The next morning, I showered and got dressed. Jordan left the room without a word to me, bag slung over his shoulder.

                I couldn't tell if that made me relieved or nervous. I had a feeling he was silently punishing me for not cooperating with him and his friends yesterday, but at the same time, it meant I didn't have to deal with him.

                So I walked to class by myself, keeping my head down as I went. I didn't want to meet anyone's eyes. I just wanted to get through this day and go hide away in the library.

                I'd spent most of last night in the library's café, working on an essay for class. I'd reluctantly gone back to my room when it got dark, but by then, Jordan was already lying in bed with his headphones on, typing away at his laptop and ignoring me.

                I entered the academic building and took my seat. The other students entered the room, talking with each other and laughing.

                Jordan was talking to Mr. Townsend, a polite smile on his face. Mr. Townsend nodded at whatever Jordan said, and he went and sat down at his seat, whispering something to Lenny with a smug grin.

                Mr. Townsend waited until it was time for class to start before clapping his hands together to get our attention. We all looked up at him and he gathered some worksheets off his desk.

                "Everyone partner up," he said. "We'll be doing group exercises to make sure you understood yesterday's lesson."

                Kids shifted around the room, partnering up with their friends. I sat, waiting for the inevitable moment where he'd pair me up with some random stranger.

                But when I looked up, there was no one left in the class to partner up with. Everyone was in a pair together, and I realized that they were sitting on the other side of the room. I was alone.

                Mr. Townsend took in the sight with knowing eyes. "Would anyone allow Kai to join their group?"

                No one offered. They just stared at me and I felt myself blushing in anger and embarrassment. My eyes found Jordan, who looked smug again.

                Mr. Townsend shrugged it off and passed out the papers. He handed me my paper last.

                "I suppose you'll be working alone," he said.

                "I'm not exactly heartbroken over it," I said, not bothering to keep my voice down.

                But that wasn't entirely true. It's not that I was best friends with any of them, but it was still embarrassing. I knew what Jordan was doing, and I was trying to shake it off, but I still felt my face heating up every time I saw the distance between me and them.

                I bent my head and worked on the worksheet in front of me. I didn't pick my head up and tried to ignore their voices as they talked amongst themselves. I heard my name mumbled a few times, but I kept my head down and didn't give them the satisfaction of my irritation.

                When class let out, they all cut me off as I tried to head out the door. I grit my teeth, but stepped aside until they were gone before heading out.

                The next two classes were similar. Kids shifted their desks away from me, snickering as they whispered to each other and stared at me. The teachers seemed to pick up on it quickly, and made no moves to stop their students from treating me like this.

                I thought lunch would prove to be an escape, but I was horribly wrong. When I entered the dining hall and moved towards the elevator, I realized it was blocked by a group of my classmates. They were talking and laughing, ignoring me as I limped up to them.

                "Out of the way," I said. "You can isolate me all you want, but I'm not dragging myself up the stairs just because you want to be assholes."

                They glanced at me and went back to ignoring me, forming a tight block around the elevator. I tried to push through, but they held fast, shoving me backwards.

                "We're talking," one of them said. "Don't be rude."

                I was tempted to break his jaw with my cane and see if he considered that rude, but instead, I just limped away from them. I looked at the stairs and steeled myself, starting up them, taking it slow.

                My leg began to throb halfway up the stairs, but I forced myself to keep climbing. They weren't going to push me around like this.

                If I didn't get to the top of the stairs soon, though, my leg was going to give out. I could feel it trembling under my weight, prepared to buckle and drop me at any moment.

                Two Blues cut me off and blocked my path up the stairs, talking with each other, that smugness in their eyes. I glared, but didn't risk lifting my cane to hit them. I'd fall over for sure.

                "Excuse me!"

                Isaac came up the stairs and poked one of the Blue's arms. "Excuse me, may I please get by?"

                "Oh, sure," the Blue said, moving out of Isaac's way.

                Isaac looked back at me and smiled brightly. "Are you okay, mister? Come on, I'll help you."

                The Blues shot each other a look, but they didn't try to stop Isaac as he led me up the stairs. We reached the top and Isaac walked with me over to a table. I dropped down into the chair and rubbed my aching leg.

                "I can get you lunch," Isaac offered.

                "No," I said. "Go away. I don't need some kid's pity."

                He laughed a little. "Okay, but I tried help!"

                He scampered off to go find somewhere to sit. I let my leg rest for a minute before getting up and testing it. It was more stable, so I made my way over to the food, piling some onto a tray and balancing it in one hand, using my other hand to hold my cane as I walked back towards the sitting area.

                Should I have even been surprised when the tray was knocked from my hands?

                It hit the ground, my food spilling everywhere. I stumbled and nearly fell over, but managed to catch my balance with my cane.

                A Blue walked by without bothering a glance at me, his tray in his hands. I glared at him furiously, ready to strike out, consequences be damned.

                But Jin was walking to get lunch, and he smacked the Blue's tray out of his hands. The Blue leapt back as his tray hit the ground and his food splattered everywhere.

                "You..." He glared and grabbed Jin by the vest, yanking him forward. "You Maroon scum."

                Jin raised an eyebrow. "So I'm scum when I knock your food out of your hands, but you're righteous when you do it to someone else? Some logic you Blues have. Learn some manners before you go preaching about them to others."

                He twisted out of the Blue's grip and ducked low before the Blue could throw a punch. He came out of his crouch and stepped around the fallen food.

                "Might want to get a janitor," he said over his shoulder before strolling away to grab himself a tray.

                "Karma's a bitch," I snapped at the Blue, kicking a bread roll at him before heading back to the table I'd been at. 

                I sat down, not even surprised when the Blues at the tables surrounding mine got up and moved. This movement against me seemed to have spread outside of my class pretty quickly.

                The Maroons watched, eyes locked on me, knowing gazes. They whispered to each other, but made no moves towards me.

                I wanted to leave the dining hall, but I had a feeling those guys were planning to block the elevator the whole period, and my leg was still sore, so I couldn't take the stairs. Instead, I put my headphones on, turned my music up loud, and settled back against my chair. I kept my attention alert in case anyone tried to come up and do anything else to me.

                Lunch seemed to drag on forever, but I was grateful when it was over. I waited for the crowd to disappear before taking the elevator down, beyond relieved when no one was guarding it.

                I hurried my way to class, but nearly sat in a puddle of water that was on my chair. I let out an annoyed groan and spun to face the class.

                "You're seniors, not kindergarteners!" I said impatiently.

                They all just watched me. Our teacher, Mrs. Tine, walked into the room and took in the scene before her.

                "Kai, please sit," she said.

                I tipped my chair so that water leaked to the floor. "Yea, sure, I'll let my ass take a swim."

                She crossed her arms. "Watch your language. Go on down to the bathroom and get paper towels to clean that up."

                I did as she said, wiping up my chair once I had the paper towels and sitting down. Our lesson went on normally despite all the stares I felt on my back.

                The next two classes were similar, but no one poured more water on my chair. Still, all the tension being directed at me was driving me crazy, and I was ready to snap by the end of my last class.

                I hurried out of the room, going into the Peer Program and taking my seat. Lev and Amelia were already sitting together and Amelia opened her mouth to say something, but Lev slapped a hand over her mouth before she could even get a word out.

                Jin came into the room, followed by Isaac and Karson. Isaac and Karson were arguing with each other, Isaac wearing an overly sweet smile and Karson looking ready to knock it off his face.

                "You little bastard," Karson was growling.

                "My mom bought it for me. It's nice to have a mom," Isaac said, his smile growing even sweeter.

                "It's nice to have a real dad," Karson shot back, smirking.

                "Will you two shut up?" Jin said, stopping so suddenly Karson almost ran into him. He jammed his elbow back into Karson's ribs. "You're both annoying." He shoved Isaac away. "Go, you're a pest."

                I wanted to ask him why he'd defended me in the dining hall. I wanted to ask Isaac why he'd helped me get up the stairs and pretended I was a stranger.

                But Mr. Kean came into the room and had everyone take their seats. He checked the lists for Jin and Isaac and got to work helping Lev rewrite an English assignment.

                So I buried myself in my work, dreading returning to my dorm tonight. Jordan had probably released a jar of spider in my bed and replaced my toothpaste with wasabi.

                The Peer Program passed slowly, but Mr. Kean seemed to be in a good mood because he didn't snap at the Maroons as much. He even seemed a little fascinated by whatever Lev was writing for his English assignment.

                "Alright, we'll dismiss early today since you all seem to have your work done," Mr. Kean said after noticing that the rest of us were just doodling in our notebooks. "We'll meet again tomorrow."

                He left the room after gathering his stuff. I stood up once I'd shoved my work back in my bag, making my way over to Jin.

                He didn't even bother looking at me. "Go away."

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

                "Oh, the crip crawling to Jin," Karson said, eyes lighting up with amusement. "The Blues don't want you so you're going to beg Jin?"

                Jin swung his bag around and hit Karson in the head with it. "Will you shut up? You go away too."

                Karson fixed his glasses, scowling. "You are in a violent mood today."

                "He was in a sassy mood last night," Amelia said.

                "And a talkative mood the day before that," Lev said.

                "You have so many moods," Amelia said with a sigh. "Don't you have a happy mood?"

                "This is my happy mood," Jin said, that impassiveness ingrained into his features. He dismissed them. "All of you, out. Except the pest."

                I wasn't sure if he meant me or Isaac.

                But Isaac came over to us as the other three left the room. Jin crossed his arms and sat on the desk.

                "You made a choice last night," he said. "You could've told them about the note you saw, but you didn't."

                "How did you know I saw it?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

                "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Isaac asked, the sweet boy façade dropping instantly. "I let you see the note on purpose."

                "I'm good at reading people," Jin said. "I could tell you weren't going to agree with the abuse here. I wanted to see if you'd bend under the social pressure."

                I clenched my fist, tempted to punch him. "Do you even know the shit I've gone through today?"

                Isaac's smile was back. "He sent me to get you up the stairs."

                "It'll only be worse if a Maroon comes to your rescue. But Isaac is a Blue, and a Blue with strong connections. He can get away with a lot here," Jin said.

                "So you helped me?" I asked. "Why?"

                Jin chewed on his straw. "Don't think too much on it. I just hate this Academy, and you'll be useful to me."

                But there was a flicker in his eyes, and he didn't meet mine when he spoke that. I let out a frustrated noise and raked a hand through my hair.

                "I hate this damn school," I said.

                "Get in line." He slung his bag over his shoulder. "I'm leaving. What you do from here on out is your choice."

                He left the room and Isaac sighed and hurried to follow him. I leaned back against the desk. Just what the hell did that mean? God, I wish I was better at making choices.