This chapter is dedicated to Riyaagr1 . Go check out their work "Confusion"!
~~~~~

Most people I knew hated hospitals - either the smell, or the atmosphere, or some characteristic all hospitals seem to share. But for some reason, I'd never really felt that. Hospitals felt safe. Clean. Orderly.

They existed in their own time, too. A different universe, where things seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time, in a sort of perpetual fluorescent-light day.

Due to that, I'm not sure what time it was when I fell asleep in the waiting room, or what time it was when I was gently shaken awake by my father and driven back to campus.

"It's just a mild concussion and a little scrape that needs some stitches," he told me over the low hum of the radio as I stretched and yawned myself awake. "He'll probably be back out tomorrow. I'm just glad you were there to find him, Mari."

I took a deep breath and slowly released it. "There was just a lot of blood. I was worried it'd be a lot more serious."

The SUV hummed up the drive to St. Frances and rolled to a quiet stop. Dad propped his arm on the steering wheel and twisted to face me.

"I hope you don't think your mother and I are horrible parents for sending you and Adam here."

Whatever I was feeling about the move, I couldn't unload all of that on Dad's shoulders right now. "No. I don't think you're horrible. Just mildly boring," I joked in spite of the hollow feeling in my heart.

Dad faked a blow to the chest. "My favorite child thinks that? I hope it's just a side effect of spending my days around all those dull politicians."

"Until you realize you are one of 'those dull politicians'."

"Will you consider me cool again if I tell you I won't mind if you skip class tomorrow?" he bribed.

"Deal." I unclicked my seatbelt and leaned over for a hug. "Keep me posted on how Adam's doing."

"Will do. Love you, Mari," he called after me as I hopped out of the car.

"Love you too."

The car purred off down the drive, and I let the weight of worry and responsibility settle over me again. At least Adam would be okay. Words couldn't express the fear I had felt, seeing him on the floor covered in blood, fearing losing my twin as I waited at the hospital for my parents to arrive.

Campus was completely dark and silent. Curfew was at 10, but the cold air was washing the drowsiness from my mind and I didn't want to go back upstairs to my silent room. Instead, I wandered around to the courtyard encircled by the dorms, and spotted a bench half covered by a lilac bush. I sank down and wrapped my arms around me. A small sliver of the lake glinted between the buildings, the moonlight turning it silver.

Clang.

I whipped my head around. A rustling noise was coming from around the corner of the building, and I could make out frantic whispers.

"Watch it! I'm not sitting in detention again because you idiots got us caught!"

"Chill out, Reginald. They won't crack down on breaking curfew until the third week of semester."

I almost choked at the name Reginald. 

I wasn't interested in having the whole "yeah hi I'm Marina I know I'm a girl and I'm at a school for boys and I'm currently breaking curfew even though I'm on thin ice already because my twin had a seizure and went to the hospital" conversation, so I tucked up my knees under myself and sank back into the shadows.

Three figures rounded the corner of the building, dressed in black with stocking caps. Two were carrying a ladder, and the other held a bag, looking cautiously over his shoulder every few steps.

Not exactly normal, but who was I to interfere? That wouldn't help anything. I didn't want to be labelled a snitch the first day.

Er, night.

The first two propped the ladder up against the dormitory wall with a grunt. The third pulled something out of the bag and began climbing. "Warn me if anyone is coming," he hissed down at the others.

"Just hurry. I shouldn't be risking my perfect record for this."

"Shut up, Reggie," said the taller one still on the ground. "No one cares about your perfect record. Your parents can buy you a spot in any university you want."

Reggie, who I assumed was Reginald, whispered up to the one on the ladder. "Almost done?"

"Give me a second!" came the whispered reply. There was a hissing sound, like aerosol, and an acrid scent drifted down to my nose. Could it be... spray paint?

The hissing stopped and the guy on the ladder clambered down. Reggie and the other guy picked up the ladder, the graffiti artist grabbed his bag, and they ran off as quickly as they had arrived. The whole thing was over in about ten minutes.

I stayed glued to the bench as long as I could after they disappeared, my heart pounding. Who would graffiti a dorm? Why would any of these pampered kids resort to something like that?

Fear suddenly loomed up in my mind. That was about the place where Adam's room would be. What if someone had found out about the seizure? What if people were going to bully him about it? That stress could push him over the edge.

That thought was enough motivation for me to unglue myself from the bench. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears as I jogged over to the side of the dorm and stared up in disbelief.

Thankfully, Adam's window, marked by a row of books sitting on the windowsill, was pristine. Next to it, I could clearly see my window, with the light pink curtains and dreamcatcher I had hung over it -- and in bright red letters spray painted across the glass, "BITCH".

___

"Don't forget, your typed lab report will be due next Tuesday, so get started on that, and keep up in the reading or you'll fall behind." Mr. Nielson, eleventh grade Chemistry teacher, raised his voice to be heard over the bell and the scraping of students packing up their belongings. "I know it's only the second day, but don't procrastinate or you'll regret it!"

I slung my bag over my shoulder and pushed my way out into the hall. With every step, I could feel the eyes on me, but only one thing kept reverberating through my mind. Bitch. Bitch. Bitch. Last night, as I lay in bed watching the moonlight stream through the ugly letters, I had been too stunned and confused to cry. Even now, I felt only a dry anger burning through me.

Chem was my last class of the day, so I turned my steps toward the administration building, as per the note I had been handed during history class. M. Pendleton, see Dean Winters in Cordell Rm. 206 immediately following your last class.

Vague and ominous, and not exactly the reassurance I was longing for.

The administrative building, Cordell, was a stone block in the center of campus that housed the staff offices and dormitories. The doors were heavy oak and stained glass panels that creaked as I pushed them open and set out for the dean's office.

Inside room 206, I signed in with the assistant, a middle-aged, skittish guy whose mouth curved perpetually downwards, and took a seat to wait. A 70s throwback radio station was playing softly in the background, and the whole room smelled like mothballs.

The door to the little reception area flew open with a bang, making both the receptionist and me jump. To my surprise, none other than Noah Matthews, Theo's brother, came striding through. "Yes, sir," he was saying over his shoulder to the dean. "I'll make sure he sees it." He turned forward again and his bright gaze landed on me. "Hey! Marina? What the hell happened to you?"

Okay, maybe I looked a little tired, but I didn't look that bad!

"What are you talking about?" I pulled out my phone and opened up the front facing camera. "Oh, crap." I hadn't been too focused while getting ready this morning, but now I could see that my hair was frizzing out all over the place, and at some point I must've rubbed my eyes, smudging my sloppily applied makeup all over my cheeks. No wonder everyone had been looking at me strangely. I looked like I had just come back from the dead.

"Here, don't worry about it." Noah pulled some tissues from the box on the receptionist's desk and handed them to me. "What are you doing in the dean's office?"

I rubbed at the black mascara streaks. "I'm sure you've heard all about what's happened to the dorm. I assume that's why."

To his credit, he simply nodded instead of bombarding me with questions.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"Just picking up some paperwork." He glanced back over his shoulder at the door to the dean's private office, which had swung shut. "Don't be too worried. Dean Winters is just an old grump. You're not in trouble."

"Thanks, Noah." At that moment, the dean, a heavyset man with white hair, opened his door and motioned for me to come in. "I'll see you around."

"Right, the rowing comp today, Theo told me you were coming. Later!" He strode out the door before my mind processed what he had said, and last night's conversation came flooding back to me. A sporting event was really the last thing on my mind, but I had to go now, or whoever painted the window might think I was spineless. I really didn't relish the thought of spending quality time with the people who hated me.

"Ms. Pendleton?" the dean prompted.

"Yes, right, sorry," I muttered, hurriedly ducking into the office and taking a seat in front of the desk. Dean Winters lowered himself into the chair behind the desk with a grunt of effort. He folded his hands together and looked at me with an expression that was all business.

"So, Ms. Pendleton, I assume you know why we called you in today," he began.

"The vandalism? I swear I didn't do anything to provoke it, I've hardly even talked to anyone yet --"

"Relax," he broke in. "You aren't here because we suspect anything on your behalf. We're just trying to get to the bottom of this issue. Do you have any knowledge of who it could've been or when it happened? Did you see or hear anything suspicious?"

I had had a hunch that this question would be coming, and I already knew what I had to say to protect myself from being busted for breaking curfew, and hopefully not provoke any more resentment towards me. "No. Nothing."

Dean Winters sighed like he had been expecting that answer. "I know you're upset, but we don't have any sort of evidence to begin finding the perpetrators, so I'm afraid that we'll most likely hit a dead end with this one. If it continues to happen, we may have to revisit the issue of your presence here. If it causes more disruption among the boys, the board will ask you to leave."

My jaw dropped. "That's not fair! It's not my fault I'm imposing on their stupid boy's club. I didn't even do anything!"

"Ms. Pendleton, please," he reprimanded. "I know it's not fair to you, but it may be the only option. There are many wealthy donors whose children are going to school here, and they expect a certain level of dependability. If they begin pulling their children out, St. Frances will lose much of its prestige and credibility." He stood, signalling that my time was up. "We're doing everything we can, but that's not always enough. If we have any leads, we'll let you know. Have a nice day."

With no other options, I stood and left, letting the door bang shut behind me as I stomped out of the building. I wanted to scream that it wasn't fair, but I had to be a bigger person than that.

Outside, it had gotten muggy and overcast, and the quad was packed with eleventh graders on their free period milling around, already getting in the spirit for the rowing match that afternoon.

I heard snippets of conversations as I stalked past to the dorms.

"Mulligan is supposedly horrible, we'll beat them easily --"

"Didn't you hear, Wesley's out for the first few weeks with a wrist injury --"

"Andrew's taking bets, you should go in with me for a hundred on St. Frances to win by 2 yards --"

Once I was in the dorm, I bolted up the back staircase to my room and shut the door with a sigh. I wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed, but I had to get ready. What does one wear to a rowing match?

My curtains were open, and I could see that the cleaners hadn't managed to get the paint off the window yet. I yanked the curtains shut so I didn't have to see it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Hopefully.

Since we only had to wear uniforms while classes were in session, I changed into denim shorts, a white t shirt, and blue Keds to survive the unseasonably hot weather.

There was a chime from my phone, and I dug it out of my bookbag. There was a message from Sofi, asking if there were any updates on Adam, a message from Jake saying to have a good day, and a few emails. I unlocked my phone with a quick glance at the clock -- the match started at 3, and it was 2:24 -- and opened the email app. Two of the emails were from Twitter, with new suggestions for accounts to follow. The third was from the address [email protected]. 

RE: preppy sports thing
Marina,
Julian and Hikaru will meet you at 2:30 by the statue of Hemingway in the quad for your first true prep school event. DON'T CHICKEN OUT!
Your local Rowing All Star,
Theo

I shook my head at the Rowing All Star bit, grinning to myself. Could the one I picked out as "campus cool guy" be somewhat of a dork?

Wait a minute.

2:30.

Six minutes from now.

Crap.

I stuck my phone and ID in my pockets and darted into the bathroom. I washed off the rest of the makeup smears, dabbed on some more eyeliner, and ran out the door, braiding my hair back as I went.

Hikaru was perched on the pedestal of the Hemingway statue, studying something in the distance, while Julian leaned against Hemingway's leg and scrolled through something on his phone. As I approached, he looked up and quickly shoved his phone in his pocket.

"She's here," he called to Hikaru, who jumped down from his seat.

"Hey, guys," I told them, crossing my arms. "I hope I'm not too late to tag along?"

"No, of course. It's great to see you again." Julian smiled genuinely, and Hikaru briefly nodded assent. I relaxed a bit. "Ever seen a rowing competition?"

I fell into step with them as they headed down a sloping hill to the glistening lake. "Nope. No audience participation is required, right?"

"Oh, they didn't tell you?" broke in Hikaru. "It's a new sort of inclusive sport. The crowd gets divided up into teams that take turns rowing."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "You're joking. He's joking right?" I asked Julian, slightly desperately.

"Yeah. All you have to do is watch," he reassured. He shoved Hikaru with his shoulder. "Ignore his weird sense of humor," he told me while Hikaru laughed.

We continued down the hill, to a platform over the water that was already teeming with people. Long, flat canoes bobbed in the lake, crewed by teams of 8 boys that moved their oars back and forth in a rhythm as they warmed up. The St. Frances boat was a shiny black and maroon, and the competitors' boat was purple and green.

Someone called to Hikaru, and he headed off. I followed Julian down to the railing.

He nudged me and pointed to the green and purple boat. "That's Mulligan Prep, from across the lake. They may have a better soccer team, but we won't have any trouble beating them at this match."

I watched the St. Frances boat as it skimmed away over the water to the distant line of buoys marking the starting line.

"Did you ever try this?" I asked Julian.

"Yeah, but after I knocked someone out with an oar I decided my talents would be better utilized in an indoor environment."

The Mulligan boat finally pulled to a clumsy stop near the starting markers, just as Hikaru reappeared with a slip of paper in his hand.

"You're gonna get caught one of these days," Julian muttered to him.

"It won't be today," Hikaru replied. "Besides, I don't bet as much as some of them do."

My eyes dropped to the paper in his hand -- a betting slip -- and I looked away quickly. I couldn't see the boats too well, but a hush had fallen over the crowd of boys.

Suddenly, the gunshot sounded, and both boats shot forward. A roar of shouts and cheers rose up as everyone strained toward the railing. As far as I could tell, the boats were neck and neck, but the St. Frances boys on the dock were all shouting and booing, while the Mulligan boys looked pleasantly surprised.

The boats were getting closer and closer, enough that I could see the muscles in their arms straining and hear them chanting out as they rocked back and forth. They were still side by side with only fifty yards to the finish. I found myself raising up on my toes, muttering under my breath for them to push harder.

The St. Frances team finally dug in and their boat surged forward, ahead of the Mulligan boat by a foot, then 2, then a yard. They sailed past the finish line ahead by an entire boat length, and the team all pumped their fists in the air and gave mock salutes to the crowd on the dock.

Even I found myself cheering along, while the Mulligan fans slunk off in defeat. Julian cheered along with me, and Hikaru merely smiled a slight, self-assured half-smile.

The teams began rowing back to the docks, and the crowd slowly began dispersing. Hikaru headed off again, to collect his money, presumably.

Julian was the first to speak. "So, what did you think, Marina?"

"I think I understand the appeal now...that was actually pretty cool. Just don't tell Theo -- wouldn't want to inflate his ego too much."

"Your secret is safe with me. You should bring your brother next time though. I don't think I've seen him around," he mentioned offhandedly.

My heart sank. Here I was enjoying myself at a rowing competition, getting involved in the school experience, while Adam was still in the hospital. I hadn't even called him yet to see how he was doing, and I always did that. I felt horrible.

"Yeah, we'll see," I replied vaguely. "Speaking of which, I need to go call him about something, so..."

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you at dinner or something." Julian paused and cleared his throat. "By the way... I heard about what happened. With the window. I'm really sorry, Marina. Rich kids can be jerks."

I sighed. "I'm alright. It's just annoying. But..." I hesitated. Julian was definitely not as intimidating as Hikaru, or as blunt as Theo. He could probably be trusted. "I saw it happening. I was outside past curfew, which is why I didn't tell the dean this, but I saw three guys dressed in black do it. One was called Reginald. I couldn't really see any of their faces. Do you know anyone with that name?"

Julian frowned. "I don't think so, but I don't know too many people by name. You could try asking Theo, he knows a lot of people."

"Okay." I nodded slowly.

"Are you sure you shouldn't tell the dean about this?"

"I don't want to publicly stir up more trouble. He told me that if more incidents keep happening, they're pretty much going to blame me and kick me out. If I can handle it on my own that'd be ideal."

Julian's eyebrows creased. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"I'll be fine," I drawled. "What else could go wrong? Anyway, I'll see you around."

He waved and I trudged off back up the hill to the dorms, dialing Adam as I went. The phone rang several times before going to the prerecorded message.

"You've reached Adam Pendleton. Leave a messa--"

I hung up. He must've finally gotten to go to sleep after the concussion watch. I realized I never replied to Sofi or Jake, so I quickly tapped out a message to her saying that I hadn't heard anything, and a brief "Hi, how was your day" to him.

The dorm was mostly empty, the students out utilizing the library or still hanging out by the lake, so I allowed myself to indulge my laziness and take the elevator. I dug in my right pocket for my keys, but all my fingers touched were my ID card. I patted the other pocket and my back pockets but found only my phone.

Where the hell were they?

I panicked a bit at the thought that they had fallen out while down by the lake. If people were willing to spray paint the window, surely they wouldn't hesitate to use my (foolishly labelled) keys to break into my room.

Then, in a moment of perfect clarity, in my mind's eye I saw exactly where they were. Still in my bookbag.

I had been in such a rush to leave I had forgotten them.

The elevator let out a soft ding and the doors swept open on my floor. I walked slowly to my door and hopefully tried the doorknob.

It was locked.

Burying my face in my hands, I pressed my back to the door and slowly let myself slide down to the floor. An ache welled up in the back of my throat and I pressed the back of my head to the wall, feeling the tears leak out but not giving in to the sobs. After everything that had happened in the past two days, it was finally catching up with me.

I missed home. I missed it so much it hurt.

I missed my friends, and my family.

I missed being able to understand where I fit in and who I was supposed to be.

Sniffling, I pulled out my phone and, before I could talk myself out of it, dialed Jake's number.

It rang twice before he picked up. "Marina? What are you calling for? I'm kind of in the middle of something --"

I ignored the irritation in his tone and blurted out, "Someone spray painted the word bitch on my window."

There was a beat of silence. "What?"

"And I don't know what I did wrong, and Adam's still in the hospital because he had a seizure and hurt his head, and I just really miss you and my parents and to top it all off I locked myself out of my room and I don't know what to do," I blubbered.

"Oh, baby," he said softly. "I'm so sorry. That's horrible."

I shrugged even though he couldn't see me, the tears still raining down.

"Mari, do you need me to come get you?" he asked.

Surprised, the tears subsided a bit. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course I would. I love you."

A quivering smile spread across my face. "I love you too. But I'll be okay until you have some time to come visit. I know you have a lot going on."

"I know, but you're still important to me."

"That helps to hear, actually." I brushed the tears off my cheeks. "Are you doing okay? I'm sorry I didn't reply to your text sooner."

"I'm alright. Don't worry about me," he soothed. "Just focus on you. I know you'll figure it all out. And Adam will be back soon."

"Thanks, sunshine."

"I'm really sorry, but I've gotta go mind the register. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll go try to find a janitor or something to unlock my door." I sighed. "I guess I'll talk to you later."

"I'll text you tonight," he promised. "Bye, baby. I love you."

"I love you too." I set the phone down and rubbed my eyes. There was no point in sitting around here. I needed to get the door unlocked.

Reenergized with purpose and hope, I took the stairs two at a time, and jogged off towards the main group of buildings, mentally planning a course of action.

1. Get the door unlocked and permanently attach my keys to my hand
2. Find Theo and ask if he knew a Reginald
3. Oh crap, better get started on that paper for history...
4. Nah, dinner before homework. Mm...pizza....

As I was rounding the corner to the library, I ran smack into someone and we both fell back.

"Oof!"

"Ughh.." I groaned and rubbed at the now throbbing knot on my head. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Are you alright..." The words trailed off and I blinked stupidly at the guy on the ground a few feet away, giving me the same look I was giving him.

I'm not usually one to ogle over guys and get butterflies, but this one...

Damn.

Picture the ultimate moviestar dream guy. The wavy dark hair, the puppy dog eyes, the strong, athletic build, the dimples...plus the brilliant smile that he was giving me now.

Get it now?

I scrambled to my feet, self consciously brushing dirt off my pants. "Are you alright?" I repeated, offering a hand.

He took it and pulled himself up. "I think I will be now," he said, meeting my eyes.

Gulp.

"Sorry about that, just, the building was in the way, and I couldn't see around the corner, and I was busy daydreaming about pizza, plus I'm sort of accident prone in general..." Stop talking, stop talking! "So... do you have a name, so I can apologize decently for running you over?" I hedged.

"Oh right, sorry! I'm Aidan." The dimples flashed. "I sort of just forget all the important stuff whenever there's a gorgeous girl around."

Those words were like a bucket of cold water to my butterflies. I prided myself on not falling for lines like that. Besides, I had Jake! What was I doing trying to flirt?

I dropped Aidan's hand, which I hadn't realized I had still been holding. "I'm --"

"Marina," he finished, but immediately looked a bit ashamed. "Sorry, I should've given you a chance to say it, it was just automatic --"

"No, I guess I should've assumed you'd know. Well anyway, I've got to get going --"

"Yeah, me too --"

"Bye then --"

"Will I see you around?" he asked bluntly.

I decided on a polite deflection of what was probably just an innocuous question, which my addled brain was turning into a flirtatious remark. "Probably, it's not that big of a school."

More dimples. "Bye, Marina."

He walked off, and I shook my head and continued jogging down the hill, berating myself for being such a terrible girlfriend.

Forty minutes later, my door was unlocked thanks to the groundskeeper Mr. Holland. Keys back in my possession, I decided that I'd had enough excitement for one afternoon and that I deserved to skip to step 4 of my mental plan - dinner.

The dining hall was a little more crowded tonight, but I barely cared about making an impression. I ducked into the Italian buffet line and loaded my plate with pepperoni pizza. I needed comfort food.

Looking up, I spotted a familiar blond across the room. Weaving and ducking around boys and tables, I headed over to the corner where Theo sat with a few more people I didn't know.

I nudged his chair and he tilted all the way back until he could see me.

"Marina! What'd you think of the match?" he asked with a grin.

"Preppy but cool. Congrats on the win. Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, but sit down a bit and eat before your pizza gets cold." He pulled out a chair and I perched on the edge, smiling cautiously at the boys in the circle. Could one of them have it out for me? No, no, being paranoid wouldn't help anything.

"Guys, this is Marina," Theo announced. "Marina, this is Blake, Jonathan, Alex, Ryan..."

The guys smiled back at me as Theo went around the table in a whirlwind of names. One winked. I felt guilty, but the names were going in one ear and out the other. I had no idea how typical kids in school all remembered each other.

Once introduced, they all continued on with their own conversations, and I dug into my food.

The guy next to me -- his name was... Rakeem? -- leaned in and whispered, "You know, if you get here early enough, you can get the cooks to make whatever kind of pizza you want. No need to settle for pepperoni or cheese."

I shrugged. "I like pepperoni and cheese. Maybe some people call it boring, but I prefer... classic."

He smiled, teeth flashing brightly in comparison to his dark skin. "I can respect that. But you haven't lived until you've had St. Frances donut pizza."

My eyebrows jumped up. "Donut pizza?"

"Secret school tradition. The crust is a glazed donut, with cookie crumbles, icing, and frosted animal crackers on top." He laughed. "Combine that with a RedBull, and you might survive finals week."

"We'll see if I even survive until then," I added drily.

"We have a study group that meets every other night. You should come," he urged. "Most of us are seniors, but we've been here through eleventh grade so we could help you with whatever you need."

I felt a surge of gratitude for this friendly guy. "That would be amazing. Where and when?"

"Does she have the PathWay app?" the boy on Rakeem's right asked. They both turned to me and I shook my head, pulling my phone out.

"I'll get it, hold on a second." I downloaded the app, created a profile with my name and school ID, and a menu popped up listing tabs like Grades, Online Tutoring, Homework Printouts, Connect, and Upcoming Assignments. "Mildly anticlimactic. Now what?"

"Well, for starters, you can use this part to keep track of all your school stuff and classes, which is boring but still helpful. This is where it gets cool." Rakeem took my phone and tapped on a tab labeled KUDOS. A smaller window popped up, asking for an administrative access code.

"Alright," he said, "now I'm only going to tell you this once. The code is 01100010-01110010-01101111 ." He typed it in as he spoke.

The wheels spun in my brain. "Is that... binary? For... b-r-o?" I dropped my head into my hands. "Oh my lord, it's the "bro" code. Gross."

Rakeem and his neighbor laughed and bumped fists. "No one ever guesses it, surprisingly," he said. "Okay, now once you've done that..." He handed me back my phone, and to my surprise, I was now on a page with tabs labelled things like Cheat Sheets, Study Groups, Homework Answers, and Vortex of Teen Anguish.

"That's...ominous. What is all this?"

"A few years ago, a guy named Kyle went here, and he was put in charge of developing an app for the school to organize students' grades and basic stuff like that. But obviously they didn't pay too much attention to what he was actually doing... and Kyle created that portal to be the students' secret guide to actually surviving St. Frances. He told the board that approved the app that KUDOS was just for his own IT maintenance, but KUDOS actually stands for "Kyle Undermines Dictators Oppressing Students"."

"Uh-huh." I pointed at the tab for Vortex of Teen Anguish. "And that...?"

"Mostly a dump for people to vent their complaints about teachers or assignments. Tread carefully. The other stuff is pretty self explanatory. Search for "The School of Athens" under Study Groups and you can join our group to get info on meeting times and subjects we'll be working on in the study sessions."

"Just don't rat us out," butted in Theo, who was finally finished with his other side conversations. He shook a warning finger at me, which I swatted aside.

"I won't! Girl Scout's honor." Rakeem handed me back my phone, and I thanked him and slid it back into my pocket.

Theo rocked his chair back on two legs. "So, you said you needed to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah, can we go somewhere private?"

"Sure." The two of us stood up, amid some suggestive whistles and winks that made me roll my eyes and Theo smirk. We dumped our dishes in the cart and headed out the door, much like the previous night.

After checking that no one was around, I relayed the events of the previous night and my conversation with the dean to him. It all seemed longer and longer ago every time I thought about it.

Theo's expression had deepened to a frown by the time I summed up, asking if he knew anyone named Reginald.

"Honestly, no, Marina. I guess they could've been using different names, or maybe it's just someone I don't know. Either way, it's sick. And it sucks that you can't really do anything about it."

I put my hands on my hips and studied the fading light playing on the edges of the library building. "What if I could do something about it?"

"Outside the borders of the St. Frances Code of Conduct, I assume."

"Most likely."

"Then consider me all for vigilante justice. Want any help?"

"How good are your vigilante skills?"

"I've watched all of the Marvel movies and I did a film studies paper on James Bond. A paper on which I got an A-, by the way."

I pretended to consider. "Deal."

He jumped in the air and pumped a fist. "Yes! What's the plan?"

"Whoa, hold on. Nothing yet. Just lay low and see what happens."

"Got it."

I nodded. "Well, alright then. Thanks for the help."

"No problem. Hey, have you chosen your weekend electives yet?"

Weekends at St. Frances were never considered "time off". Every student chose two extra classes, which would meet every Saturday for a semester. I'd scanned through the options, and there were a lot to choose from, such as Art, Film, Dance, Choir, Music, Photography, and so on.

"Not yet. They don't start this Saturday, do they?"

"No, next. You should take Film Studies, Mr. Jacobson is the best teacher here. Photography should be cool too, mostly because Julian and I are taking it."

"I suppose you think any class with you in it is cool?"

He smirked. "Pretty much. Except cooking. I set one of the ovens on fire last year." He turned to go. "Later, Marina. Join the study group!" he hollered over his shoulder.

"Bye!" I trekked up the hill for the fourth time that day. My legs were starting to get sore, and I made a mental note to start running again.

Once in my room, I collapsed on my bed with a groan. My gaze fell on the pile of homework sitting on my desk, but I was too tired to care. Tomorrow was Saturday anyway, I had time to procrastinate.

I looked away from the accusing stack of papers and I noticed a strip of light shining from underneath the connecting door.

I sat bolt upright.

Adam was back!

I jumped off my bed and knocked on the door once before twisting the knob and pushing it open. " Adam! Why didn't you tell me you'd be back so soon, I would've been here! So, what did --"

My voice trailed off as I took in the scene in front of me: my recently hospitalized brother, with his arms wrapped around my best friend, and surprise on both of their faces.

"What the hell?"

~~~~~~~~~
New characters!!
Aidan

Rakeem

Let me know what you think!