As it neared 6:45, I got up from my desk and stretched. Hal was lying on his bed, reading a textbook and taking notes, but he looked up at me.

"Where are you going?" he asked, already on edge after what happened at lunch today.

"The library," I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder after shoving some notebooks in it.

"I'll come," he said, starting to get up.

"Hal," I said, holding up a hand and shaking my head. "I just want to go do some homework and read for a little. I'll be fine."

He pursed his lips, staring me down. "Have you been fine, Griffin?" he said at last. "And don't bullshit me."

"What do you want me to say? It hasn't been sunshine and rainbows, but I'm managing. It's just high school. Who cares if I'm not part of the it crowd anymore?" I said.

"What did the Headmaster say to you?" Hal demanded.

"Nothing out of the usual. Blah, blah, make sure Hal is behaving, you were a little bitch, blah. He's a broken record at this point. But Evan reminded him I was there to give a statement on what happened, and then we left," I said. "He wasn't...I wasn't in trouble."

Hal looked upset, which channeled itself into anger as he tossed his notebook against the wall. "The second I graduate, I'm punching him in the face."

"Give me a heads up so I can record it," I said.

"Better fucking go viral," he grumbled. "Fine, but just text me, alright? Tension in this place is breaking and it's a pain in the ass."

"Yea. I'll text you," I said, grateful I had him looking out for me in this place. "Hal? Thanks."

"Don't thank me for caring about you, dumbass," he said.

"Third time in the hour. Better pick up the pace, you're running out of time," I said, heading for the door.

I left the dorm and tossed my bag behind a set of bushes before making my way towards the path. It was a little chilly out tonight, but it just meant less students wandering the campus. As I approached the hill leading off, I spotted Evan sitting on the ground.

He got to his feet. "Where are we going?"

"Just follow me," I said, starting down the hill carefully.

He kept pace beside me. "You know, people keep warning me about you, but I heard there are a bunch of kids in another Maroon rotation that everyone is gunning for. So why all the fuss over you?"

"I guess I'm famous in my own right," I said, catching his arm as he stumbled a little. "I don't exactly have the power to get away with it anymore."

He didn't question it further. I was starting to appreciate his ability to contain his nosiness. It was a relief not to have to explain what I'd done.

I'd long ago accepted that I wasn't a good person. I tried to do the right thing, and I tried to generally be nice to people, but when it came right down to it, I had priorities in my life and Hal was one of them. He'd always been a Maroon, and that meant I'd had to play dirty if I wanted to keep him safe.

But I did remember. I remembered Mel's best friend, Amanda. I remembered framing her for something Hal had done to protect him from the punishment. I remembered the tears in her eyes when she demanded to know why I'd done that to her. And I remembered her expression when I told her it was because she was nothing to me if it meant keeping Hal safe.

I wasn't a good person.

I kept walking, pushing those thoughts from my mind. This damned Academy warped people, but I knew I was still responsible for my own actions.

We reached the bottom of the hill without injury, and started into town. Despite the chill, it was a nice night out, the sky clear and stars twinkling overhead. There weren't many people out as we hit the town, which was a relief.

I led Evan to the gas station, and we went inside together. It was quiet in there, and we went to the back to get drinks out of the cooler. We paid for them and I took Evan to one of the tables away from the windows, sitting down with him.

"You didn't tell me you were bringing a friend."

"Neither did you," I said, looking up at Anika and Thevan.

"He likes to follow me," Anika said, sitting down, Thevan taking the seat next to her with a grin.

"Thought you'd want to see me, Griffy," he said.

"Thank you for blessing my eyes," I said. I gestured loosely to Evan. "This is Evan. Evan, that's Anika and Thevan."

"Hey," Evan greeted, easy smile on his face.

"He's new," Thevan said, then furrowed his brow. "Wait, no, I saw him with you guys at Denny's. Still new, though."

"He's new to the Academy," I said, and left it at that. Hopefully they'd assume a transfer this late into senior year would mean he was a Maroon.

"Another victim to the establishment," Thevan said.

"You guys went there?" Evan said.

"Unfortunately," Anika said. "Graduated two years ago, though. That was back when Griffy here was just a little 15 year old."

"Our knight in a shining Blue vest," Thevan said.

"I made it look good," I said.

"No one makes those vests look good," Anika said. She reached over and helped herself to my drink. "Why'd you call, Griffin?"

She knew damn well why I'd called, but she didn't know how to play this out in front of Evan. There was no point hiding it from him, though. He'd been there when the Headmaster threatened me, and he'd seen my anger.

"The Headmaster is threatening Hal again," I said. "And I...keep losing my temper."

"The fucking Headmaster," Thevan said in disgust. "Someone should threaten the people he loves. Wonder how he'd feel if I just sucker punched that precious little ginger kid of his."

"He would have you arrested," Anika said. At Thevan's look, she shrugged. "Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers."

"His kids aren't the problem," I said.

Thevan barked a laugh. "Did you really just say that to me, Griffin? Did you forget it was Constance's shithead son who turned me in for defacing the side of that building? And someday that bitch boy will run the place and threaten other kids' friends."

Anika put a hand on Thevan's arm but didn't try to ease his anger. That was a waste of breath. She knew after years of trying.

"I wish I had answers you wanted to hear, Griffin. I'd love to see that place burn. But your best bet is to walk the line there," Anika said, grimacing at the thought.

"Why?" Evan said, the smile gone from his face. "I saw the way Constance treated Griffin. Why should he have to sit there and take that?"

"Oh, he's real damn new, isn't he?" Thevan said, a dark grin curling his lips.

"Yea, I am, and that doesn't mean I'm a pushover. If someone is treating you like that, you shouldn't just take it," Evan said.

"You think kids haven't tried to fight back?" Thevan said, and gestured between himself and Anika. "You're lookin' at 'em, kid. Constance is a piece of fucking work. He beat us down, over and over again. And when we snapped from the pressure, he punished us and said we deserved it. He fucks up kids, and then blames them when they act out."

"Which is exactly why someone needs to put their foot down and stop him," Evan argued.

"We went to him for help," Thevan said, his voice suddenly quiet, a sea before the storm. The waters were churning but the waves hadn't risen yet. "We...I...I needed help. And instead, he took everything from me. He took every outlet I had. Who does that to a kid?"

"There is no winning against him," I said, suddenly feeling exhausted. "There's only getting through it."

Evan, for the first time since I'd met him, looked angry as his eyes searched all of our faces. "There's always a group in power, and they always tell the other group there's no hope. Always. Accepting that? It's bullshit. He's only winning because you're all letting him."

"Easy for you to say if you haven't faced his wrath before," Anika said.

"No, I haven't," Evan said. "But you think I haven't seen this kind of shit before? It's disgusting. And it's pathetic to see you all just taking it in stride and telling yourselves you're doing the right thing by going with the flow."

Thevan stood up so fast that Anika had to catch his chair before it fell. His arms trembled as he slapped his palms against the table and gripped the edge of it.

"I tried to fight back," Thevan snarled. "We all did. We all lost."

Evan was unphased by his anger, meeting his eyes. "So try again."

Thevan let out a humorless laugh. "Oh, Griff, what'd you drag along? He's stupid."

Anika pulled money from her pocket and pried Thevan's hand away from the table, pushing the money into it. "Go buy us drinks."

Thevan shot her a glare but left the table. Anika twirled a lock of hair around her finger, staring down Evan but not speaking.

Finally, she shifted her gaze to me. "I would love to see you fight back. I would just hate to see you end up like my brother."

"You owe me another drink," I said, snatching the well-drained bottle from her.

"Griffin," she said. "It wasn't your fault."

I tightened my grip on my drink. "I was a Blue back then, Anika."

"And it wasn't your job to protect Thevan," she said. "It wasn't your job to help him, either. That was the Academy's job. And they failed." She turned her gaze to Evan. "He's a Blue, isn't he?"

"You're looking at me. You could just ask me," Evan said.

"That's a yes, then," she said. "It's easy for you to talk about fighting back. Griffin used to cause a stir, too. Now he's on a leash so tight it might as well be a noose."

"Griffy."

I looked over at Thevan. He tossed three drinks on the table and gestured at me to follow him. I got up, and he led me out of the gas station, leaning against the edge of it and tugging his beanie off, his hair a mess beneath it.

"He doesn't get it yet," I said. "Evan, I mean. Or maybe he does, but he just doesn't care."

"Yea, well, I'm quick to fly off the rails," he said. "Kid's got a point. We all just keep lying down and letting Constance step on us. Maybe someone should fight back."

"Cara's friends are, and they're giving him a run for his money. It's not my job," I said.

"Because you're scared for Hal," he said, sneering as he said Hal's name. "Hal can handle himself."

"I'm not taking the risk," I said flatly.

"I get it, man. I do. Constance threatened my sister, and I'd go to war for her. But that was a war I knew I'd lose. I was stupid enough to try anyways," Thevan said. He glanced up towards the sky and fidgeted with the beanie in his hands. "It was a shitty time. You know that."

"It's a shitty place," I said. "You got a point here? It's cold out."

"Asshole," he said without malice. "My point is that back then, I started tagging buildings. I'd leave all these hateful messages, I'd destroy things. I use my art for a purpose now. Constance stole a lot from me back then, but I'm getting it back for myself."

He had come a long way. I knew that. "Try telling that to Hal. He's still salty about that fight where Anika broke his finger."

Thevan grinned a little. "He dislocated my shoulder. He earned that."

"Try telling that to Hal," I repeated.

"No thanks. I'd rather not go another round with him," Thevan said. His grin faded. "That place takes a lot from you if you let it. And, man, I let it. Anika let it. You're letting it. All I'm saying is, stupid as he sounds, kid's got a point there."

He went back into the gas station and I followed him. We took our seats and I grabbed one of the drinks, tossing my nearly empty one to Anika to finish off.

I changed the topic from the Academy, hoping Evan got the picture by now. The twins were angry. It'd been two years since they'd graduated, but they were still recovering from their time there. I hoped Evan saw that, so he'd stop thinking it was so easy to just raise the middle finger to Constance.

Evan slipped into our conversation easily as we talked about TV shows, movies, music, things around town, whatever we could scrape up for conversation. Jordan was right about how easy he was to talk to.

Thevan checked his phone and got up. "I'm out. Places to be."

"Thevan," Anika said, shooting him an irritated look.

"Chill, we're going to the cinema," Thevan said, flashing his phone to her. "Might tag it after, but our initial intention is to just watch a film."

"You're the worst," Anika said.

"Love you too. Catch you later, Griffy," Thevan said and left the gas station.

Anika leaned back in her chair and stretched a little. "It's getting late. You better head back before they check the rooms."

"Hal will cover for me," I said.

"I know that, but if you're gone too long Hal will get suspicious," Anika said. "Is he still swearing up a storm, or did they cut him off?"

"He lost access to the word 'shit' and the phrase 'son of a bitch'. His latest trend is 'for fuck's sake', and when that's gone, he'll think up something new," I said, rolling my eyes. "You know how he is."

Anika leaned forward a little. "Griffin, I've been thinking it over while we talked. I told you not to let that place break you but..." She shrugged. "I'm still trying to get my brother back. I know what defeat looks like. If you want to give them hell, we'll help."

Of course I wanted to. I wanted to punch Constance in the face and burn his whole empire to the damn ground.

But I also wanted to get through this year without Hal paying for my anger.

"I can't," I said at last.

"Hal would smack you for talk like that," Anika said.

"Good thing he's not here." I stood up. "Let's go, Evan."

"Griffin," Anika said, reaching out and catching my hand. On instinct, I shifted our fingers so the pattern of the ring she always wore wouldn't press into my skin too hard. She tugged me closer, her brown eyes meeting mine with a steady gaze. "Don't let him take who you are. That's what I should've said to you instead."

She squeezed my hand and released it. My hand was warm from the contact, and I couldn't tear my gaze from hers.

She stood up, handing me her unfinished drink. "I guess I owe you this. I'll talk to you later, Griffy." She paused as she turned to leave, looking over her shoulder at me. My heart ached as she smiled. "Oh, and Griff? I like this one better than Hal. He didn't tell me to fuck myself on the bottle."

"You have very low standards. Guess I should thank Hal for that," Evan said, smiling. "I'll keep an eye on him."

"You better," Anika said seriously before leaving the gas station.

Evan touched my arm. "Come on. We still have a workout ahead of us."

We left together and I tucked my hands in my pockets to protect them from the chill biting at our exposed skin. Anika's words ran through my mind.

I hadn't let Constance break me. As long as I had Hal, nothing would break me.

But he'd changed me. He was taking who I was. From smug and confident, he'd reduced me to swallowing the truths in my chest and saying whatever would please him. There was a day I never would've hesitated to antagonize him and the Blues, and he'd taken that from me. Piece by piece, he'd stripped away who I was without me even realizing it.

As we reached the hill, I put a hand out to stop Evan. He stopped, looking from me to the hill.

"Look, I know it sucks, but we still need to walk it. I'm not sleeping on the ground," he said.

"You hate the system here," I said.

He nodded, no hesitation. "Oppressing others to keep a foolish status quo? Yea, Griffin, I hate the system here."

"We don't need to get him," I said. "We just need to shake things up. I can't change this place. I'm not foolish enough to try. But we can give them hell before we go."

Evan grinned, wide and wild. "I like that talk."

I knew it was killing Hal to see me bow my head to Constance. And it was killing me, too.

"Let's be a thorn in that bastard's side," I said, starting up the hill.

"Right behind you," Evan said, even as he stepped up to my side.

It was risky. Maybe it was foolish. But I wouldn't let this place take anymore than it already had from me. Time to get off my ass and fight for my dignity.

I pictured Thevan, thought of what he'd told me outside of the gas station. And I thought of those brown eyes locked on mine. It wasn't just me who'd fallen victim to my mistakes here.

I looked at Evan. He had even more power than I had when I was a Blue. It wasn't a sure-fire defense, but it'd buy us breathing room.

Constance sat at the top of his oppressive kingdom, ready to squash any rebellion. So it was time for a little guerilla warfare around this place.