Jordan didn't talk to me as I entered the room. He just kept working on his homework, pretending I didn't exist.

                I put my headphones in and played music, playing games on my phone to kill time. I'd stopped to get dinner before heading back to the dorms, so I only to kill two hours until heading to the library.

                I don't know why Jin had such a specific schedule for me, but it was best to just play along for now. Once things settled, maybe I could slip out of his deal and let him handle the abuse here. I could play along until the Blues started to leave me alone, and then back out of the deal. Jin was right; the Blues wouldn't believe him even if he tried to sell me out for working with him.

                As it got closer to eight, I stood up with my homework. Jordan glanced over at me as I packed my bag.

                "Awkward silence is great and everything, but I'm going to head to the library. Feel free to come beat the shit out of me and expect that to solve your problems," I said, leaving the dorm before he could respond to that.

                I left the dorm building and went down to the library. I took the elevator to the basement and went back into the room I'd been in yesterday, looking around.

                It was abandoned, so I took up a desk at the end of the room and pulled out the homework I hadn't been able to focus on in the Peer Program. I was tempted to put my headphones on, but I wanted to know if anyone came into the room. If I got caught off guard now, I'd be in a lot of trouble. There was no one in here to save me this time.

                So I kept my headphones out and I got to work, occasionally glancing up to see if anyone had come in without me noticing. But as my homework pile diminished, no one came in. I had a feeling most kids studied on the higher floors of the library, where it was probably warmer and less creepy.

                By the time I'd finished my homework, it was nearly eleven. I pulled a book out of my bag and flipped it open, letting myself get lost in the pages.

                I'd done a lot of reading in the hospital after I'd been injured. It had been a nice release, a way for me to escape since I couldn't leave the hospital. Reading was really all that had kept me sane back then.

                I got wrapped up in the words I was reading, my mind disappearing into the fictional world I held in my hands. It was nice to escape my situation. Nice to imagine myself as a hero with two working legs and magic all around me.

                I might've read in the library all night if my phone hadn't vibrated. It startled me out of my reading and I set my book down, picking up the phone.

                It was three minutes to midnight, and it had just been a notification to update one of my apps. I hastily shoved the book in my bag and left the room, winding down the hallways and taking the elevator up.

                I didn't see anyone as I left the library. It was open until one in the morning, but I doubted most people stayed there much past ten.

                Once I was out of the library, I stepped off the walking path and looked around. I would've completely missed Jin if he hadn't to stand up right as my eyes scanned over the area he'd been sitting at.

                "Wow, he actually came," Karson said, getting to his feet. "Why are we bringing him again? This is a pretty bad idea, even for you, Jin."

                "Shut up and let's go," Jin said.

                Lev, Amelia, and Isaac also stood up. They all work dark clothes and Jin tossed a black jacket to me.

                "Harder to spot us," he said as I caught it.

                "Spot us?" I said, pulling the jacket on and zipping it up. "Just what the hell are we doing at midnight? Dude, this is super sketchy."

                "Shut up and follow us," Jin said, starting to walk.

                Karson flanked one side of Jin while Isaac flanked the other. Lev and Amelia hung back with me, but they didn't talk to me.

                We approached the academic building and they slowed down, carefully creeping around to the back of the building. I raised an eyebrow as we stood at the backdoor.

                "It's going to be locked. What are we doing here?" I asked.

                "Amelia," Jin said. He leaned against the wall as Amelia stepped forward towards the code box at the door.

                The others were watching Amelia, but I eyed Jin. His face looked alarmingly pale, and the wall seemed to be the only thing supporting him.

                Amelia had typed something into the code box and the light flickered from red to green. She pulled the door open and Jin pushed himself off the wall slowly, making sure his steps were steady before letting his hand drop to his side.

                We entered the academic building and I looked around nervously. This was definitely breaking some rules.

                But the others seemed at ease as they twisted down the hallways until we reached a classroom. They tested the handle, looking satisfied when it opened.

                "I told you I'd be able to keep it from locking," Karson said smugly.

                "Shut up," Jin said. He was leaning against a desk. "Shut the door and get to work."

                "Get to work?" I said as they shut the door and flicked the lights on. "Just what the hell are you doing?"

                "Showing you what it is we do here," Jin said. "Everything is small scale right now, but we'll target Adam Constance before long. We need to start small, experiment with some things. Why isn't anyone guarding the damn door?"

                "I'll get it," Lev said, heading towards the door.

                Amelia pulled the flash drive out. "You're currently standing in Mr. Langley's room," she explained, heading over towards the teacher's desk. "He's a Maroon teacher and a total jackass. Two girls tried to get him back after he slut-shamed their friend, but he caught them and physically and verbally attacked them so bad in class the next day that one of them started crying and refused to talk to anyone the rest of the week."

                "Amelia hacked Mr. Kean's emails to get into a conversation several of the teachers were having with Headmaster Constance," Isaac said. "Now we can get back at Mr. Langley for what he did!"

                "You weren't even there, little bastard," Karson said, shoving Isaac out of his way. "You were living your sheltered Blue life."

                "But Mrs. Benson saw that girl crying and instead of helping, she sent her to Mr. Constance's office for being a disruption!" Isaac said.

                Amelia was typing away at the computer now. Lev was peeking out of the door. Karson and Isaac had started arguing with each other.

                "Don't forget what we're here to do. Shut up, you two," Jin said.

                I looked over, surprised by how slow his words came out, like he was having trouble focusing. He was walking down the row of desks with something in his hands, but he set it on an empty desk.

                "Do what we need to do so we can leave," he said. He stopped, swaying again, pressing a hand to his forehead. "No. Shit." His voice was quiet, choked.

                Lev spun around, eyes wide. "Catch him!"

                We stared at him for a moment. Lev's panic grew and he hurried forward, pointing at Jin.

                "Catch him!" he repeated frantically.

                I was closest to Jin, so I saw the moment his face turned an almost sickly green, his eyes closing as he swayed. He started to drop forward and I dropped my cane, throwing my arms out to grab him, yanking him sideways before his head could smack against a desk. Karson surged forward and caught his other half.

                The two of us fell to the ground under Jin's dead weight. I let out a yelp of pain as my leg buckled under me, and I just barely managed to keep my hold on Jin.

                Lev and Isaac reached us. Karson let out an annoyed sigh and pulled Jin off of me, rolling him onto his side and settling Jin's head in his lap.

                "Of all the damn times for him to do this," Karson said impatiently.

                "Isaac, go watch the door," Amelia called from the laptop. "Karson's not good at reorienting Jin."

                Isaac frowned and nodded, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Jin was out cold, his breath hitching.

                "Shouldn't we get help?" I asked, feeling as panicked as Lev had looked.

                "Nah," Karson said, his hand on Jin's shoulder to make sure Jin stayed on his side.

                "He just fainted!" I cried, trying to ignore the growing ache in my bad leg.

                "Yea, he does that sometimes," Karson said. "Usually at inconvenient times, like right now. He'll be conscious in a minute. He'll be up and walking around within ten minutes."

                "Hey, was Liv's last name spelled with an E or an I?" Amelia asked.

                "E," Lev called over his shoulder. He seemed more relaxed now that Jin was safely on the ground. He pulled Jin's hat off, pushing his hair around. "He didn't hit his head, right?"

                "No, I pulled him away from the desks," I said, my heart hammering. How heartless were these people? Their friend had just fainted!

                Lev sat back. "Good. I guess we just have to wait for him to wake up. Kai, can you get that book he put on the desk? I think it was the attendance log. Jin must've wanted something with it."

                I tried to get up and let out a hiss of pain at my leg. Lev got up and carefully helped me to my feet, handing me my cane.

                "Is your leg alright?" he asked. "Can you still walk?"

                "My leg will never be alright," I snapped, trying to stretch it out as the pain steadily throbbed through it.

                I limped away from him, throwing my weight to my good side and moving slowly. I grabbed the attendance book off of the desk.

                "Oh, he's up," Karson said.

                I looked over as Jin blinked his eyes, his gaze darting around the room, his breath hitching more. Lev reached out and placed a hand on his arm.

                "Hey, Jin, you're okay," he said gently. "It's me, Lev. Karson and I have you. You're okay. What do you remember?"

                "I don't...I'm..." Jin's voice was weak, panicked. "Where..."

                "The academic building. You're in the academic building," Lev said. "You fainted again."

                "I don't remember. I don't remember." Jin pressed a palm to his eyes, digging it in like he could force his memories back. "What...?"

                Lev pulled his hand away. "When was the last time you ate?"

                Jin's gaze was darting around again, like he couldn't focus on anything. "I don't remember."

                "He had toast this morning. Didn't see him eat at lunch. I don't think he went for dinner, either," Karson said. "Can you wake up already so you can get off my lap? My leg is falling asleep."

                "Jin," Lev groaned. "You can't skip meals."

                Karson started to shift but Jin gripped his slacks. "No. Still dizzy."

                "Jeez," Karson said, settling again. "Such a fucking pain. Hurry up. The longer we're here, the better chance we'll have of getting caught."

                "I'm almost done!" Amelia said from the teacher's desk. "See if you can get him walking in five minutes so we can leave."

                "So this is just a common thing that happens?" I said in disbelief. "He just faints and you all roll your eyes and wait for him to get back up and carry on?"

                "Yea," Karson said. "That about sums it up."

                "Does anything hurt?" Lev asked.

                "No. I don't think so." Jin pressed his palm against his eyes again. "I have a headache. I don't remember what happened."

                "You picked the worst possible time to pass out," Karson said. "You have us doing the Langley revenge job, dumbass."

                "Langley..." He slowly shook his head, wincing and pressing his palm harder against his eyes. "Yea, the academic building. The flash drive. But I don't remember...when did I..."

                "It's okay," Lev said. "Don't think about it, Jin. You were only out for a minute. Just take your time and we'll leave when you can walk."

                "Walk..." He slowly pulled his hand palm away from his eyes. "Kai was with us, wasn't he?"

                "He still is," I said.

                Jin looked at his trembling hand. He lifted his head off Karson's lap slowly, but laid back down, closing his eyes until the dizziness had passed.

                I sat down, my leg threatening to give out on me if I didn't. Shit, I should've been more careful catching Jin.

                It was about two more minutes before Jin attempted to sit up again. Karson and Lev helped pull him up so he wouldn't fall. His face paled and he gripped his head, trying to adjust to being up.

                "Get me to my feet," he said. His voice was still weak, but he didn't sound panicked anymore.

                Karson and Lev helped haul Jin to his feet. He swayed badly and caught himself against Karson's shoulder.

                "Jin, take it slow," Lev said.

                "We don't have time to take it slow," he said, pulling his hat back on. "We've got to finish up here and get going. I'm fine. Get off me."

                "You're on me," Karson said impatiently.

                "Shut up." Jin pushed himself off Karson and steadied himself against a desk. "Where's the attendance book?"

                "Here," I said, picking it up and holding it out to him.

                He took it and eyed me. "Did you try to catch me?"

                "I'm the reason you didn't crack your stupid head open," I said, rubbing my bad leg.

                "I'll take that as a sign you're growing fond of me," he said, flipping open the attendance book.

                "Next time you faint, I'm going to let you crack your head open," I grumbled.

                "Noted." He slid a finger down the page and nodded to himself. "Karson, third row, second desk from the back."

                Karson pulled a blue marker off of the teacher's desk and went over to the desk Jin had said. He marked a large blue X across it.

                "What's that for?" I asked.

                "A student who was selling out Maroon students to teachers and the Blues. We mark their desks when we find them. It lets the others know not to trust them," Jin explained, tossing the attendance book into the trash. He checked the time and let out an impatient sigh. "I was down for too long. We need to get going."

                "I'm done," Amelia said, shutting the laptop and tossing the flash drive into her bag.

                "Can you walk?" Lev asked Jin.

                "Don't baby me. If I couldn't walk, I wouldn't be on my feet," Jin said.

                I forced myself to get up, leaning heavily on my cane. My leg dragged under me, a dead weight. We left the classroom, flicking the lights off. Isaac was crouched by the door, looking up at us as we emerged.

                "Oh, you're awake," he said to Jin, standing up.

                "No shit," Jin said, walking past him. "Let's get out of here."

                Jin kept the pace slow so I could keep up. My leg was killing me, and I couldn't help the hisses of pain that escaped me as I dragged it along. But Jin also still seemed unsteady on his feet, so the two of us sluggishly made our way through the hallways, the others watching us, ready to catch us if either of us fell.

                We made it outside with no incidents. I leaned heavily against the wall, taking the weight off my leg and letting it rest.

                "You fucking owe me," I snarled at Jin, rubbing my leg.

                Jin rubbed his head and shrugged. He waited a few minutes, checking the time anxiously but letting me rest.

                "We need to move," he said. "Isaac, follow Kai back to make sure he reaches the dorm, but keep your damn mouth shut and don't be seen."

                "Yes, sir!" Isaac said, saluting him.

                "I don't need a kid watching me," I said in irritation.

                "If you fall, you'll be stuck outside on the ground all night," Jin said. "But, hey, your risk to take."

                I glared at him but reluctantly nodded. He was also leaning against the wall, still rubbing his head.

                "Headache?" Lev guessed.

                "It'll pass by the morning," Jin said dismissively. "Kai, if anyone asks, you were at the library catching up on work. You didn't see any of us. If they ask about your leg, it's just stiff from sitting so long." He started to push himself off the wall, but rubbed at his head again. "Right, we'll get you up the elevator for lunch tomorrow."

                With that, he started off. Lev and Karson hurried to follow Jin, and Amelia glanced at us and shrugged before following them. Isaac pointed at me.

                "Take the jacket off before you reach the dorms," he said. "Jin probably forgot he gave it to you. He gets really forget after he faints."

                I unzipped the jacket and stuffed it in my bag. The two of us started down the path, Isaac stepped off it so he was out of the light.

                "I'm still so confused. What the hell did you guys even do tonight?" I asked.

                "They found emails about the abuse in class when Amelia hacked it," Isaac said. "I don't know exactly what she did. I think she sent it to Headmaster Constance. They're trying to keep him from retiring at the end of the year."

                "That doesn't make any sense," I said.

                Isaac just smiled. "They're showing him that Adam isn't careful. He talks about the abuse in emails, and Amelia can hack those emails. She can use them for blackmail."

                "I'm so lost," I said. This just wasn't fitting together in my mind. Maybe because a nine year old child was trying to explain it. "How are you even in fifth grade? Aren't you too young?"

                "I'm a summer birthday, and I skipped a grade," he said. "Jin will explain things to you tomorrow."

                He started humming to himself and I focused on keeping weight off my bad leg. We reached the dorm building after a while, our progress slow since I had to keep stopping to let my leg rest. It was a little after one, and Isaac was starting to look tired.

                He yawned. "Make sure to tell them you were at the library."

                He turned and disappeared into the darkness. I limped up to the door and swiped my I.D., heading inside.

                A Blue sat at the main desk, looking up as I entered. "Late study night?"

                "Lost track of time in the library," I said.

                "Can I see you I.D.?" he said, holding his hand out.

                I gave him my I.D. and he checked my name before handing it back to me. I tucked it in my pocket.

                "Sorry, you're the new guy, right? We keep someone on duty to check I.D.s. It's just a security measure," he said. "Only the main doors are unlocked after eleven."

                "Fascinating," I said, turning and limping away from him.

                I reached my room, not surprised that Jordan was fast asleep. I stripped and got into my pajamas, struggling onto my bed and squeezing my eyes shut as my leg throbbed. I bit back a groan of frustration, wondering if this was how my nights were going to be spent from now on.