"Today is the day we die," I said as Leo and I tied our shoes on.

"It'll be rough, but we'll be fine by the end of it. Kaz won't let them win," Leo said.

"I hope you're right," I grumbled.

We finished getting ready and went out to meet with the others. We left the dorms and started off towards the academic building.

"No matter they say or do to you, just remember that if you can hold out long enough for one of us to drag you back to your senses, you'll be fine," Kaz said. He looked calm as the academic building came into view, though we all knew he'd be the main target of whatever Constance was planning.

"That goes for you too, Kaz. Stand your ground," Mikayla said.

"I always do." He led us into the building and we all steeled ourselves as we entered Mr. Sternberg's classroom.

We took our seats and waited anxiously until Mr. Sternberg came into the room. He looked over pleased, which made my stomach sink. Shit, everything was about to go to hell. Good thing I was already flaming.

"Today, I thought we could talk about how you all came to be the way you are. If you can face the things that turned you down dark paths, maybe you can go down a better path," Mr. Sternberg said, smiling as he projected his laptop screen onto the bigger monitor.

My eyes widened a little at the newspaper articles that detailed a teenage boy being arrested after the attempted murder of his mother. The pictures of an angry boy that accompanied the articles all showed him without a smile on his face. He looked so similar to Mikayla that I had to look between her and the pictures.

Mikayla herself was staring at the pictures, trying to comprehend what was happening. I skimmed the articles quickly, realizing that Mikayla had only been 10 at the time of the attempted murder, and her brother had only been 15.

"A weak attempt," Kaz said, breaking the shocked silence that had fallen over the class. "Right, Mika? The bitch deserved it."

"Drake didn't do anything wrong," Mikayla said, finding her voice again. "He'd run your ass over too, Sternberg."

"What were you trying to prove here?" Leo asked. "That you could do a Google search of Mika? Congratulations. What else you got?"

Mikayla suddenly gave a dangerously pleasant smile at Mr. Sternberg. "Hey, Sternberg, want to know something? I knew what my brother was going to do to the bitch we called a mother. And I didn't stop him. I didn't tell anyone. I just let him do it. And I don't regret a thing."

Note to self: Never fuck with Mikayla.

"And then you vandalized a church. No wonder God abandoned you," Mr. Sternberg said.

Mikayla looked from Leo to me, surprising me. She turned her gaze back on Mr. Sternberg, eyes confident.

"God didn't abandon me. He gave me my friends here," she said. "Sorry that you can't make peace with God, but I have."

Mr. Sternberg brought up the mug shot of Mikayla's brother. In it, he showed no regret for what he'd done. "Drake R. Holly" was captioned under the picture. He brought up another picture alongside of it, which was a school picture of a 9 year old Mikayla with a black eye.

Mikayla tensed, but tried to shrug it off. "She hit hard. I learned to hit harder. Want to find out for yourself?"

"What are you even hoping to do here? Mikayla isn't bothered by those pictures. So give it up," Leo said.

"I heard you had another trigger that led to your vandalism accident," Mr. Sternberg said, ignoring Leo. "Mikayla, care to tell us who these people are?"

He shifted to another picture and I watched as Mikayla's face paled. The picture was of an attractive guy with his arms around Mikayla and a cute blond guy. As Mikayla stared at the picture, she seemed unable to find her voice.

"There's that word again," Kaz said, voice loud to catch Mikayla's attention. "Trigger, trigger, trigger. That word is such a joke. Just like your attempt at shaking up your students. I'll tell you who those people are. They're Mikayla's old friends, and one of them turned out to be complete scum. Looks like you and him have that in common, Sternberg."

Leo pushed himself out of his chair and went up to the front of the room. He shoved Mr. Sternberg out of his way and yanked the power cord so the image snapped off.

"Whoops, sorry about that," Leo said, dropping the cord from his hand. "I tripped."

Mr. Sternberg grabbed the back of Leo's neck so hard that Leo winced. "And what about you, Leopold? Abandoned by a family that will never love you the way they love your sister. They're ashamed of you, as they should be."

"Let him go," Mikayla said, standing up and clenching her fists. Her face was still pale, but her eyes were blazing. "Let him fucking go."

"You'll never make anything of yourself, and they'll never be proud of you," Mr. Sternberg said, still holding Leo tightly.

Leo grit his teeth. "I don't need them to be proud of me. Fuck them."

Kaz stood up and caught Mikayla before she could move to the front of the room. He forced her back into her seat and calmly turned to face Mr. Sternberg.

"We shape our tools, and afterwards our tools shape us," he said. "Marshall McLuhan said that. And in our cases, we shaped our tools of theft, lock picking, fighting...and from there, those tools shaped us into the people standing in this room right now. You shaped your hatred and abuse and let it twist you into the bastard standing before us. Let Leo go and actually teach for once in this damn class. I can feel my intelligence slipping away with every second I spend in your presence."

Mr. Sternberg slowly released Leo. Leo rubbed his neck and backed up so that he was standing next to Kaz.

"Constance fed you with pictures and stories of what would hurt us," Kaz said. "But what he keeps forgetting is that these are temporary wounds. Oh, boo-hoo, we're so upset and embarrassed. Give it a few days and we'll forget it ever happened. If a child does something wrong and you don't put him in time out until the next week, he'll never learn. That's all Constance is doing. Trying to punish us for acts we committed too long ago for punishment to be effective against anymore."

"We've come to terms with the things you're trying to throw at us," Leo said. "You think I care about pleasing my family anymore? I'll never be what they want. They'll never be what I want. What's life without a little disappointment?"

"Every child sitting in this room is a disappointment. Some more than others, though," Mr. Sternberg said. He turned his eyes on Pete now, who was struggling to stay above his drugs for whatever was thrown at him. "You'd know all about that, right Peter? You'll be drugged up for the rest of your life. You'll never be the boy you used to be. You'll never have the freedom of sobriety."

I could see the anger trying desperately to push it's way onto Pete's face. But his drugs won out and he gripped his desk tightly, shaking his head as if hoping to rid himself of the drugs.

Pete released his desk and stared down at his hands hopelessly. He couldn't even fight back on his own. He couldn't even feel properly. Beckett joked about me being the weak link in the chain, but Pete might actually have me beat there. He couldn't think properly, couldn't feel properly, couldn't act properly. His mind, his actions, his words, everything about him was controlled by pills. Mr. Sternberg was right; Pete would never be the boy he used to be and he'd never have the freedom of sobriety. And as much as that hurt Pete, he couldn't even properly react to it.

Mr. Sternberg snatched up his ruler and whacked both Kaz and Leo with it. "Now you two, sit down."

The two sat down, Kaz looking ready to deal with whatever came next. Mikayla and Leo shot each other reassuring smiles to show they were okay. Pete was still staring at his hands hopelessly.

"Now..." Mr. Sternberg plugged the power cord back in, but didn't pull up anymore pictures. Instead, he just smirked out at the class. "Some of you are here for less violent reasons. Some of you are here for your sinful life styles. Like you, Killian. Your shameful homosexual ways drove your parents away."

Well, okie dokie then, in case the whole frickin' world didn't already know I was gay. Thanks Sternberg.

"Well, if we're going to drag the whole class into my business, might as well tell them I'm sucking Kaz's dick," I said.

The tips of Kaz's ears turned bright red, but he tried to play it off by grinning. Oh, I see you, you closet freak. Your ears sure as hell weren't turning red when stuck your hand down my pants.

Mr. Sternberg seemed at a loss for a response to that, and I blushed a little as my words caught up with me. Dear god; just let the whole world know how thirsty you are, Kil.

I hoped someone would break the awkward silence that had fallen over the room, but Kaz seemed perfectly content to leave that job to Mr. Sternberg. Leo had buried his mouth against his arm, trying not to laugh at me.

"Alright, big deal, he has sex with guys," Rogan said, surprising me. "Some people have sex with girls, some people have sex with guys, and some people don't have sex at all. Can you make a valid point already?"

Mr. Sternberg seemed furious that he was losing his round of the fight. But he looked at Pete and relaxed a little, probably content with the fact that at least one of his shots had hit.

So he spent the rest of the period taking little digs at us to get under our skin as he talked about the things we'd done and the people we were. By the time class got out, the others seemed a little shaken, but still stood strong.

"Pete," Kaz said as we exited the classroom. He clapped a hand to his roommate's shoulder. "We'll get him back."

"Don't...Kaz, I..." Pete struggled to focus. "Don't make me take them until after lunch. I'm not going to be drugged for this."

Kaz nodded. "Deal. You start to hit withdrawal, though, I'm forcing you to take them."

"I can live with that." Pete looked relieved.

Kaz shifted over next to me. "You okay?"

"A few digs at my sexuality. I can live with it. Sorry I blurted out that I suck your dick," I said.

The tips of his ears turned a light shade of red. "Hey, if you want everyone to know that you don't have a gag reflex, that's your business."

"You're trying to be cool but I see your ears," I said, flicking his ear.

He pushed my hand away. "Oh, shut up. I'm just not used to being with a guy who blurts out his sex life during class."

"Well, surprise, I'm dat boi," I said.

"If you ever say 'dat boi' again I swear to god I'll break up with you for Kaz," Mikayla said.

"If you ever threaten me again I'll break up with me for Kaz," I said in terror.

"Let's just get to class," Kaz said, rolling his eyes.

We all went into Mr. Miller's class and took our seats. Mr. Miller came in after a minute and shut the door, eyeing us carefully.

"Killian," he said, eyes landing on me. "Why don't you tell the class about offensive language? So many of the students in here use it. Tell us about words like faggot."

I tried to hide the way that word made me feel. I'd never quite get over being called a faggot.

"Faggot," Kaz said, snorting. "People have killed themselves over that word, and you're going to use it against a student? Faggot, cock sucker, fairy boy...As a teacher, I'd expect you to know how powerful language can be. But, clearly, you're too ignorant for that. Well, Miller, I have a word for you: Cun-"

"Kaz!" Leo whined. "Stop it. I don't like that word."

"Fine, fine," Kaz said. "I'll just settle for asshole."

Mr. Miller grabbed a ruler off his desk and went over, smacking Kaz in the mouth with it. "You're disrespectful. The grief a boy like you must've caused your mother."

Kaz rubbed his mouth. "I don't think I caused her too much grief."

"Really? How did it feel to watch her cry when she saw you in handcuffs?" Mr. Miller's eyes gleamed as Kaz winced a little at that. "How did it feel to know she gave up so much for you and all you did in the end was break her heart? I bet she was ashamed of you. I bet she still stays up at night wondering where she went wrong with you."

"She probably stays up at night wondering how the hell I pulled off the theft that landed me here," Kaz said, trying to play it off. "It was a pretty impressive feat."

Mr. Miller curled his lip and his Kaz with the ruler again. He spun and started towards the front of the room, but I kept my eyes on Kaz.

He rubbed his mouth slowly, trying to pull himself back together after that blow. Shit. They had shaken him. Kaz was weak when it came to his family.

Kaz looked up at Mr. Miller with a fight in his eyes, but I could see the tense set to his shoulders. He knew they were relying on low blows to weaken us before Constance went in for the kill. But that still didn't change the fact that he loved his family and it hurt him to think about causing them any pain.

Mr. Miller picked up where Sternberg left off: Taking low blows at us about our families and sexualities and pasts in general. He kept attacking Kaz with his family, telling Kaz he was lucky his father had died before Kaz got the chance to disappoint him, telling him he was surprised anyone would marry a woman with a son like Kaz, and reminding Kaz over and over again how heartbroken he'd left his mother.

By the time class got out, Kaz was struggling to keep his confident expression. We left the room and I moved to him, grabbing his arm.

"Kaz, I've seen the way your mom talks to you when you guys video chat. She doesn't look like a heartbroken woman. She looks like a mother who loves her son," I said.

Kaz smiled, but it didn't touch his eyes. "You'd be surprised at how well she hides her heartbreak. Never wanted to cry in front of me, not even when my dad died."

"She passed that along to you," I said, yanking him down so I could kiss his cheek. "You're so frustrating. I want to hit you, but Miller already did a number on your face. It's a shame, really. Your face is pretty cute."

He rubbed where Miller had him with the ruler. "I'll recover. It's just a bruise. Are you alright?"

Leave it to Kaz to be more concerned about other people. "Look, I already knew my parents were ashamed of me or whatever. Mr. Miller didn't exactly give me any new information."

"Don't let them get to you," he said, and I wanted to punch him for being so unselfish. Wow, who would've thought that I'd ever find myself applying the term unselfish to Kaz Warrick. Either this was insane character development, or Kaz was just really good at pretending to be a selfish asshole while secretly loving everyone more than he loved himself.

We entered Sudlow's class together and sat down. My face paled as Sudlow entered the room, followed by Constance, Siggy, and Cam.

I looked over and saw Kaz trying to hide his surprise. Oh great. Even he hadn't prepared for this. He had probably assumed Constance would come after us when classes had ended, not during classes. And why were two Blues here?

"Good afternoon students," Constance said, smiling at the class.

"Get the fuck out," Rogan snapped, standing up. "Don't drag Seph into this."

"Sit down, Mr. Siggeir," Constance said.

"Fuck you," Rogan said.

Siggy surprised everyone by going over and roughly forcing Rogan back into his seat. "Rogan, for once in your life, just shut up and listen."

"What did he do to you Seph?" Rogan demanded.

Siggy didn't meet his eyes. "Just shut up and do what you're told."

He released Rogan and went to stand next to Constance. Constance smiled in satisfaction, flanked by Siggy and Cam and holding the attention of the class.

"I thought I should stop in to observe one of Mr. Sudlow's lessons," he said, taking a seat at Mr. Sudlow's desk. "Please, let class proceed like I'm not even here."

"I thought that today, we could talk about the choices you all make. Friends, particularly," Mr. Sudlow said, pulling up his monitor onto the board. He brought up a slide and I felt my face paling. "Let's start with your friend choices, Casimir."

Up on the screen was a picture of Kaz with three boys. One of them was Aaron, who had a cigarette dangling from his lips. He was sitting next to Kaz, looking at the camera with an expression that would've made me piss myself if I ever ran into him, his lips thin in a neutral expression but his eyes every bit a threat. Kaz seemed at ease, arms resting over his knees as he smiled loosely at the camera. The other two boys were unfamiliar to me, but I was assuming the one on Aaron's other side was related to Aaron by their similar facial features.

"You and these boys...you were all close friends, yes? That's how you landed here?" Mr. Sudlow was grinning triumphantly. "All of you with constant trips to the principal's office. You were with them when you got arrested the first time."

Kaz tried to play it off with a smile. "I had poor decision making skills back then. The Kizziar brothers weren't my finest friendship decision."

"Very interesting," Mr. Sudlow said, pulling up another picture. This one was of Kaz and Aaron, the two of them standing together and looking at Aaron's phone. Aaron had an arm slung around Kaz that made my eyes widen a little. At first glance, it looked casual. But on closer inspection, I realized that his arm was up too high, was too tense. He was in a perfect position to start choking Kaz, and Kaz seemed perfectly at ease despite the danger. "You said he was your friend, but you look a little close here."

Kaz was silent for a beat too long. "We may or may not have been screwing each other."

Oh, that little man whore was getting down and dirty with Aaron. Wait, wait, wait. Not the time Killian. Find your chill for like five damn minutes.

"How did you get these pictures? Aaron didn't exactly have copies of them," Kaz said, tone light but body starting to tense.

"Well, like I said, we're talking about friendship choices. And you made very, very poor choices, Casimir," Mr. Sudlow said. "How else could Mikayla and Leo have given these pictures to Joseph so he could give them to us?"

Kaz froze and slowly looked at Mikayla and Leo for confirmation. They just stared back at him, both seeming unable to find their words. Siggy stood stone faced next to Constance.

"With the help of Killian, of course," Mr. Sudlow added.

Kaz's eyes shot to me, but I was too shocked to say anything. Me? I hadn't worked against Kaz!

But of course when I needed my mouth the most, it failed me. I just watched as the confidence in Kaz's eyes slowly started to crumble as he looked from the picture of him and Aaron back to us.

And I suddenly realized what Constance was doing.

He was making Kaz relive the worst experience of his life. He was making Kaz relive that moment when he realized his friends had used him. Had betrayed them. Whether or not we actually had didn't matter at the moment; the evidence and our shocked silence was enough to shake Kaz to the core. As someone who valued his friends more than anything, the idea of them turning against him was too much.

"Honestly Casimir, did you think anyone here would be loyal to you? Even Killian isn't," Mr. Sudlow said, changing the picture. Now it was of my phone, of my text messages.

It showed the message Aaron had sent about Kaz being better when he was broken. But then it showed something very incriminating and very untrue.

It showed a reply from me to Aaron's message.

Then I'll break him.

Kaz stared at the board with uncomprehending eyes. His composure was slipping and he didn't even seem to realize it. My mouth dropped open and my eyes shot to Constance, whose face had lit up at the scene unfolding before him.

He was pleased because he had finally done it. He had finally broken Casimir Warrick.