Alex walked on towards math, trying not to notice that only John was with him. It was nice, but seemed much quieter than the vibrant French of Lafayette and the humorous sarcasm of Jefferson. He got the sarcasm as he entered the class, but there was no humour to it.

"Oh look. If it isn't everyone's favourite child, Alexander fucking Hamilton. Long time no see dickhead." Said a voice from the back of the classroom just as Alex sat down. He groaned, placing the voice immediately.

"Nice to see you to Charlie. How's Mr Lee these days? Got a new belt has he?" Alex asked innocently.

"Yep. Old one got too used." Charlie shot back, grinning mischievously. Alex laughed, knowing if he didn't he'd cry.

"Can I talk to you after class? Given that our teacher is here?" Charlie suggested. Alex gulped.

"Sure. Why not?" Alex said, trying to concentrate during class and not focus on the fact that Charlie was behind him. It seemed that the world was in his favour. The topic they were doing was one he knew well and he was soon the only one aside from John and Charlie who was answering all the questions, much to his teacher's pleasure.

After class Alex packed his bags but stayed behind to talk to his teacher to make sure he could catch up. He knew he'd miss recess but that was fine. Not like he had food to eat anyway. Luckily he wasn't too far behind and knew most of the stuff he needed to know for the last few topics. Unluckily when he got outside Charlie and his friend were waiting for him. Charlie grabbed Alex's arm and dragged him downstairs, Alex resuming his usual pattern of obeying when someone was violent and dominant. He just stumbled along, trying to keep up with Charlie who was dragging him along, fingernails digging into Alex's arm. Charlie banged open the door to a spare room on the lowest level and shoved Alex inside. He closed and locked the door then turned on Alex. Alex stepped behind a desk, putting a wall between himself and Charlie. That stopped working when Charlie's friend approached from the other side.

"Charlie, you're not gonna get away with this. Someone's gonna notice." Alex said quickly.

"Funny. They never noticed before…How many of your ribs did I break before anyone noticed?" Charlie asked.

"Nine." Alex muttered.

"Nine. Then one or two should be fine right?" Charlie laughed, as did his friend.

"George, make sure he doesn't go anywhere." Charlie said calmly, like this was something he had done many times before. Which he had. George grabbed Alex's arms, holding them behind him so he could do nothing as Charlie stood in front of him, a Cheshire cat smile on his face. Alex's eyes dropped to Charlie's waist and he sighed in relief when he found that his pants did up with a button not a belt. Charlie smiled at that.

"No, no trip down that memory lane for today, but there are many other days, and many other lanes to wander along." Charlie laughed and his fist shot forward and there was a satisfying crack into Alex's nose. He swore and spat out some blood that had run from his nose to his mouth. Charlie laughed and punched his gut, the breath leaving Alex. He slumped in George's arms, barely noticing the next few punches. He looked up as the punches stopped, bloody, terrified but defiant. He stopped being defiant as a hand was wrapped around his throat, cutting of his air supply. Alex's hands scrabbled at Charlie's larger one but without air there was nothing he could do. His vision was dimming, the edges turning black and he knew there was maybe a minute until he blacked out.

"Getting used to the feeling again are you Alex?" Charlie asked. Alex was to panicked to reply, every part of his brain demanding air. Charlie slapped him and let go, giving him one last kick in the stomach. Alex slowly sat up, feeling his ribs. They hurt like hell but none seemed broken, maybe a fracture at worst but that should be alright if he didn't exert himself for a few days. He slowly sat up and checked the nearest clock. He had ten minutes. He grabbed the makeup from his bag; every movement hurt but he managed to clean up enough that no one would notice. He stumbled into class with just enough time, luckily not having to go very far as it was on the first floor, only two flights of stairs. He saw Laf give him a questioning look as he winced but he looked away. Not like anyone would notice any new bruises. And it wasn't that bad, he hadn't even broken anything. He tried to concentrate in science but he kept hearing the snickering laughter of Charlie and George behind him.

He managed to stumble through his classes eventually before he wandered along for a while and managed to find the cafeteria. Laf, John and someone else sat at a table together, chatting loudly. The one Alex didn't know was huge, easily 6"6 and looked like he could bench-press twice Alex's weight. Not that that was very much, but it was still scary. Alex slowly walked over, still wincing at his ribs and broken leg, though his leg had improved rapidly since getting proper medical attention. He sat slowly next to John, trying not to notice the lack of food in front of him, compared to the large meals of the others. John looked up from eating as he noticed someone else next to him.

"ALEX! Hey man how was class? I missed you in the last two but you seemed nervous in math? You alright?" Alex nodded quickly. He knew what Lee could do to the others if he told anyone. A few punches weren't worth seeing his friends hurt. It took nearly a minute for the silence of Alex staring at the other kid for Laf and John to realise they didn't know each other.

"Oh man I'm so stupid! Alex this is Herc, Herc, Alex. " John said quickly. Alex nodded and stood to shake Herc's hand so he didn't have to reach over the boy's food. Herc just stood and picked him up in a bear hug. Alex screamed.