The weekend went by way too fast for my liking. My parents called me both Saturday and Sunday, though I left out me leaving campus when I talked to them. I just let them think I sat around reading all weekend.

                I spent most of my time in the library reading so that I could avoid Jordan and his friends. Jin and his friends didn't bother me, and I didn't see any of them after Saturday.

                But now I walked into Mr. Townsend's class, knowing Jin was going to have me carry out his plan later. I took my usual seat and looked around the room, hoping I wouldn't get caught when I came in here later.

                "Hey, Kai, do you want to get dinner after you get out of the Peer Program?" Jordan asked, coming up to my desk.

                "No," I said.

                He laughed. "Aw, come on, dude. We need to talk to you."

                "I really don't care," I said. "I'm not getting dinner with you. Leave me alone."

                "Jordan." Mr. Townsend walked up to us. "Mr. Constance wanted me to send you down to his office. He said he had to speak with you about something."

                Jordan nodded at him before turning back to me. "Just think about it, Kai."

                He left the classroom and I leaned back, relieved I wouldn't have to deal with him. Monday morning was not a good time to have Jordan getting in my face. I was so tired.

                My first three classes passed with me just barely managing to stay awake. By the time we were let out for lunch, I hurried my way to the dining hall. I took the elevator up and got myself coffee with my lunch.

                I sat by myself, keeping my head down in case Jordan was looking for me. That asshole seemed to think that just because I was "helping" him now, I'd just forget about the way him and the other Blues had treated me.

                I was so tired I found myself going back for a second cup of coffee before lunch ended. The last three classes of the day were slightly more bearable, but I still wished I could just ditch the Peer Program and take a nap back in my room.

                Unfortunately, I knew they'd just send someone to drag me down to the Peer Program. So I saved them the trouble and dragged myself down to the room when classes let out.

                Lev looked up as I entered. "You look tired. Did you get enough sleep last night?"

                "What are you, my mom?" I said in annoyance, taking my usual seat. "No, I didn't get enough sleep. I'm running on two cups of coffee and when those run out, I'm going to sleep for the rest of my damn life."

                The door opened before Lev could respond to that. Jin and Karson entered, followed by Isaac.

                "Don't forget about our plan," Jin said to me, dropping into his seat. "Go to the classroom before the building closes and make sure you leave the door unlocked. We'll cover for you."

                "And if the Blues ask, we're meeting in the library later," Karson said, grinning. "I can't wait for a good fight."

                "You won't get a good fight. They'll throw some punches and the guards will kick us out of the library," Jin said. "You know how the students hate it when us getting our asses beat for no apparent reason distracts their studying."

                Amelia entered the room and sat in her usual spot next to Lev. "Guys, Mr. Kean is going to fight me. I can't figure out this English homework for the life of me."

                "I can help you if Isaac distracts Mr. Kean," Lev offered.

                "I can distract him," Isaac said with a nod. "But Amelia owes me! Take me to the market after and let me pick out any candy I want."

                Amelia narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, you're good."

                He smiled brightly. "I know."

                The door opened and we all turned our attention, expecting Mr. Kean to come in and start yelling at the Maroons for being alive. But the man who walked in wasn't Mr. Kean.

                In fact, he wasn't much of a man at all. He hardly looked older than us. He noticed our confusion and offered us a tired smile.

                "Hello," he greeted, pushing strands of auburn hair out of his face. "I'm Leon. Mr. Kean had a meeting today, so I offered to stand in for him today."

                "Leon?" Jin raised an eyebrow. "Constance's son."

                I did a double-take of the guy. He looked nothing like Adam Constance, or the picture I'd seen of George Constance on the website.

                But he nodded a confirmation at Jin. "Yes, Headmaster Constance is my father. With my father and brother on campus, it'll get confusing to have so many Mr. Constances. So, please, just call me Leon. I'm not even a teacher. I'm still in college." He looked around at all of us. "What are your names?"

                "Jin."

                "Karson."

                "Lev."

                "Amelia."

                "Isaac."

                "Kai."

                "It's nice to meet all of you." He looked at Isaac curiously. "Why are you sitting alone over there?"

                "Mr. Kean doesn't let me sit with the Maroons," Isaac said. "He said they're bad influences."

                "Really? They don't look like bad influences to me," Leon said. "Why don't you go sit with them? It'll make it easier for me to help you all. Then I don't have to run around the room."

                "Karson is totally a bad influence," Amelia said. "Also an asshole. He stole my tater tots at breakfast yesterday."

                "You have no proof that was me," Karson said, glaring at her. "That could've been Jin."

                "What do you mean I have no proof? I saw you do it! You're a tater tot thief," Amelia said, glaring right back.

                "Enough," Lev said with a sigh, putting his hand over her mouth.

                Amelia pried his hand off. "Hey, cute Constance, can you help me with my homework? I'm bad at English."

                "Cute Constance?" Leon had an expression on his face that I could only describe as patient exasperation. "That's a new one. Sure, I can help you."

                "This is wild," Karson said. "A Constance who doesn't beat the shit out of Maroons? Jin, pinch me, I think I'm dreaming."

                Jin punched him in the arm roughly and Karson yelped. He shot Jin a dirty look.

                "I said pinch!" he snapped.

                "Did you? Could've sworn you said punch," Jin said.

                "Hey, didn't you date a Maroon that fought against the Academy?" Amelia asked.

                "Dating," Leon corrected. "We're still together. This is still the Peer Program, guys. I am going to make you do your work."

                Amelia took out her English homework and Leon went over, patiently helping her with it. In fact, the guy was patient with all of them, even Karson. Leon moved through all of us, making sure we understood our work and explaining problems when we didn't.

                I could barely believe he was really a Constance. Mr. Constance and Headmaster Constance ran this place with a clear prejudice towards the Maroon students, but Leon hardly seemed to notice the vests we were wearing.

                He didn't have the same sort of threateningly cheerful façade as Mr. Constance, either. Leon looked tired and exasperated, but he didn't bother hiding it. He was infinitely patient, no matter what Jin's group said or did. He even laughed when Karson cracked jokes at him.

                "Well, I think that wraps things up," Leon said, checking the time. "Mr. Kean will be back tomorrow to help you guys."

                "You mean to scream at us and smack us with a ruler?" Karson said.

                Leon stuck a hand in his pocket, fidgeting with something. "You all seem like good kids. I'm doing what I can to make this Academy a better place."

                "But you don't run the Academy," Isaac said. "My dad said only Adam is qualified to run the Academy."

                Leon gave another tired smile. "He's not in charge yet." He checked his phone and tucked it away in his pocket. "It was nice to meet all of you, but I have to go. Headmaster Constance needs to speak with me."

                He left the room and Amelia let out a dreamy sigh. She dropped her head on Lev's shoulder.

                "If I didn't like girls so much, I'd sabotage his relationship and date him," she said.

                "I'm sure you'd do great in a relationship with Headmaster Constance's gay kid," Jin said, standing up. "Good luck with that."

                "This whole Academy is way too dramatic for me," I said, stuffing my notebook into my bag.

                "Don't forget the plan. If you want to join, come meet with us at midnight," Jin said.

                "What if I just take a really long nap instead?" I said.

                "I think that's just called sleeping," Isaac said.

                "No one under the age of twelve should even be allowed to speak," I said.

                "The first thing he's said that I agree with," Jin said, giving Isaac a shove forward. "Go, you pest."

                "If you're that tired, you should rest tonight, Kai. We can handle things," Lev said.

                "Stop babying the crip. We're all tired," Karson said. "Besides, if Jin passes out again, it's always good to have an extra hand around."

                Karson winced as Jin slammed his elbow into Karson's gut. Karson shoved him away, rubbing his gut and scowling.

                They left the room, Lev and Amelia following after them. I gathered my stuff and left the room, deciding to just head to the library and hideout there for the night. I'd leave to do what Jin wanted me to, and then go back until midnight.

                But as I neared the doors, I let out a groan. Jordan offered me a smile.

                "Hey. I need to talk to you," he said.

                "Talk to me later. I'm going to the library," I said, trying to limp past him.

                He caught my arm. "Please, Kai? I need to know something for Mr. Constance."

                I glared. "What do you need to know?"

                He led me over to an empty classroom and we sat in the chairs there. "Leon Constance was overseeing your Peer Program today, right?"

                "Yea, so?" I said.

                "What did he say?" Jordan asked.

                "He just helped with homework. And unlike Mr. Kean, he didn't need to beat the lessons into the Maroons," I said.

                "Mr. Constance didn't want Leon involved in the Peer Program, but the headmaster let him stand in for Mr. Kean today," Jordan said, looking annoyed. "He has too much sympathy for the Maroons."

                "What's so bad about having sympathy for troubled kids who get abused by their own teachers?" I said.

                "They bring their punishments on themselves," Jordan said. "Did he let Isaac interact with them?"

                "He just had everyone sit together so he didn't have to run around the room to help," I said. "I promise they didn't have the kid sacrificing goats by the end of the Peer Program."

                "Did the Maroons let anything slip?" Jordan asked.

                "When they were leaving, Jin said something to Lev and Amelia about meeting in the library tonight. Figure that part out yourself." I stood up. "Speaking of the library, I'm going there. Don't bother me."

                I left the room and went to the library. I took the elevator down to the basement and went into that quiet section, not even surprised to see Jin sitting alone reading.

                "Jordan was asking about Leon," I said.

                "He's spying for Mr. Constance," Jin said, looking up from his book. "Mr. Constance knows Leon is the reason things were changing around here. He doesn't want Leon to get involved anymore. But even he can't go against Headmaster Constance."

                I sat down at the desk across from Jin's, turning in my chair to face him. "What's the big deal about Isaac?"

                Jin shrugged. "His name is Isaac Ruvolo."

                My eyes widened. "Wait, like Ruvolo Industries?"

                Jin nodded. "His grandfather started Ruvolo Industries, and it passed into his dad's hands a while back."

                Ruvolo Industries was a wealthy, family-run company. No wonder everyone made such a damn fuss over the kid.

                "So that's why no one wants you corrupting the kid," I said.

                "Isaac has a lot of pressure on him," Jin said. "Karson doesn't call him the little bastard randomly. There are rumors that Isaac isn't really Mr. Ruvolo's son. People say his mom had an affair, and that Isaac doesn't have a claim to the company."

                "Rich people drama," I grumbled.

                Jin just shrugged again. "I doubt those rumors are true. Isaac looks a lot like his dad. But his parents tried for years until he was born. He's either considered a miracle baby or a bastard child. His parents had to raise him with those rumors in mind."

                "So he's sweet to win them over and a little asshole if he can't," I said.

                "We all have our family problems," Jin said dismissively. "He's handling his well."

                "Did your parents really abandon you?" The words left my mouth before I could stop myself, but once they were out there, I watched his reaction carefully.

                But he stayed impassive as he looked up to meet my eyes. "Give my mom a little more credit. She still calls me on Saturdays."

                "Just your mom?" I said.

                "Just my mom." His lips gave the faintest tug, the closest thing I'd ever seen to a smile from Jin. "Can't blame my dad for giving up on me. I really liked my liquor."

                Lev said Jin didn't talk about his life before the Academy. But he wasn't trying to avoid my questions. It was hard not to be curious about him and his friends, so I might as well keep going until he curved the conversation to a safer topic.

                "Why did you drink?" I said.

                "Why does anyone drink?" he said. He nodded at my leg. "That was probably a rough change. You coped with anger. I coped with vodka. We're not here for our healthy coping mechanisms. Shit happens."

                "That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry," I said.

                That faint tug of his lips again. Not enough to break through the impassiveness, but enough to hint that he'd had emotions at one point.

                "Is it permanent?" he asked.

                "Not even surgery could fix it," I said bitterly.

                He tipped back in his chair a bit. "You lived a normal life before, huh?"

                "Of course I did. I had two legs and the whole world in front of me," I said, feeling that frustration growing, boiling over. "Then some asshole stole all of that from me and left me this broken mess. I'll never be the same."

                He chewed on his straw, his gaze drifting past me. "That's how it goes. People crack you and you finish the job. You break yourself in the end."

                "What the hell would you know?" The anger in my words was enough to draw his gaze back to me. "You would be healthy if you gave a damn about yourself. I didn't throw myself into alcohol and cigarettes to cope. I didn't ask for my body to be ruined."

                Jin tugged the collar of his shirt down, revealing a nasty scar that started on his shoulder and curved around down his collarbone, disappearing into his shirt. "I didn't either. Not at first."

                He released his shirt and fixed the collar. He pushed the straw to the corner of his mouth and brushed his hair away from his eyes.

                "We're all tragedies here. We all have sob stories." He met my eyes. "I don't know what you went through, and I'm not going to pretend to have the faintest damn clue. I don't know when it happened or how it happened. You clearly still need time to work through it. It's not my job to judge you or how you cope with your situation. But it's also not your job to judge me."

                I felt my face heat up a little in embarrassment. "There are better ways to deal with things than to wreck your own body."

                "True," he said. "But I was young and desperate."

                "Young and stupid," I said.

                "That too." He nodded in agreement.

                "You and all your friends are fucked up," I said. "Lev seems like the only normal one."

                "He's just here to keep an eye on Amelia. She's lost without him," Jin said. "Even Amelia's not that bad. She just doesn't do well in social situations."

                "And Karson?" I said. "He seems like a blooming psychopath."

                "He has his own issues to work through," Jin said. He lifted his book back up. "I'm trying to read. I came here for silence. If you're going to keep talking, I'm going to leave."

                I dropped the conversation and pulled out my own book, turning in my chair. We fell into silence as we both got lost in our books.

                Still, it was scratching at my thoughts. What could drive a kid to turn to alcohol and cigarettes? What could cause a scar that bad on him?

                Those rumors of him being in a gang came back to me, but now that I knew Jin a little better, they didn't seem credible. He might have his issues, but he did seem to have some morals, at least. I doubted he'd toss himself into a gang.

                My thoughts fell away the longer I read. Someone else came into the room, a kid I didn't know in a blue vest. But she left after an hour without saying anything to either of us.

                I would've gotten lost reading all night if a vibrating noise didn't snap me out of my focus. I looked over as Jin checked his phone and tossed it back on the desk without responding to whatever the text said.

                I checked the time and sighed, shoving my book in my bag and standing up. Jin watched me.

                "Going to be a rebel?" he said.

                "Going to do your dirty work. Remember what I said; if I get caught, I'm telling them that you threatened me into it," I warned.

                "That's fine," he said. "But that's only if you get caught. I highly doubt that'll happen. We're pretty good at covering our tracks."

                "Aren't you supposed to get caught and get your ass beat by the Blues?" I said.

                He nodded. "After you leave I'll head out. Karson just texted me about it."

                He pulled his hat off and ran a hand through his hair. He secured his hat back on his head and put his book away.

                "Why white hair?" I couldn't help but ask. "You look stupid."

                "I didn't like having black hair," he said, as if that answered everything.

                I let it drop and left the room. I wasn't in the mood for cryptic answers. There was no point talking to Jin if he was just going to run circles around my questions.

                I took the elevator up and left the library, heading back to the academic building. I let myself inside and spotted the janitor cleaning the floors of a classroom.

                Mentally sighing, I went up to him. "Excuse me? I left a textbook in Mr. Townsend's room."

                "Townsend?" he mumbled to himself. "Oh, right, I locked up his room." He glanced at my vest and pulled the keyring off his belt. He flicked through the keys and held one out to me. "Here, this will let you in. Make sure you lock it when your done and give those back to me."

                I took the keys from him, surprised he was just giving them to a student. But he went back to cleaning the floors, so I left the room with the key in my hand.

                I unlocked Mr. Townsend's room and stepped in. I looked around, wondering what Jin was going to do in here tonight. Mr. Townsend's laptop was on his desk, so they were probably going to hack that.

                I left the room, shutting the door and leaving without locking it. I handed the janitor his keys back and hurried out of the academic building, heading back towards the library.

                I entered and took the elevator back down to the quiet room. It was abandoned now, Jin's spot empty. I took a seat at the desk I'd been at before, taking out my book and trying to read.

                I couldn't focus, though. My thoughts were on the Blues attacking Jin's group, the plan we were going to carry out tonight, and an unshakeable curiosity of just what had driven Jin to such a state of numbness.

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A.N.- Everyone's favorite overtired Constance makes his return! I heard a rumor some other familiar faces will creep into the story at some point, too

Also, today is my birthday so I'm going to channel my inner Jin and drink copious amounts of vodka, so don't expect an update tomorrow because I expect to sleep away the entire day whoops