet was awesome. You didn't give a damn if she was about to kick you right in the nose," Hal said.

Cara beamed proudly. "Hell no, I'm not afraid. Go ahead and break my nose, you're still not scoring on me."

"That's an attitude," Hal said, bumping his fist against hers.

"Is there like a main sport around here? Back at my old school, it was, surprise, football," Evan said.

Jordan shook his head. "Not really. Academics are the big focus here, and the sports are just more of a side-thought."

"Surprise, surprise that the baseball team miracuously got their field redone when Constance's son played for it," Cara said, rolling her eyes. "I wish Caroline would join the soccer team so we could get some new equipment."

"Constance has...two kids? Three?" Evan said.

"Three," I said. "The oldest graduated and the youngest just started at the Academy last year. Caroline's a year younger than us. Shocking absolutely no one, they get free run of the Academy."

"She doesn't seem so bad," Evan said. "Least obnoxious one about hovering over me, at least."

"I like Caroline!" Wyatt said. "When my friend broke her leg last year, Caroline carried her books to class for her and they didn't even know each other."

"A saint like her father," I said, and Hal snickered beside me.

We reached the other end of campus and Cara led the way to a path off the campus. It led down a steep hill, nearly impossible to use in the winter due to the ice. But tonight, there were just a few leaves on the path, and Cara started down it with familiarity.

It was so out of the way and on the edge of campus that it was rarely monitored. The steepness of the hill also put most students off, because sneaking down it was one thing but sneaking back up it was a whole other workout.

We started down the hill, taking it slow and careful. Wyatt stumbled a little and I hurried to right him before he could fall. He gave me a thankful look and slowed his pace even more.

I mentally cursed Cara and her leg muscles as she easily maneuvered the path. I wasn't the clumsiest person in the world, but my sense of balance mixed with my lack of leg-day at the gym never helped me when we snuck off campus.

Sure enough, I found myself tripping when my shoe caught on a hole in the path. I tipped forward, and felt three hands on me, hauling me to my feet and holding me until I was steady.

Hal had two hands on me, one on my arm and the other on my back. Evan had caught my other arm, holding me steady and slowly releasing me, ignoring the look Hal shot him.

"First day with the new feet?" Evan said.

I kicked him in the shin roughly. "Nope."

"What a way to say thanks," he said.

"I wouldn't have fallen," I said, gesturing to Hal.

"Can still say thanks when someone does a nice thing," he said, giving that lazy smile. "You're just stubborn."

"I...can't argue with that," I said. "But still. I would've said thanks if you didn't toss in the sass."

"I'll keep it in mind for next time," he said.

I hope he didn't mean next time I tripped down this damn hill, because I was determined not to do that again. Hal kept close to me, reaching past me to yank Wyatt out of the way of another hole in the path before he could take a fall. Must be nice not to be oblivious.

We managed to reach the bottom without any injuries, and started for the town. It wasn't very big, but the Academy drove a lot of traffic through the area, so there were a lot of places catering to teenagers. Restaurants with lower priced, casual foods, bookstores, clothing stores, coffee shops, bakeries.

It was getting later out and the streetlights had come on to combat the growing darkness of night. It made it easier to feel anonymous as we walked the sidewalks.

"Where do we want to go?" Jordan asked.

"I want to run in that shop on the corner. I need more eyeliner," Cara said.

"Sure," Jordan said. "I want to stop in the bookstore quick while we're out here."

I checked my phone, seeing a new message on there. "I'll catch up with you guys. I'm going to run in the gas station and get some of those drinks I like. Hal?"

"Grab me some of those blue ones," Hal said. "Those ones that make it look like I'm drinking wiper fluid."

"Got it," I said, veering off from them.

I went to the nearby gas station, heading inside and going over to an aisle so I could watch the door to make sure none of them had followed me. When no one entered, I slipped to the back, out of sight of the windows.

A tattooed arm slung around my shoulders. "Nice night out, huh, Griffy?"

"Shut up and buy me a drink, Anika," I said, looking up at her. "One of the wiper fluid ones."

"Got enough time for a drink?" she said in surprise.

"Nope. But I can take it with me when I go," I said.

"Always milking me for all I'm worth," she said, but opened one of the coolers in the back and took out a drink, handing it to me.

"Where's your brother?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Likely getting into trouble I'll probably smack him for. You know how Thevan is."

"Unfortunately," I said.

"I keep him on a short leash these days, after everything that happened at the Academy," she said, watching me for my reaction.

I gave none. "Can't blame you."

"Has the Headmaster called you back in, Griff?" she asked.

"No," I said, picking at the label on my drink. "Much as I'd love to piss Constance off, I'm behaving."

"Because of Hal," Anika said, and watched as I tore part of the label. "He threatened Hal."

"You would know. He threatened your brother with you," I said dryly.

"My brother needed help and an outlet, and what he got was abuse," Anika said, a flare of anger in her tone now. She paused, let it pass. "You'll have to pick up the pieces when you make it out of there."

"Yea, I know," I said, suddenly feeling tired. "Ani, I should go. I don't want them to get suspicious if I take too long. And I don't need Hal coming to look for me and finding you."

"I said I was sorry for breaking his finger," Anika said.

"No you didn't," I said.

Anika frowned. "Oh, yea, I didn't. Probably never will."

"Hence why it's best for me to get going," I said.

Anika reached out, putting a hand on my shoulder and meeting my eyes. "Don't let them break you. You're one of the few I like."

Her hand was a warm comfort on my shoulder, but the time for any of that had long since passed. Still, I reached up and brushed my knuckles along hers.

"Just a few more months," I said. "I'll be fine."

"You have my number," she said, and dropped her hand from my shoulder. She slipped money from her pocket and pressed it into my hand. "You should come with my brother and I sometime. I miss those old days."

"I'll talk to you later, Ani," I said, forcing an easy smile as I pulled away from her and moved past her to get to the cooler.

I gathered drinks in my arm, and when I turned back, she was gone. I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering those times at the Academy when things had been normal.

When I wore a Blue vest and wielded power in that place. When I could go off with whoever I wanted because the teachers and students wouldn't dare touch me, much as they might try to socially punish my behavior.

It was gone now, though. I opened my eyes, looking down at the hoodie I wore, a thin, gray material that felt wrong after spending so much time in that heavy Maroon vest.

I shook off my thoughts, pulled my hood up over my head to hide my face from anyone walking by, and went up to the cashier. He rang me up and I paid with Anika's money, covering the rest with some crumpled bills from my wallet. I took the bag he offered me and turned to leave, jumping back in surprise as I nearly ran into Evan.

"Hope one of those is for me," he said, nodding to the bag in my hand.

"Hope you watched How To Get Away With Murder because you just about killed me dead," I said, slapping a hand over my pounding heart. "Christ, didn't anyone ever teach you about personal space?"

"They're waiting for us at the bookstore," he said, heading for the door.

He held it open for me and I stepped out into the warm night air. A light breeze had picked up, feeling good against my face where the hood didn't block it.

"Who was she?"

I looked at Evan sharply. "What?"

"The girl you were talking to," he said. "She went to the Academy?"

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out as I processed the situation. I closed my mouth, but opened it again right away. "You were eavesdropping."

"Guilty as charged," he said. "Cara and Hal were talking about makeup, so I followed after you to get a drink because I had absolutely nothing to add to that conversation."

"You were eavesdropping," I repeated.

"Looked closer than just friends, to me," he said.

"Then get some glasses buddy, because that's all we are," I said, forcing my legs to move again. "I just knew her from school."

"It's more than that," he said.

"It is. Mind your own, and don't fucking mention it," I said.

He took my advice and let the topic drop. I took a drink out of the bag and chucked it to him, because even if he was a nosy little shit, at least he didn't press me when I made it clear a topic was off-limits.

We found the others in the bookstore, waiting for Jordan to cash out. I handed a drink to Hal and he took the bag from me, relieving my hands. It was surprisingly heavy to carry.

Hal pried the top of his drink off with his teeth and helped himself. Jordan joined us with a bag in hand and our little group left. Evan thankfully didn't bring up what he'd seen in the gas station.

Hal would be pissed if he knew I still talked to Anika. His issue was more with her brother than her, but after they'd had a fight a few years ago, he hated being around her, too.

We wandered the streets, dodging down side streets when we caught a glimpse of Blue vests and avoiding popular areas. We pointed things out to Evan, who seemed to like the relative quiet of the place.

Unsurprisingly, we ended up at Denny's, being seated at a table in the back corner. I pushed my hood down after taking a careful look around the place. No students here. Just two families, separated from us.

A waitress took our drink orders and left us with menus. We were packed into a booth together, and I just hoped Evan would be bright enough not to bring up Anika when we clearly had no chance for private conversation.

"How long have you guys all been at the Academy?" he said instead. "I know it takes kids as young as fifth graders."

"We've all been here since fifth grade," Jordan said. "Well, except Cara."

"I came to the Academy when I was 15," she said. "Got into some trouble at my old school."

"Trouble?" Evan said.

"Trouble," Cara said, and Evan dropped it, turning his attention away from her.

I expected Evan to ask Hal and I about whether we'd been entered as Maroons or demoted to them, but he didn't. He seemed satisfied with the information he had, and returned to looking over his menu.

"What about you?" I said. "It's unusual for someone to come in during their senior year as a Blue."

He looked up, offering me a smile. "Guess it is, huh?"

Not going to answer, then. I looked back down at my menu.

The waitress took our orders and I shoved at Hal until he shoved at Wyatt so I could get out of the booth. I stretched a little.

"Where are you going?" Hal asked.

"Bathroom," I said. "Want to hold my hand so I don't get lost while I piss?"

"Just make sure you wash your damn hands," Hal said. "Men who don't wash their hands should be burned alive."

"I'd hate to be burned alive before I got to eat my pancakes, so I'll wash my hands dutifully," I assured him before heading for the bathroom.

I went into it, relieving myself and proceeding to wash my hands vigorously just for Hal's sake. But then an arm slung over my shoulder and I glanced at the familiar tattoos on it.

"I get both of you tonight, huh?" I said.

"Anika said you were out and about," Thevan said. "She figured you'd end up here, just like always."

"Hal will kill you if he sees you," I said.

"So he won't see me. Problem solved," he said, unconcerned. "Ani said you got knocked to the Maroons."

"I would've told you, but you're shit with your phone," I said.

"Bullshit. You wouldn't have told me," he said.

I turned the sink off and Thevan handed me some paper towels to dry my hands off with. "It doesn't matter. The Academy isn't your concern anymore. You guys are done with that place."

"It has a way of sticking around," Thevan said bitterly. "They always hated you. Now they have a reason to go after you."

"You act like I can't take care of myself," I said, tossing the paper towels in the trash. "I've got to get back or Hal is going to think I'm so incompetent that I can't even piss by myself."

"Are you still friends with her?" Thevan said, putting his hand out to stop me from reaching the door.

"Caroline isn't her father," I said.

Thevan barked a laugh. "Griffy, you know as well as I do that you can't trust any of those Constance kids. You know damn well where their loyalties lie."

"Don't let Hal see you on the way out, or it's your funeral," I said, pushing past him and leaving the bathroom.

I returned to my seat, Wyatt and Hal grumbling as they had to move again to let me in. I wet my fingers with the condensation from my drink and pressed them to my head, where a steady throbbing was starting up. Dealing with Anika and Thevan tended to have that effect on me.

By the time we got our food, I was starving. I dug in, pleased that my good sense of hygiene had spared my life so I could enjoy this meal.

We finished and waited for the bill. Jordan took his phone out and his face paled a little.

"Cara, Siggy said they're checking dorms soon to see if the Maroons are in there," he said.

"So? Let them check. My roommate has me covered," Cara said dismissively.

"Wait, they actually check your rooms to see if you're there?" Evan said. "That's some shit."

"Welcome to the strict life of a Maroon," Cara said.

"You two should get back. We'll cover the bill," Jordan said.

"No way. You can be our alibi. We were just in the basement of the library," I said.

Jordan pursed his lips but didn't press the matter. He put his phone away and seemed relieved when the bill came.

We paid and left, cautious as we walked the sidewalks back towards the hill to campus. Our alibi wouldn't exactly work if we got caught before we made it back to campus.

But we reached the hill with no incidents. As we started up, Hal stayed by my side in case I fell, and Evan lingered by me. I felt a little annoyed at that, though. Seriously, I know I'm not the most coordinated, but my legs still freaking worked.

We got to the top, out of breath and legs aching from the climb. God, that hill was a nightmare.

"Remind me to never skip leg-day if I want to sneak off again," I panted, leaning against Hal.

"I'm not even out of shape, but ditto," Hal panted back.

"That hill is the worst," Cara said, trying to catch her breath. "Ugh, let's just get to the library so our alibi actually works and then go to bed. Actually, fuck that, I don't need an alibi. Mika covered for me. I'm going to bed. Night, guys."

"Hope your eyeliner was worth it, asshole," Hal said.

Cara held up a small bag and smiled. "It was. See you tomorrow with wings that could cut a man's throat."

She took off and the rest of us dragged ourselves to the library, slipping through the front door and down to the basement. We made sure people saw us leaving, including some of the staff.

Once that was covered, we went back out into the night and headed for the dorms. Wyatt and Hal were arguing about what the best toppings for a waffle were, and Evan used the distraction to slip next to me.

"Are you in trouble?" he asked.

"Not if you don't sell me out," I said.

He shook his head. "No, I mean...that girl in the gas station, and then the guy that followed you into the bathroom at Denny's."

My face paled. "Stop spying on me."

"I wasn't. They sent me to ask for extra silverware because Wyatt didn't have any," Evan said. "I saw him watch you go in from the corner and then follow you in. He was obviously related to that girl you were talking to. That one was totally just me eavesdropping, by the way. The second one was a coincidence."

"An honest man," I said flatly.

He shrugged. "Look, I get it. It's none of my business. Just making sure this trip wasn't secretly a way for you to deal with shit going on off-campus."

"What, they're trouble because they're not white and have tattoos?" I said sharply, and tried to pull in my anger. "They're friends. They just don't get along with Hal, so it's best if I get away from him when I talk to them."

Evan seemed unphased by my anger. "I thought they might be trouble because it just seems weird to me that a guy lurks in the corner of a Denny's so he can follow someone into the bathroom to have them alone."

"Avoiding Hal," I repeated.

"Just figured I'd check. Your business is your business," he said, backing off the topic.

"Griffin. Hal."

We paused and looked up at Mr. Aubrey, our Building Resident. He stood on the sidewalk in front of our dorm, watching our approach.

"You two weren't in your dorm when the ODRs checked it," he said. "Sneaking out again?"

"We were in the library, sir," Evan said, and gave that easy smile of his. "We lost track of time."

"I'm afraid I'm not familiar with you," he said.

"Evan Copeland, sir," Evan said. "I'm new here."

Mr. Aubrey's eyes widened. "The Copeland boy?"

"Evan," Evan corrected.

"I apologize," Mr. Aubrey said, almost looking flustered. "I didn't recognize you. Well, if they were with you, I suppose I'll let it slide this time."

"No supposing about it," I said, walking past him with Hal at my side. "Night, Jordan, Wyatt. Night, Copeland boy."

"Thanks for the drink," he called after me.

Hal and I went inside and hurried up to our room. We stuffed the drinks from the bag into our minifridge and locked our door so Mr. Aubrey wouldn't come bother us.

"Hey," Hal said. "You good? You were quiet during dinner."

"Just focused on that good as hell pancake," I said.

"At least you ate something for once," he said, climbing onto his bed. "Hit the light, will you? I'm tired."

I turned the light off, grateful for the darkness as I changed and climbed into my own bed. Hal could read me too well, and I didn't want him to know I'd met with Anika and Thevan.

He had his reasons not to like them. I had my reasons to rely on them.

I closed my eyes, trying not to think on it anymore. Hal hadn't caught me talking to them, Evan hadn't told Hal about them, and Evan had covered for us when Mr. Aubrey was being a bitch about us missing.

But sleep wouldn't come to me. It had felt too easy to mingle Evan into our group tonight. He was quiet and laid-back, curious but not prying. But seeing Anika and Thevan reminded me why I couldn't let him join our group.

"Don't let them break you," Anika had said.

Easier said than done, but I'd be damned if I didn't try to make it out of this place in one piece.

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A.N.- Holy shit sorry to hit you guys with a 6.5k word chapter lmao I didn't have time to go through and find a place to split it. Some of the chapters in this story are definitely going to be longer because my writing style has changed a lot and longer chapters have been part of that recently. I'll try to keep them a normal length, but just be prepared for the occasional long chapter here and there