A long time ago, Clay was a part of a particular Boy Scout retreat that was unique even for the many camping trips he had been on. The retreat wasn't memorable because of the merit badges or roasting marshmallows or that incident with his friend Peter at the archery range. No, this one was vividly memorable because of the dingy little cabin his troop was crammed into. On top of fitting fourteen people in a place built for six, the musky smell, dirty walls, rats and vandalism made for a pungent and unfortunately unforgettable experience.

Looking at the boys' dorm brought back those feelings and more, but without the charming rustic qualities of that old cabin's design.

"Home sweet home," Jimmy said sarcastically to Clay. "The breeding ground for future psychopaths, racists, crooks and corporate juggernauts. Sometimes we're lucky and we get someone who's all of the above. What do you think?"

As if on cue, a couple eggs flew out from the left hallway and splattered on the floor in front of them.

"You son of a bitch!" A boy from the hallway shouted as Clay heard the person pound on a door.

"...it'll linger," Clay replied.

"Wait until you've lived here a year. Where's your room?"

"Oh uh..." Clay said fiddling with his key to check for his room number. "...room three."

"Right this way," Jimmy said as he led them down the right hallway.

Clay took a moment to soak in the surroundings as they walked. The two hallways joined together at the entrance of a common room. It was about as nice looking as expected, as in it looked like a bunch of boys had lived here for years and trashed it numerous times. The couch in the center looked older than he was and the television was even older than that. A card table sat in one corner with a couple of cheap chairs, while a dartboard with Crabblesnitch's face taped on it hung to the side of it. A couple of vending machines were at the other corner, full of sugary drinks, salty chips and other artery clogging treats. A few other decorations and miscellaneous items were scattered about, including some holiday items people forgot to take down.

And of course, nothing could tie this room together like the graffiti on one of the walls proclaiming 'Jocks are overcompensating for tiny balls.' At this rate, Clay figured it would be weird not to see stuff written on walls.

"Here we are," Jimmy said as Clay set his bags down. "The best rooms an underfunded private school can afford."

"Sure," Clay mumbled as he went over and unlocked the door. He didn't expect to be so tired from carrying his luggage everywhere, but all he wanted to do was take a rest. His side still ached where Trent kicked him, so he hoped he didn't have to do much else today.

As he opened the door, his room turned out to not be as bad as he feared. It was lightly furnished and plain looking, but at least he had a bed, a desk with a chair, a night stand, a dresser and a couple other basics. And of course, his uniform and schedule were waiting for him in a neat pile on his bed.

"So," Jimmy said as they set Clay's bags off to the side. "What misfortune got you shipped off to Bullworth?"

"...I got in a fight," Clay said sitting on his bed.

"Huh..." Jimmy said as he sat on the desk chair."Somehow that's surprising and not surprising. Still, one fight and your folks sent you to boarding school?"

"...it was a bad fight."

"I figured," Jimmy said pointing to Clay's ear. "What did you give the other guy?"

Clay didn't respond.

"Fine," Jimmy said. "I won't pry. Ok, you got in a fight. So your mom and dad figured the best way to 'protect you' was to ship you to boarding school?"

"It was my uncle's idea."

"What about your dad?"

Clay shook his head.

"Ah, dead beat parent," Jimmy said with a smirk. "Trust me, I've been there. My mom's soon-to-be ex-husband recommended this place too

"'Soon-to-be?'"

"She says they're still in love, but she said that about her other husbands too. I'll give it another year."

Well...Jimmy was clearly much more open with his problems than Clay was. It was probably time to change the subjects.

"So, uh," Clay said. "You've been here for a year."

"Yup."

"Anything I should, um, know off the bat?"

"Yeah, don't make friends with sociopathic assholes."

Clay wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, which Jimmy noticed.

"Wait, you don't know?" Jimmy asked.

"Know what?"

"Figures..." Jimmy said standing up from the chair. "Let's just say we had a little...incident a few months ago where an ex-friend of mine tried to 'take over the school.'"

"Say what?" Clay replied scooting to the edge of his bed.

"Yeah, it's as stupid as it sounds. Guy was off his meds and his inner Machiavelli kicked in. He influenced the cliques, caused a school wide riot, tied up Crabblesnitch in his office and tried pinning it all on me so I'd get expelled."

Clay had heard some strange stories in his day, but that certainly took the cake.

"Jeez..." He said. "What was that guy's problem?"

"ADD and an intense hatred of people," Jimmy replied without missing a beat.

"Nobody told us about this."

"Of course they wouldn't," Jimmy replied leaning against the wall. "Crabblesnitch and the teachers have tried keeping things quiet so people wouldn't be afraid to send their kids here. You being here means it worked."

"There was a riot?" Clay asked still surprised.

"Big one. Broken windows, vandalism, kids sent to the hospital, people getting expelled and the works."

"At least things are getting better," a soft voice said from the doorway.

The two of them turned to see a shorter, mousier looking student in a bright pink uniform shirt walking into the room. The fact Jimmy smiled at the guy's arrival assured Clay that he wasn't here to cause trouble.

"Petey!" Jimmy said as the two of them gave each other a big bro hug. "How was the vacation?"

"Long, tedious and my parents argued nonstop. Otherwise, can't complain," Pete replied pointing to Clay. "Who's the new kid?"

"Right, introductions," Jimmy said as Clay stood up. "Clay McKinley, meet Pete Kowalski."

"Cool," Pete said as he and Clay shook hands. "What brings you to Bullworth?"

"Broken home, fighting and bad advice," Jimmy replied cutting Clay off. "You know, the Jimmy Hopkins story."

"God, I hope not," Pete replied.

What Jimmy said wasn't entirely right, but Clay was too tired to bother correcting him.

"Well, at least you got a nice room," Pete continued while walking in. "Jimmy told you about Gary?"

"The ex-friend?" Clay asked to clarify.

"The very same," Jimmy answered.

"Total prick too," Pete added. "The cliques haven't completely forgiven us for being his friend."

"Cliques are a big deal out here?" Clay asked.

"Yeah," Pete replied. "No one has to join a clique, but it's hard to make friends here otherwise."

"So you guys aren't in a clique?"

"Nope," Jimmy replied. "Tried it. Wasn't a fan."

"I'm 'too lame' to join," Pete added.

"Hey, if being lame means becoming the new head of the school, be as lame as you want, amigo."

"Head of school?" Clay asked.

"I might have gotten on Crabblesnitch's good side for stopping that big fight," Jimmy said. "And I might have told him Pete was instrumental in helping bring down Gary, which he was, so he might have added Pete to the top of his favorite students list."

"As if people didn't hate me enough," Pete replied.

"Haters gonna hate. Besides, you might be a force for lasting change around here. Me beating up the cliques didn't stop them from bullying each other, so maybe you can do something better."

"Maybe..." Pete muttered.

"What are the cliques like here?" Clay asked.

"Thought you'd never ask," Jimmy replied with a smirk as he walked to the door. "It's about time we took you on a tour."

"You might want to change into your uniform though," Pete said to Clay following Jimmy's lead.

"Ah, right," Jimmy replied. "We'll wait out front."

Clay sighed as the other two walked out of view. He didn't really feel like walking anywhere else today, but everything they were saying sounded like good advice. At least wearing the uniform meant those prefects would stop bothering him...maybe...

The group walked for a couple minutes as they went behind the school and reached a huge open area connecting to the other buildings on campus. Clay hadn't been paying much attention to his surroundings, what with his uniform itching him something crazy, but seeing how much larger the school was came as a surprise.

"And here we are," Jimmy said as the group came to a stop.

A lot of kids were still walking about this part of the campus even as the sun was setting. Some of them were congregating in groups, most of them dressed in similar uniforms, while others strolled to wherever they were going or sat by the large fountain down the way. Compared to the scene Clay walked into earlier, this seemed much more serene.

"Wow," Pete said looking around. "I didn't expect so many people here right now."

"They've been meeting here more often," Jimmy replied. "Everyone's eager to see what the new kids are like, so they're strategizing how to recruit them. That or they're just soaking up the last bit of summer before classes start."

"Probably a bit of both."

"True," Jimmy said turning to Clay. "Ok, I'm pretty sure you can guess a lot of these cliques just by looking at them, but here's a few things to know..." He then pointed to a group of students in green uniform vests and dresses standing nearby the entrance to the library. "First off, take a wild guess who they are."

Clay didn't even need a second to think about it once he saw the glasses and variety of un-athletic body types. "Nerds?"

"Bingo," Jimmy replied. "The future doctors, mathematicians and unemployment welfare abusers of America."

"Why the green uniforms?"

"The astronomy club," Pete replied. "No one but the nerds are in it, so wearing the club vests makes them feel special. That and they've kind of made the observatory their headquarters."

"Headquarters?"

"Is there an echo?" Jimmy joked. "Yeah, they got a headquarters. So don't underestimate them because they can be pretty devious when they gather together."

"Did anyone replace Earnest yet?" Pete asked.

"Nope," Jimmy replied. "A few of them have tried, but 'there has been no consensus yet.'"

"Who's Earnest?" Clay asked.

"The former big cheese of the nerds. He graduated this year. Anyway," Jimmy said pointing to a group of people in sports wear walking in the distance, including a couple of cheerleaders. "Another no brainier, right?"

"Jocks?"

"Yup. The cause of rising tuition costs and underfunded departments. Hard as rocks and just as smart."

"Just don't say that to their face," Pete added.

Clay scanned over the people in the group for a moment. Most of them were muscular jock types laughing and talking about whatever stuff jocks talked about. Some of the girls seemed involved in the conversation, though a couple just followed the group looking bored. Clay figured he'd be in that camp if he were hanging with them.

"Probably best to steer clear of those guys for now," Jimmy said bringing Clay back into the conversation. "They're pretty wary of new kids unless they can prove themselves. You play any sports, Clay?"

"Not really. I had to work construction most of the time."

"Construction?"

"Yeah, I worked in my uncle's company for a few years."

"Well that explains that," Pete said pointing out Clay's toned arm muscles. Clay wasn't a muscular person by any means, but working long hours lifting construction material kept him in shape. He was also tall enough to look down on most people at the school, but he wasn't a particularly intimidating person. It just wasn't in his nature.

"...I guess, but I just, you know, never played sports," Clay replied awkwardly trying to cover up his arms.

Jimmy clearly had something on his mind based on the look he gave Clay, but he went back to his previous thought. "Anyway, I would steer clear of the lower half of the campus. Tad graduated this year too, so there's a bit of a power struggle going on. Now..." Jimmy pointed to a bunch of guys in leather jackets sporting heavily gelled hairdos next to girls with equally stylish hair near the entrance to the parking lot. "Do you guys have greasers out west?"

"What?"

"Didn't think so. These guys...they're a dying breed."

"Not here they aren't," Pete added. "I mean, Johnny getting transferred shook them up a bit, but they're not giving up the clique that easy. They're too lame to be jocks and too cool to be nerds."

"Yeah, if you live in the 50's," Jimmy replied sarcastically.

At that moment, Clay noticed another leather clad girl with bright red hair trying to walk up to the group, only for a bunch of the guys to turn their backs to her. After a few failed attempts to cuss them out, the girl walked away from the group towards Clay, Jimmy and Pete's direction.

"Things still suck for Lola, huh?" Pete asked.

"They're certainly not getting better," Jimmy replied turning to Clay. "Johnny's ex. You might want to steer clear of her too."

"Why?" Clay asked.

"Well, let's say that cheating on a clique leader with everybody in the school doesn't get you popularity points. That and she's got a knack for getting people in trouble."

"Like you?"

"More than I'd like to admit," Jimmy said with some annoyance as Lola walked directly up to them.

"Ugh, the nerve of those pricks!" Lola complained with a particularly whiny tone as she stopped next to Jimmy. "There I am trying to ask those grease balls a simple question and they act like I'm invisible. Can you believe it? All that talk about 'we got to be nice to the dames' and 'loyal to our women' while I'm being cast to the side like a flat tire."

"Yeah, life sucks sometimes," Jimmy replied unsympathetically.

"But why does it have to suck for me?" Lola replied adding some melodrama to her tone. "All I want to do is be a nice girl and people just walk all over me."

"Nice girls don't usually cheat on their boyfriends."

"Johnny knew that we weren't mutually exclusive. I'm a modern day woman and I can't be tied down to one man so quickly. If I can't live a little, well…what kind of life is worth living? Plus, I didn't hear you protesting when you smeared my lipstick, lover boy."

"Didn't say I regret it."

Lola scoffed until she set her eyes on Clay. He could almost feel her scan over his body head to toe. There was a momentary pause before a smirk crept on her face and she walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey…" She then said shifting to a flirtatious tone. "I know you. You're the guy Trent beat up by the dorm."

"I'm sure it was quite a show for you," Jimmy replied.

"Excuse me. I wasn't talking to you, Jimmy," Lola replied. "And for your information, I told the prefects about the fight, so I deserve some credit for his safety, thank you very much."

"You did?" Clay asked.

"Of course, cutie," Lola said running her fingers down his cheek, which sent a ticklish shiver up his spine. "I saw what happened. I couldn't live with myself if I let that jerk ruin your first day here."

"And I'm sure it wouldn't obligate him to do a favor in the future," Jimmy said crossing his arms.

"Hmph! You're one to talk. But no, that was out of the kindness of my heart. Besides, us pretty people have to look out for each other," she said winking at Clay, causing him to blush.

"Um…" Pete said trying to shift the discussion. "We've got some stuff to do, Lola. So…"

"I get it," She said annoyed. "I better not delay your little…whatever you're doing right now."

Clay suddenly felt a playful pat on his butt as she walked away and chuckled. "See you in class, cutie. When things go south with these two, give me a holler."

With that, Lola disappeared from view. It was a good thing Clay sort of had his legs close together, but he nonchalantly positioned himself just in case anything was …visible.

"Like I said," Jimmy finally said after a short pause. "Be careful with her."

"She seems…nice," Clay said unsure of what the right word was.

"Honey pots look sweet until you try them," Pete said.

"Anyway," Jimmy interrupted as he pointed to a group of people dressed in aqua blue vests sitting around the water fountain. "One more group to point out there. Want to take a guess who they are?"

Clay gave a quick glance. These people were nicely dressed, wore expensive accessories and had an aura of arrogance around them. So it wasn't hard to figure them out.

"…rich people?" He asked.

"Rich 'assholes,'" Jimmy clarified. "There's a difference."

"Eh, some of them are fine," Pete added.

"Name one."

"Um…"

"Exactly," Jimmy said. "The only reason they'd talk to you is if you're close to their parents' income level…or you have something they want."

"Or you beat them in boxing," Pete added.

"Yeah…good times," Jimmy replied cockily as he pointed to a lavish building nearby. "Anyway, the preppies usually hang out at the Harrington House. Even though Derby's on study abroad this year, his family still has a solid gold chokehold on the school."

"Derby?" Clay asked.

"The preps' leader," Pete said. "Some of them are trying to fill the power vacuum, but there's still some…hm, 'Derby loyalists' who think he'll come back."

"Even though he'll have graduated by that time," Jimmy noted. "Still, that's the preps for you. Deep pockets and no brains. So, you notice a connective tissue between these cliques?"

Clay thought about it for a moment. They seemed pretty diverse from what Jimmy and Pete told him, but there was one thing that seemed to be a common thread.

"They're leaderless?" He asked.

"An 'A plus' student here, folks," Jimmy teased. "Yup. Things were getting bad when Crabblesnitch clamped down on the cliques after the whole Gary thing, but some convenient circumstances just made it worse."

"Well, better too," Pete added. "The cliques haven't been as active as they used to be."

"Still, that means they're going to keep an eye out on new students to help boost their numbers. At least your little show today means no one's probably going to recruit you."

"…thanks?" Clay replied.

"No, that's a good thing," Jimmy clarified. "The cliques just cause problems for the school. The jocks bully the nerds, the nerds prank the jocks, the greasers beat up the preps, the preps get the jocks to fight the greasers…"

"So on and so forth," Pete said. "The more we can make the cliques get along or stop people from joining them, the better things will get."

"Yeah, because beating them into submission didn't help."

"Ok," Clay said. "So…how many people have you tried to convince so far?"

"…just you," Pete replied.

"Oh…"

"It's a work in progress," Jimmy replied. "But hey, if it helps you survive a year at Bullworth, that's fine by me."

"Hey!" A familiar and unwelcomed voice then said a short distance away.

Clay groaned as the three of them turned to see Trent and his goons approach.

"Lookie who it is, guys," Trent said. "It's the Crabblebitch!"

"Hold on," Jimmy said as he walked up to the bullies while Clay and Pete stood behind him.

"Hopkins," Trent said snidely as his group stopped.

"Northwick," Jimmy replied before motioning to Clay. "Heard you've been picking on my boy here."

"Your boy?"

"Yup. Didn't Russell and I make it clear that we don't tolerate that?"

"Russell isn't here right now," Trent replied. "Even if he was, he'd understand. It's a dog eat dog world here. You want to survive, you have to weed out the pussies from the panthers."

"Huh, I figured a tough guy like you wouldn't stoop so low as to quote manga."

"Hey! Don't knock 'Princess Robot Bubblegum' until you read it," Trent said before recomposing himself. "I'm just saying that the new kids need to toughen up if they're going to live here. You can't win a fight? You don't deserve anyone's respect."

"Good point," Jimmy replied sarcastically. "Remind me again, how many times have I kicked your ass this year? Seven, eight…fifteen times? Honestly, I've lost count!"

"So?"

"So, I'm going to keep kicking your ass if you harass him again. Unless you think you can beat me right now," Jimmy replied posturing himself. "Go on, first hit's free."

"Come on, Trent," one of Trent's buddies said.

"Kick his ass!" Another one replied.

It was then that Clay saw Trent hesitate. Like, really noticeably hesitate. Which was weird because Jimmy wasn't nearly as tall as Trent was, but if what Jimmy said was true then he must be one heck of a fighter.

"…whatever," Trent said casually brushing the threat off. "I don't have beef with you. And don't think you can protect him forever."

"I won't," Jimmy replied confidently. "He's going to kick your ass too when you least expect it."

"Ha!" Trent replied mockingly pointing at Jimmy. "That guy couldn't bruise a marshmallow and he's going to kick my ass? That'll be the day. See you around, Crabblebitch."

Trent and his goons walked away laughing to themselves as Jimmy walked back to the group.

"When did Trent start acting like the cock of the walk?" Pete asked.

"Since Russell went on vacation," Jimmy replied. "Don't worry. Russell will set him straight."

"What did you mean by that?" Clay asked.

"Huh?"

"That I'd kick his butt."

"Because you're going to. See, I don't think I told you this, but I have a sixth sense for detecting ass-kickers and you're one of them."

"But Crabblesnitch will expel me."

"Did he say that explicitly?"

"…no, but—"

"Like I said before, Crabblesnitch talks a lot of shit that no one follows. You just got to fight smart."

"That doesn't always mean actually having to fight," Pete rebutted. "There's probably a better way to get back at Trent."

"How?" Clay asked.

"I don't know. Just…pay attention and we'll figure something out."

"And when that fails," Jimmy added. "Come see me and I'll show you how to solve problems the American way."

Clay sighed. This was proving more complicated just by having them talk this much.

"Don't sweat it," Jimmy said patting Clay on the shoulder. "You got a whole year to think that over. But for right now, I got a date with a lovely lady. Catch you guys later."

"Hey Jimmy," Pete said. "Are we still meeting for—?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said starting to walk away. "Same time and place."

"Cool. See ya."

As Jimmy walked around the corner of the school, Pete turned to Clay.

"Well…" he said. "That's Jimmy for you."

"He's…nice," Clay said hesitantly.

"He really is. He's just a tough guy and you know how that goes."

Clay nodded as an awkward pause lingered for a second. "So…are we all friends then?"

"Totally," Pete said. "Jimmy doesn't talk to people for that long unless he thinks they're cool and, well, you seem cool to me."

"…thanks."

"No sweat," Pete replied. "Anyway, I got some stuff to do. See you at the dorm."

And with that, Pete also walked out of sight. Clay took another look around campus as he leaned against the wall of the main building. In the course of one day, he made some friends, gained a bully and got a crash course on school politics. And here he thought the most exciting thing he'd do all day was unpack.

A couple students walked by holding hands while others wandered about going to wherever they had in mind. It seemed pretty calm right now, though Jimmy and Pete seemed to paint an image of a powder keg waiting to erupt. Or that could be him over exaggerating what they said. Still, he didn't want to think about that. He had to assume there were more nice people at this school than not. He'd be completely depressed about the experience otherwise.

On that thought, Clay decided to walk back to the dorm. His bags weren't going to unpack themselves, sadly…

The rest of the evening was largely uneventful. Clay managed to return to the dorm unmolested, he grabbed a quick meal from the vending machine and he got his room set up rather quickly. He didn't really have a lot to decorate it with aside from a couple posters, but he figured he would sort that out over time.

Once he had unpacked to his satisfaction for the day, Clay flopped onto his bed and listened to some music while going over the day. It was certainly rougher than he was hoping but at least it ended better than it started. Still, how was he going to deal with Trent? Apparently getting beat up already put him on the lower end of the food chain and he wasn't all that interested in the food chain to begin with. More so, if he got in a fight and someone reported him, Crabblesnitch would send him home and that would be an awkward talk to have with his mother. All he wanted to do was go to his classes, make some friends and be happy with the experience. Was that too much to ask?

He tried to push out those complicated thoughts as he listened more intently to his music. Not that he didn't know every line from his "Erikson" soundtrack by heart, but it might bring him some solace to hear about 'the almost founding father' for a while without any interruptions…

…but that wouldn't be the case.

"Hey," someone said as they knocked on his door.

Clay immediately jumped off the bed. He thought he had locked his door after he went to the vending machine. The last thing he needed was for someone like Trent to barge right in.

Fortunately, the guy at the door was not nearly that intimidating.

"Oh jeez, my apologies," the guy said adjusting his big black glasses against his neatly groomed hair. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"…no, it's fine," Clay said pulling out his ear buds. The guy was definitely from the nerd clique wearing that green vest, but he hadn't seen him before now. "I wasn't expecting anyone."

"After that dastardly attack today, I'd be on my guard too," the guy replied with a weirdly exaggerated tone. "I was hoping to apologize on behalf of my fellow students for those ruffians. I wasn't there, but my compatriots say it was an unprovoked encounter. I assure you that the myriad of students inhabiting this lowly school have no quarrel with new kids."

"…thanks," Clay said still trying to comprehend the guy's word choices.

"So let me formally introduce myself," the guy said walking into the room and extending his hand. "I, my good sir, am Melvin."

"…Clay," Clay said shaking his hand.

"What part of this country do you hail from? I venture you are not local."

"No, um, I'm from Utah."

"Really? I've never travelled to such uncharted lands before. So, what sorts of ventures and frivolous pleasures do you engage in?"

"…what?"

"…what kind of hobbies are you into?" Melvin then said dropping his theatrics.

"Oh, um, drawing, music…"

"Ever been in a musical before?"

"Nope."

"Really? I heard you singing from down the hall and you sounded pretty good. You're a fan of 'Erikson' too?"

Singing? Clay figured he was humming along to the song, but he must have been louder than expected.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Most excellent," Melvin said slipping back into his theatrical tone. "What a fabulous production it is. A brilliant composition of contemporary musical theater mixed with the trends of modern hip-hop so even a theater troglodyte can appreciate it."

Clay really had no idea what he was talking about, but he decided to roll with it.

"What other productions do you like?" Melvin asked.

"You know," Clay replied. "'Wailer at the Mosque,' 'Banging Trash Can Lids for an Hour,' 'How to Steal a Billion While Working at the Bank,' 'Something Retro…'"

"'Hamster Harem?'"

"Eh…."

"Damn," Melvin said as he leaned against a wall. "Oh well, its simple pleasures aren't for everyone. Still, you should totally come to the drama club. Rumor is we're doing a musical for this year's school play and we're always looking for leading man types."

"…I'm a leading man type?"

"Sure. Tall, not fat, rugged but sweet. You've got the making of a moderately successful but critically beloved Broadway sensation."

"…I don't know."

"Well, we have our first meeting on Monday, so you should stop by and see what you think. Plus, girls like a guy who can perform in front of strangers and not humiliate themselves."

"…I guess."

"Cool," Melvin said as he began to walk away, until he stopped at the doorway and looked back towards Clay. "Oh, before I forget, I've noticed you've been hanging with Jimmy and Pete a lot."

"Yeah," Clay replied.

"If I may speak as one scholar to another, I'd be careful around suspect individuals like them."

"Suspect?"

"I'm sure you heard about the hoopla that occurred last year."

"The Gary thing. Yeah, I know."

"True, but everyone here knows that Jimmy had a big part in making the 'Gary thing' happen."

"I heard a lot of stuff got pinned on him."

"Yeah, but vandalizing the town clock tower? Sabotaging the big football game? Getting teachers fired? That was all him."

"…really?" Clay asked. Jimmy didn't mention that in his lecture.

"That's just scratching the surface. I'm not trying to completely condemn the guy. He did 'save the school.' It's just…well, Jimmy has a way of making friends to get stuff from them. One time, he trashed the observatory just to make sure we'd cooperate in sabotaging the game."

"…I thought that was all him?"

"The idea was all his and he carried it out. We were just unwitting pawns to his dungeon master. And Pete…well, he's just weird."

"Like how?"

"I don't know. That way weird people are. You know what I mean."

"…no."

"Just trust me. But I gave tarried here too long. If you need anything, inform my comrades and I. We can't beat up the jocks, but there's more than one way to kick someone in the balls. Fare the well, musical knight."

With that, Melvin walked out of view down the hallway. Clay sat there for a moment thinking about what Melvin said before walking over and locking his door. The last thing he needed right now for was more people to lecture and confuse him more than they already have…