The sun was starting to go down by the time the door to my room opened. Mikayla and I looked up anxiously as Leo came in.

He looked at us and his face was exhausted, hands trembling. Mikayla jumped up and led him over to a chair, forcing him to sit.

"What happened, Leo?" she demanded.

"Constance doesn't fuck around," he said quietly. "Shit, he doesn't fuck around."

Mikayla hugged him and he hugged her back, trying to get himself under control. When he pulled away from her, he looked down at his hands.

"He's good at emotional torture, I'll give him that," Leo said bitterly. "He also said the Blues would be keeping a close eye on us. Says if I keep breaking locks, my hands might just snap along with them."

"They won't touch your hands," Mikayla said fiercely. "They won't hurt you. Any of you."

"Pete got out of it alright, I think. Took his pills as soon as we left and was so high I doubt anything could get to him," Leo said.

"And Kaz?" Mikayla asked, grimacing.

Leo shook his head. "I don't know. He said he was pissed we missed lunch and was going to go grab a bite to eat. I can only imagine what Constance put him through. I think it's best if we just give him his space."

"Let's go check on Pete," Mikayla said, and Leo got to his feet. They looked at me but I just shook my head. They left the room and I waited a minute before also slipping out of the door.

I left the building and followed the path Kaz and I usually ended up on when we walked. I couldn't help it; I was worried about him.

He could've let me get in trouble too, but instead, he protected me. He protect me, Mikayla, and Beckett.

I walked for a while, keeping an eye out for any sign of Kaz. I didn't know anything about the Headmaster of this Academy, but if he knowingly let the abuse here take place, then he couldn't be good news. He'd shaken up Leo quite a bit despite the fact that Leo seemed physically uninjured, so he must have taken a different abusive approach than the teachers. Kaz might be able to shake off physical blows, but I didn't know how well he'd fare against constant emotional attacks.

Finally, I spotted him, and only by luck. He was sitting against a tree, mostly hidden by a bush. But he'd been running a hand through his hair, and I caught the movement of his arm.

"Kaz," I said, going around the bush.

Kaz looked up at me and pulled himself together. "O'Malley. Did you need something?"

I sat down next to Kaz. "What did he do to you?"

"Oh, are we friends now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you hated me."

"Kaz," I said, reaching out and placing my hand on his arm. His hands were trembling and he was trying to hide it. I wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't been looking for it thanks to Leo. "Tell me."

He looked down at his hands as if it fascinated him that he'd been caught in weakness. "Headmaster Constance rarely takes a physical approach to things. He gathers all the information he possibly can on seriously problematic students, and uses that to destroy their spirits. He's been building a file on me for a while."

I kept my hand on his arm, wondering if he found it creepy or comforting. But he hadn't shaken me off yet, so I didn't move.

"You can tell me. I won't tell the others," I promised.

He balled his hands up into fists to control the shaking. "He started with my father. The usual about how my father is lucky to be dead so he doesn't have to see me. Then he moved on to my mother. I know I don't do her any justice. I know that. She's a good woman who loves helping people and just wants to be a positive force. And I'm just her scumbag, thief of a son. She taught me how to make the right choice and all I've ever done is make the wrong one."

Kaz closed his eyes for a moment as the shaking of his hands returned. When it eased, he opened his eyes again.

"I told you I used to run with a bad group. My mom, she never liked them. She tried hard to keep me on the right track. She really did. But I still ended up here. I still let my impulses and my spite get the better of me. You should've seen her face when she saw me in handcuffs. She spent 16 years protecting my heart only for me to break hers. Then I got sent away. And I still wasn't any better. I'll never change." He let out a humorless laugh. "I'll never change. I'm no better than the kids I was friends with back then."

I looked at him in surprise, because I'd never imagined Kaz sounding so bitter and disgusted with himself. He shrugged my hand off of his arm.

"You should go, O'Malley," he said.

"You shouldn't be alone," I said.

He looked at me silently. I looked right back at him, panicking a little on the inside because the look in his eyes reminded me of the look in Tanner's eyes whenever he was about to kiss me.

"Hey, don't let this Headmaster guy give it to you. Let uptown funk give it to you," I said, because I was a master of handling awkward situations.

Kaz shook his head and looked back down at his hands. "Go, Malley."

"It's O'Malley," I said.

"I was getting lazy." He leaned back against the tree. "What happened today doesn't change anything. I just need some time alone to get his words out of my head."

"Take your time. You don't always have to be strong in front of them, Kaz. You're their friend, not their leader." I got to my feet and checked my pockets to make sure Kaz hadn't robbed me.

He watched me go, but didn't say anything. I walked back to the dorm and into my room. I pulled open my desk and took out the little fox figurine he had given me.

I eyed it and rolled it between my hands, sitting down at my desk. Kaz might seem like an unshakable rebel to the students here, but the reality was that he was a 17 year old kid and he could get hurt and tired too. He needed time to himself. I knew all about that.

But I couldn't stop thinking about that look in his eyes. I had to be imagining it. Of course I was imagining it. Guys never fell for me. Tanner probably only went after me because I was a horribly repressed gay guy desperate to be close to someone of the sex I preferred.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I wasn't anything special. Light brown hair. Dull green eyes. Rounded facial features that would get me carded at bars when I was in my mid-twenties. I wasn't the kind of guy you looked at and went "Oh shit he's hot". You just looked at me and kept walking.

The door opened and Leo and Mikayla came in. They noticed me and Leo frowned.

"Everything okay, Killian?" he asked. As if he hadn't been through hell today.

"Yea," I said, shaking myself out of my thoughts. "Everything is fine. How's Pete?"

"High as a kite," Mikayla said.

"I'm surprised Kaz hasn't checked on Beckett yet," Leo said, checking the time. "Emmett was in charge of Beckett today. I can only imagine how hard he kicked Beckett's ass before dragging him home."

The door opened and Siggy came in, shutting the door. He looked around before looking to Leo.

"How bad was Headmaster Constance?" he asked.

Leo grimaced. "Bad to me. Don't think any of us want to know what he put Kaz through."

Siggy ran a hand through the mess of hair on his head. "Shit. Not good. Constance is going to come down hard on Kaz. I knew it was just a matter of time, but he got away with it this long."

"Didn't you have to go to him once?" Mikayla asked.

Siggy nodded. "Yea. Once. My parents called him to make sure I wasn't having any contact with Rogan. I'm a Blue, so he wasn't too bad. But still. Rogan and I grew up together since we were abandoned, and I've never once doubted wanting to stay with him. Not until Headmaster Constance got in my head. If Kaz hadn't gotten me right to Rogan that night, who knows how dark my thoughts would've gone."

"Who is this guy?" I asked.

"George Constance. He's the current Headmaster. The position gets handed off to Constance family members," Mikayla said. "When George quits, one of his kids will probably take the position. They're all horrible."

"We're talking about a family who runs a school that supports abusing outcast kids," Leo said. "He's not exactly a pleasant man. Super scary dude. He acts all polite and pleasant as he rips your mind apart with his words. He knows how to get in anyone's head."

"Wow, he seems like a super pleasant guy," I said.

I thought of Kaz and how he'd looked when I found him. Maybe I should've stayed with him. Whatever this guy had said to Kaz, it had really gotten to him.

"I have to go before Cam notices I was gone. But I talked to him and he said Emmett's been put in charge of Beckett. Said he heard Emmett and Beckett got in a big fight. Emmett has a nasty injury on his face and Beckett took a few bad blows to the chest," Siggy said.

"Shit, and Townsend is just going to let Emmett keep doing this?" Leo asked angrily.

Siggy shook his head. "No, Townsend always takes Beckett's side. He told Emmett he deserved what he got for attacking Beckett. But he still wants Emmett to keep Beckett away from Kaz."

Siggy left the room and Leo rubbed at his eyes. He crawled onto his bed, collapsing against his pillows.

"I'm exhausted," he said.

"We should wait for Kaz," Mikayla said.

"I know, I know. I'm just saying." Leo rolled over and folded his hands behind his head. "Go get Pete. We'll put on a movie until Kaz comes back."

Mikayla went and fetched a very high Pete. The four of us settled around the room and put on a movie, barely paying attention to it, all of us thinking about Kaz. How would today change him?

When the door to the room opened nearly two hours later, we all spun around. Kaz leaned in the doorway, wearing his care-free expression and looking like it had been a perfectly normal day.

"Pete," he said. "Get your lazy ass up and let's go. I don't need you stumbling into the room in the middle of the night and waking me up."

Pete got up, staggering and steadying himself against Leo's bed. He moved towards Kaz, trying to concentrate.

"Kaz," he said, reaching out and lightly hitting Kaz's shoulder. "You sure you don't want some pills?"

"Positive. Drugs aren't my thing," Kaz said.

"Are you okay?" Mikayla asked, standing up. "Kaz, really, we all know he went after you the worst."

"I'm fine. In fact, I'm better than fine," Kaz said, a slow smile spreading on his face.

"I need to talk to you," I said, also standing. "Alone."

"Alone? How scandalous," he said.

"Kaz." I glared at him, trying not to blush. "Trust me, egotistical thieves with bad haircuts are not my type."

"Fair enough. Let's go." He gestured at me to follow him and I did. Pete hung back in my room so that Kaz and I could go to his.

Kaz shut the door and nodded at me to speak. I looked at him for a minute, wondering why I even cared. What was I doing?

"Something is different," I said.

"Nothing is different. I just cleared it all up for myself," he said, shrugging.

"What?" I stared at him in confusion.

"You see, O'Malley, I finally got everything in perspective," Kaz said, nodding to himself. "I'll show you. I'll show all of you."

He led me out of the room and back to the others. They looked between the two of us curiously, but Kaz just grinned at them.

"We're avenging Beckett out tonight," he said. "I ran into Siggy on my way back and he told me what happened. So we're going to get Emmett back for hurting Beckett."

Leo, Mikayla, and Pete seemed relieved that Kaz was acting like his usual scheming self. But I still couldn't stop worrying about him. He was acting different. It was small, but I could detect it.

"When?" Leo asked, checking the time. It was late, and the Blues would be going around soon to make sure everyone was in bed.

"Right after the night check. Meet me outside by the parking lot," Kaz said, grabbing Pete and dragging him out of the room.

Mikayla and Leo shrugged at each other before Mikayla left the room. Leo and I changed into dark clothes and climbed into our beds, slipping under the covers.

After a few minutes, someone opened our door. They didn't say anything, just shut it after making sure we were in there. Leo sat up and crawled out of bed and I copied him.

"Leo, I have a bad feeling about this," I said.

"Why? We've snuck off campus before," Leo said.

"Don't you think Kaz is acting...I don't know, weird," I said.

Leo shook his head. "No. He's probably a little shaken up, but this will help all of us get our minds off of what happened today. Besides, Emmett is a prick. He deserves whatever Kaz has in store for him."

I still had a bad feeling, though. Maybe that was just because everything in my life tended to go wrong.

We managed to sneak out of the school and around to the other side of the building. The others were waiting, crouched out of sight next to the stairs.

"How are we getting into town? Can Pete make it that far?" Leo whispered once we were all together. Pete was rubbing his knee, trying not to bend it as we crouched.

"We're driving," Kaz said, as if it was obvious.

"Driving?" Leo and the others stared at him blankly.

Oh no. Oh, god, please no. I didn't ask for this. I am a mostly good person and I don't deserve this.

But, sure enough, Kaz held up a set of car keys. "I got them out of Cam's room while he was making his rounds."

"This is reckless," I hissed. "Kaz, seriously, this isn't a good idea."

Kaz met my eyes. "I know what I'm doing, O'Malley."

He stood up and we copied him, making our way through the parking lot to Cam's car. Kaz unlocked it and we all climbed in, me in the backseat between Leo and Pete, Kaz driving, and Mikayla in the front seat.

Kaz kept the car's lights off as he backed out of the parking spot and drove away. Only when we were safely off the campus did he turn the lights on.

"This is a mistake," I said. "It's a worse mistake than your haircut, and that is saying something."

Kaz smiled, but there was something sad about it. "Just trust me, O'Malley."

The rest of the drive was silent. Kaz shut the lights off as we turned into a quiet neighborhood. Kaz parked in front of a house and we got out of the car, quietly shutting the doors.

Kaz led us down the street a little ways to a nice house. It was dark inside, as were most of the surrounding houses.

"Beckett's room is over here," Kaz said, going around the side of the house. He picked up a small rock from the ground and threw it up at a window with the blinds drawn. He waited a moment before throwing another one.

The blinds were shoved aside and Beckett pushed his window open. He leaned over and stared at us in surprise.

"Well," Kaz said. "Are you going to let us in?"

Beckett shook his head and disappeared from the window. The back door opened a minute later and he emerged from it.

"Kaz, if my parents wake up you guys are dead!" Beckett said, keeping his voice low.

"We survived Constance. I'm sure we can survive your parents," Kaz said dismissively. "Now, let's get a little revenge on Emmett. Siggy said he made good work of you."

"My parents already got at him over it. My mom was freaking out because she was worried he'd damaged my ribs," Beckett said, rubbing at his ribs over his shirt.

"Well, we're going to get into his room and teach him a lesson our way," Kaz said.

Beckett considered it for a moment before reluctantly nodding. "Fine, fine. But he keeps his door locked at night."

"Hello, what am I?" Leo said, waving a little.

Beckett sighed and motioned at us to follow him. We crept into the house and I looked around.

"Your parents have lovely décor," I whispered.

"Why did you bring him along?" Beckett asked Kaz in annoyance.

"Just take us to Emmett's room," Kaz said, giving Beckett a light shove.

Beckett led us down to the basement and over to a room on the left. "This is his room. He always goes to bed early."

Leo moved forward and we waited as he worked. He stepped away from the door after a light clicking noise.

Kaz pushed the door open and it miraculously didn't creak. We peeked into the room, which was faintly lit by a decent sized fish tank on Emmett's desk.

Emmett was fast asleep in his bed, curled up and snoring softly. My heart rate suddenly climbed. What the hell were we doing? There was no escape route for us right now. If we got caught, there was no way to get out of it. We were in the basement of a house owned by a man who despised Kaz, breaking into the bedroom of an abusive teenager. And for what?

I grabbed Kaz's arm as he started to move forward. "What are you trying to prove? Kaz, this can't end well and you know it."

He looked down at my hand on his arm before looking back up at me. "Just make sure no one comes down the stairs."

Kaz went into the room, his footsteps light, as if he had done this a million times. He lapped the room slowly, and I wondered just how much he stole in those short laps he took.

He gestured Mikayla over and she obediently went into the room. He whispered in her ear and she nodded and grabbed several books and stacks of paper. She took the top off of the fish tank and lowered the papers and books into it, as well as Emmett's cell phone.

She pulled a few sheets of soaked paper out after a minute and tore them into strips, the sound barely audible thanks to the ruined state the papers were in. She pressed them against his wall, where they clung to the wallpaper.

When she was done, it spelled out only one word. "Karma".

My eyes kept darting back and forth between the room and the stairs. Beckett went into the bedroom with Pete and I watched as they gathered up the small gathering of trophies Emmett had on his dresser.

Kaz unlocked Emmett's window, which was up high on his wall and ground level. It rose up just above the grass and was small enough that we'd have trouble to trying to crawl out of it. Not impossible, but still difficult. Kaz pushed the window up a crack.

We left the bedroom and Leo made sure it was locked. We crept up the stairs and out into the backyard, Mikayla shutting the door since Beckett had his hands full.

Kaz grabbed a baseball bat that had been leaning against the side of the house and handed it to Beckett, nodding. Beckett dropped the trophies and so did Pete.

"Go crazy," Kaz said.

And Beckett did.

Anger exploded through him in a terrifying force as he beat the baseball bat against the trophies, smashing them to bits. I kept looking to the house, afraid the noise would wake someone, especially now that Emmett's window was cracked open.

But no lights came on. No one came outside. Beckett tossed the bat down with the mess of trophies, trying to catch his breath.

"Revenge enough?" Kaz asked.

Beckett nodded. "You should leave. I'm going to bed before my parents wake up."

"Good luck with Emmett's rage tomorrow," Leo said, shaking his head.

"I'm not worried about it. If he lays a finger on me, my parents will brand him with a maroon vest. He's terrified of that happening," Beckett said. "Don't get involved anymore."

He turned and went back into his house, shutting the door. Leo snickered and crossed his arms, leaning closer to me.

"That's Beckett's way of saying to keep safe from Emmett until he calms down," he said.

I just nodded, too busy wondering what the point of tonight was. Kaz led us back to Cam's car and we drove to campus in silence. He parked the car back where he'd found it and we got out.

"Kaz, wait," I said as the others went into the building.

Kaz turned to me curiously, but I waited until the others were gone. I led Kaz around to the side of the building.

"Tonight could've gone horribly wrong if Emmett or his parents woke up," I said at last. "Why are you doing this? Why are you being so reckless?"

"You're a good kid, O'Malley. You should really keep away from us," Kaz said.

I felt anger rise up in me. He'd worked so hard to make me part of his crew and now he was telling me I was too good for it.

"You wanted me in this and now I'm in it," I said, the anger leaking into my words. "I'm not backing out now. You dragged me into this, Kaz. You owe me an explanation. If you're going to be reckless, then you're going to at least tell me why."

Kaz was silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" I demanded.

"You said I'm their friend, not their leader. And you're wrong," Kaz said. "I am their leader, not their friend."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Pete, Leo, Mikayla, Beckett...you. I used all of you. I put together a crew that I could make use of. Leo breaks into places for me, Pete doesn't mind taking the fall for anything I do, Mikayla has a talent for creative vandalism, and Beckett is angry little kid who would do anything to rebel. And you? You're the good guy the teachers don't think twice about who comes in handy when we need a lookout or an extra hand." Kaz ran his fingers over the scars on his arm. "I even use Siggy. I bribe him with his brother so that he lets us get away with sneaking out. Don't you get it, O'Malley? None of this was ever friendship. It was just about finding people who could do what I needed done."

I stared at him as I let that soak in. "All this time?"

"All of it," he said. "I came here as a 16 year old who liked getting into trouble. These were kids who had talents society branded as faults. I was getting my hands on those talents before this school beat it out of them. I protected them because they were valuable investments to me."

It was too clear. Nothing made sense.

Why had I let myself admire him? Trust him?

"Now you're getting it." Kaz pat my shoulder good-naturedly as he walked on by. "They'd rather be used than broken. And you're no different. You sold yourself to me."

He disappeared around the side of the building and I sank to the ground, pulling my knees up to my chest. I felt my eyes watering and I didn't even know why.

Hadn't we all been through enough without being used by Kaz for his own sick means? No one was looking out for us anymore so we through ourselves at the first person to promise us safety and we didn't think twice about the cost.

But it was more than that bothering me. It was the fact that, while I had tried not to admit it to myself, the more time I spent with Kaz the more I thought he was actually a good person who just had bad habits.

I thought of that story he'd told me. I pictured a young Kaz watching a deer twitch on the ground, body no longer useful. I wondered what his face had looked like when his stepfather told him they'd shot the deer. Was that how he saw us? Good until he deemed us useless?

I put my head against my knees, sick of crying but too tired to embrace the anger that Mikayla and Beckett had. I'd truly believed that Kaz was a good person, and it was hurting more than it should to find out the truth.