Leo and I dressed into our uniforms in the morning. My anxiety was off the charts since I knew we'd find out about Kaz's latest plan soon. If it was something bad, then I was going to get dragged along with him when he was punished.

Our door opened and Siggy came in, kicking it shut. "Tell Kaz to watch the kid. Cam told Emmett what happened. I convinced Townsend to let this incident go."

"Go tell Kaz this. I'm not your message man," Leo said. He paused and made a face. "Last time I said that, some moron made a Twenty One Pilots reference as if that phrase didn't exist until they made a song about it. I hate people that made song and band references for no reason."

"I'm going to stop your rant and inform you that I don't give a shit," Siggy said. "Just tell Kaz. Cam is already in his room or I'd do it myself."

Siggy left the room and Leo knelt down to tie his shoes. "You get my frustration, right Killian? Pity party was a term before what's her face. Phoenixes were a thing before Fall Out Boy. You can have a parade without My Chemical Romance being involved. Get it?"

"I get it," I said. "Calm down, Leo. Too early in the morning for this."

"It's just a pet peeve of mine," Leo said, standing up and grabbing his bag. "Let's go. Someone else will appreciate my rant." He walked out of the room. "Don't forget to lock the door."

"You said the word door. Is that a Panic! At The Disco reference? They have a song with the word door in it," I said.

"I will literally stab you in the face," Leo said.

"Fair enough." I locked the door and followed after Leo down the hallway.

We met up with the others in the hallway, Leo whispering something to Kaz, and filed out of the dorm buildings. Kaz was looking around, sticking close to Pete as Pete took his medications.

"Where's Beckett?" Leo asked.

"If I knew, would I be looking for him?" Kaz said.

"I don't need this sass right now. Mika! Listen to my rant about annoying people who relate everything back to bands," Leo said, grabbing her arm as he launched back into his rant.

I shifted so that I was next to Kaz. "Who's Emmett?"

"Beckett's older brother," Kaz said. "He's a Blue, and an obnoxious one."

"Kaz!"

Beckett caught up to us. Kaz stepped away from me to make room for Beckett. Beckett shot me a dirty look before taking the spot next to Kaz.

"My dad told me I'm only allowed to be with you guys if I tell him first," Beckett grumbled. "I'm assuming that Siggy convinced him to stop trying to keep me away from you guys. Probably something about how it was only teaching me to sneak around behind his back. I haven't seen Emmett yet, but he'll be coming after one of us."

"Go for the knees," Kaz said, and Beckett grinned a little.

Oh dear lord. I was watching a criminal teach an 11 year old boy how to fight dirty. I was 17 and I didn't even know how to fight dirty. Or how to fight in general. My idea of fighting was to drop on the ground and scream.

Beckett parted away from us to go to class as we reached the academic building. We went into Mr. Sternberg's classroom and I felt my heartrate pick up. Just what the hell had Kaz done last night?

I looked around the classroom, but there were no noticeable signs of vandalism. Nothing seemed out of place from yesterday.

"Looking for something, O'Malley?" Kaz asked, smiling pleasantly.

"Okay, what did you do?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, dropping into his seat. "Just sit back and enjoy the show. And keep the guilt off your face."

"If I get arrested because of you, I'm going to fight you," I said, glad he didn't know what my idea of fighting actually was.

"I think we both know who would win in a fight," Kaz said, smile growing. "But feel free to try."

Mr. Sternberg came in, saving me from thinking of a reply to that. I went to my seat and tried to keep my expression as neutral as possible.

Mr. Sternberg pulled up a PowerPoint for the class to see. "Today, we'll be going over some problems from chapter five of the textbooks," he said, hitting a key to move to the next slide.

My jaw nearly hit the floor. Kids let out horrified and impressed noises. Mr. Sternberg looked like he was going to be sick.

On the PowerPoint, a caption read out "My life is not a vice" and under it were several pictures. The largest one was at the center, and it was a very graphic photo of two men having sex. Next to that picture was someone doing drugs. A picture of someone drinking was on the other side. There were pictures of people spray painting on buildings, counting mass amounts of money, and sitting in jail.

My eyes shot to Kaz, who had leaned back in his chair and was watching his classmates' reactions with a calm expression. He met my eyes and smirked a little, raising his shoulder in a shrug.

Mr. Sternberg snapped out of his horrified trance and slammed his laptop down, cutting off the image. He stared out at the class, eyes darting between students.

"Which one of you sick little freaks," he snarled at last.

No one spoke. Kids looked at the usual culprits, but Kaz's crew mostly looked confused. Kaz must not have told them about what he'd done, either.

Mr. Sternberg stormed over to Kaz and gripped a handful of his hair. "Was it you?"

Kaz gazed back at him, unfazed. "Violence is a vice."

Mr. Sternberg slammed Kaz's head down against the desk, holding him there. "I swear I will break you, Warrick. I will send you back to your parents as something they don't cringe to see."

"The only sight my parents would cringe at is a teacher physically harming their son," Kaz said, trying to push his head back up. "But if you really want to break me, try a few more threats. Maybe someday, they'll actually work!"

"You worthless, sick, disgusting, fatherless burden. You are a plague to this world," Mr. Sternberg snapped.

"I'm quite healthy, actually. Fatherless? My stepdad would be so offended," Kaz said, finally managing to get his head back up.

"Detention, Casimir." Mr. Sternberg released Kaz's hair and stepped away from him. "We'll talk about this in detention afterschool today. And you'll show up even if I have to have other students drag you here."

Mr. Sternberg went back to the front of the room. "To the rest of you, you'd do well not to take after Casimir. Unless you'd like to join him in detention."

He went on, teaching his lesson without turning his laptop back on. When class ended, we filed out of the classroom and Kaz's friends swarmed him.

"When did you do it?" Mikayla demanded.

"How did you do it?" Leo demanded.

"O'Malley and I made a pit stop on our walk," Kaz said, shrugging. "Sternberg was in his office and no one was around. It was easier than sneaking into the building at night."

"You're lucky if you come out of detention with your skin," Pete said. "Sternberg is going to carve it off of you, Kaz."

"I'm aware," Kaz said, shrugging. He glanced at me and smiled easily. "Detention here is basically an hour of being whipped with rulers and writing lines about how worthless you are. Takes a toll on quite a few students."

"I've seen kids have nervous breakdowns after too many detentions," Leo agreed. "Shit, man, my last detention left me a mess. Couldn't feel my left hand for like three days after that."

"It'll be fine," Kaz said dismissively. "Just keep an eye on Beckett while I'm busy. Emmett is probably on the hunt for him still."

"Are you asking us to bodyguard an 11 year old," I said.

"I'm telling you to bodyguard an 11 year old. Or else I'll sell you out and we'll go to detention together," Kaz said.

"This is blackmail and I'm not qualified to babysit," I said.

We looked over as Mr. Sternberg came out of his classroom. He stepped up to our group, eyeing us with distrust.

"Casimir, you rarely work alone. So who out of this miserable group will be joining you in detention today?" he asked.

"Actually, they were all just yelling at me for not letting them in on it," Kaz said with a sigh. "Leo does love his vices."

"I can't believe you put gay porn on a teacher's computer without me," Leo said.

Mr. Sternberg curled his lip in disgust. "Disgusting perversion." He noticed me and rounded on me. "Killian, I wasn't aware you were part of this group of delinquents. Did you know what Casimir was doing?"

Kaz snorted. "Like I'd trust him to help me. Give me credit, Sternberg. I wouldn't trust a kid I just met to keep me out of trouble."

Mr. Sternberg glared again before retreating back into his classroom. I let out a nervous breath.

"Did you just protect me?" I asked.

"That depends. Are you going to babysit while I'm busy?" he said.

"Fine, deal." I checked the time and realized our next class was about to start.

"Let's go, before the newbie is late," Mikayla said, leading the way to our next class.

The day went by horribly slow until class was finally over. Kaz strolled off to detention, looking unconcerned about his fate. The rest of us started our way back to the dorm building.

"Hey, Beck!" Leo called, gesturing the kid over.

Beckett jogged up to us and furrowed his brow. "Where's Kaz?"

"Detention. He put some charming pictures on a PowerPoint for Sternberg," Leo said.

"What? He didn't tell us!" Beckett said. "How did he do it alone?"

"He didn't. He dragged Killian along as lookout," Pete said.

Beckett stared at me with a mixture of annoyance and frustration. He clenched his fists and shook his head.

"Kaz is being careless!" he said.

"Say it louder for the people in the back," Mikayla grumbled.

"Ease up. Killian got him in and out of the room without being caught and he didn't sell Kaz out. Kaz is just the usual suspect," Leo said. He reached out and tugged on Mikayla's braid. "You need to stop being grumpy about everything. Killian is probably here for some stupid reason. No offense, Killian."

"None taken. I am here for a stupid reason," I said, still not willing to share that reason. It was embarrassing to admit that my parents had dropped me here just because of my sexuality. The others were here for real problems.

"Who cares why he's here? I still don't trust him. I'm going to go find Cara," Mikayla said, striding ahead of us. Leo sighed and shrugged at us before hurrying after her.

Pete, Beckett, and I continued on towards the dorm building as the other two disappeared from sight. Pete seemed easily distracted by anything that moved, and Beckett was busy simmering in his preteen angst.

"Beckett."

We all looked over at the sound of the smug voice. A boy who looked about 15 or so stood there with his arms crossed, flanked by a boy and a girl, all in blue vests. The two flanking him were giving Beckett dirty looks.

"Been trying to hide from me, little brother?" the kid said, moving forward.

"Leave me alone, Emmett. I'm not in the mood," Beckett said in annoyance.

"I don't see Kaz anywhere," Emmett said, looking around. "But clearly, you haven't moved on to better friends. It's a shame, really. Mom and dad were talking last night. They don't know where they went wrong with you."

"Oh, please. We all know I could murder someone and I'd still be the favorite child. If they think they screwed up with me, then what do they think about you?" Beckett said.

Oh shit, this kid had no chill. I wanted to go make popcorn, but I didn't want to miss this.

Emmett stepped forward and grabbed the front of Beckett's shirt. "Beck, I really wish you were never born."

He yanked Beckett forward and brought his knee up, crushing it against Beckett's stomach. Beckett gagged and fell to the ground when Emmett dropped him, curling up with his arms around his stomach.

"Hey!" Pete said, anger trying to break through the fog of his medication. He tried to run forward, but stopped as he wobbled unsteadily.

Emmett grinned and kicked Beckett. "Come on, Pete. Run at me with that fucked up knee of yours. Can you even fight with so many drugs in you?" He began to kick at Beckett, harder and harder. "Fight the fuck back."

Shit, shit, shit. I had promised Kaz I'd look out for Beckett. But did I really owe him this? He was the one who dragged me into being his lookout. Besides, Beckett didn't even like me. If it was me getting beat up, Beckett would probably join in.

Still...

Goddammit. I hated being a good person.

I threw myself at Emmett and we clumsily fell to the ground together. I scrambled to my feet before Emmett could recover from his shock. I grabbed Beckett and dragged him away towards Pete. Beckett grabbed my arms and I helped haul him back to his feet. He kept an arm around his stomach and fought to keep his breathing steady despite the bruises forming on him.

Emmett's friends had helped him up, but they eyed Beckett wearily. Remembering what Kaz had told me yesterday, I eyed them. The girl's nose was slightly crooked and the boy had a scar dangerously close to his eye.

"You want to piss me off?" Emmett snapped at me.

"No, actually. I want to go back to my room and take a nap," I said. "Jesus, dude, you're beating up an 11 year old. Do anger issues run in the family?"

"Real good people you've surrounded yourself with, Beck. I can't wait for the day mom and dad disown your pathetic ass!" Emmett said.

"Everyone says I broke their hearts, but with a firstborn as disappointing as you, they were broken before I was ever born," Beckett said.

Emmett clenched his fists and gave Beckett a dangerous grin. "Big talk for someone who can't fight back."

"Ask Miranda and Zach. I fight just fine," Beckett said, gesturing to the two standing with Emmett.

"We'll get him later, Emmett," Miranda said, tugging on Emmett's arm.

"I'm going to beat the living shit out of you while Kaz Warrick watches," Emmett promised his brother before following his friends away.

"Next time, stay out of it," Beckett said to me before walking off towards the dorm building.

"I saved him and he's still a bitch," I said, shaking my head.

"Actually, that's his way of saying thanks. When Beckett says to stay out of it, he really means to keep yourself safe," Pete said, rubbing his knee. "He has his own unique way of thanking people."

All the anger had drained from his face, replaced by a drug-induced smile. Pete pulled out an orange pill bottle and took some dry, standing up and testing his knee. He limped forward until he could get himself steady.

The two of us followed after Beckett, who had stopped to wait for us by the door. We went into the dorm building and Pete led us to his room.

Beckett hopped up on Kaz's bed as Pete carefully sat on the floor, bending his knee to test it. I sat down at Kaz's desk, feeling awkward. Beckett hated me and Pete was so drugged I doubted he could hold a conversation. What was I supposed to do?

I pulled out my homework for lack of anything better to do. I let myself get lost in that as Pete put on some music and took out his homework as well.

After about an hour of the three of us listening to music and doing our homework, the door opened. Kaz came in and I stared at him in shock.

He had angry red marks all up and down his arms, and a few on his face. He looked casual as always, though, letting his bag slide to the floor and eyeing us.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"Emmett is still bitter," Beckett said.

Kaz eyed his bruises. "And? Did you expect anything less? Really, Beck, I thought you were supposed to be the smarter brother."

Beckett glared. "I am the smarter brother. Killian interfered."

"Because I told him to. Good job, O'Malley. Watch your back, though. Emmett can hold quite a grudge. It really sucks when your 11 year old brother constantly upstages you," Kaz said. "Not that I would know. Perks of being an only child."

I dropped my gaze, feeling better. Sure, being an only child meant you were the only one your parents could be proud of. But it also meant that you were the only one they could be ashamed of.

Damn, I think Beckett's salty personality was rubbing off on me. Find your chill, Killian.

"I wish I was an only child. If I were my parents, I'd dump Emmett in the streets," Beckett said.

"I love being an only child," Pete said cheerfully. "My parents spoil the shit out of me and it's great. Although, I'm glad Leo isn't an only child. His sister is hot."

"What about Mikayla's brother? I heard he has killer charm," Kaz said.

Pete crumpled up a paper and threw it at Kaz. Kaz snickered and settled himself on his bed, Beckett shifting so that he was out of the way.

"Kaz," I said, getting his attention. "Why did you make me your lookout yesterday?"

"Because I was testing it out," Kaz said, as if that should be obvious. "Everyone is going to think Leo drags you around out of roommate fueled pity. But a yes sir like you is no real threat to the bastards here, so they won't worry about you. You're the perfect partner."

Kaz gave Beckett a light kick in the back before he could protest. I just let out a miserable groan.

"I didn't ask for this," I said, burying my face in my hands.

"It's mutually beneficial," Kaz pointed out.

"No, we're like two parasites feeding on each other. You're using me to be a delinquent and I'm using you to save my own ass," I said, pulling my hands away from my face.

"Epiparasites," Beckett said impatiently.

"Yea, sure, whatever the angry child said," I said. "Whatever the term is, we are not partners."

Kaz laughed. "We're whatever I want us to be, O'Malley. You put yourself in my hands."

Realizing that he was right, I put my head down and pretended to go back to my homework, trying to block it out as Kaz started laughing again. Great, now Sternberg was going to be suspicious of me and Beckett's angry brother now considered me another enemy. Things were getting more and more twisted by the day here, and all of my problems came from the same source: Kaz Warrick.