Karkat was, for once, speechless. He began to feel very, very uneasy. Gamzee was…Gamzee was talking to his roommate about him. What the FUCK. Karkat looked at Tavros again. At second glance, he noticed Tavros was in a wheelchair.

"Karkat?" He turned to Kanaya, who looked concerned.

"I'm gonna…what the fuck is Gamzee's game?" Karkat's voice was an angry hiss as he scooted his chair out violently. He stood up, preparing to stomp over to Tavros and have a little chat.

"Is there a problem, Vantas?" Oops. He had almost forgotten that this was a class. Equius stood at the front, arms crossed in front of his chest. Nepeta sparkled admiringly in his direction. Karkat just sat down and sulked. Note to future self: Mondays will suck. Monday continued to suck after class, when Nitram fucking booked it out of there.

"Where the fuck did he go?" Karkat pulled at his hair in frustration. Kanaya patted his shoulder.

"You'll have another chance," she said, before her hand stiffened ever so lightly on Karkat's shoulder. Karkat looked up at her, then looked in the direction she was currently gazing in. Oh. Vriska Serket was walking over, this time without Aradia. Karkat positioned himself slightly between them. Kanaya and Vriska had once dated, but Vriska was just a huge bitch and didn't disappoint when it was her turn to act like one. Now, the two just tolerated each other, because they ran in the same social circles, and Kanaya was too nice for her own good. Vriska was too sadistic to care. Karkat's opinion may have been a teensy bit biased, but he had it on good record that he wasn't alone in his opinion.

"Kana~ya!" Ugh, even the way she says her name.

"Yes, Vriska?" Kanaya's tone was admirably level. Karkat's eyes narrowed in irritation.

"Honestly, I would have thought that keeping Karkat around clashes with your outfit…that's usually a big concern of yours, right?" Vriska tossed her mass of choppy hair back over her shoulder.

"Hey to you too, Vriska," Karkat ground out. "Glad to see you haven't totally lost your touch at being a total bitchface."

"Oooh~! Same to you, Karkles! As always, you are a little peanut butter cup of sunshine," she cooed. Karkat had to hold back as Kanaya pulled at his shoulder in warning. He stood up.

"It's been nice talking to you, but the tiny part of me that puts up with your shit just died." He turned to Kanaya, who was failing to hide a tiny smile. "Pester me later. I need to go find Tavros Nitram." A huge smile crept across Vriska's face.

"Ooh. What. What do you want with Tavros Nitram?" The way she had suddenly loomed over him made Karkat feel really uneasy.

"…To talk?" Vriska stared at him expectantly. Karkat side-eyed Kanaya, trying to figure out what Vriska was waiting for.

"...WELL? Details, Vantas! Keep up!" she finally blurted out. Karkat narrowed his eyes.

"Did any of that sound like it was your business, Vriska?"

"Ok, Karkles, try to wrap your brain around this. If you just want to talk to Tavros…I have his number. I just want to know why you want to talk to Tavros. It'll be like a little trade!" Karkat and Kanaya looked at each other. Kanaya nodded slowly.

"They are dating…" she confirmed. Karkat gritted his teeth. Vriska, you HUGE BITCH.

"I want to know what else Gamzee's fucking told him about me."

"Hmph. You would. That's nowhere near as interesting as I expected. But…" Vriska grabbed his cellphone, tapping something in. "A deal's a deal, Karbaby! Good luck, Tavros is a slippery one. Now if you'll excuse us, Kanaya and I are going to the cafeteria." She looked expectantly at Kanaya. Karkat was fuming as he grabbed his phone, but Kanaya just motioned for him to leave. He obeyed reluctantly.

Karkat found himself outside, the same chilly breeze as the day before slicing through the campus. A wave of annoyance washed over him as he checked his phone. Sure enough, there was a new address in his contacts- Pupa Pan. Crazy bitch. He pressed call and waited.

"Hello?" The person on the phone sounded confused.

"Hi, Tavros," Karkat kept his voice calm.

"Uhh…who. Who is this?" Karkat could hear the familiar sound of a dorm door opening. Fuck. How did he get to his dorm so fast? …Fuck. If Gamzee's there…Karkat let his voice get low and mocking.

"Oh, Tavros, I'm fucking heartbroken. That's damn right. You don't know me. Or you shouldn't, at least. Our friendship is news to me. But apparently, you're pretty damn knowledgeable about me. You even knew I was going to Zahhak's party before I did!" There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end, followed by a few seconds of silence. Karkat raised his eyebrow. Guess I'm more intimidating than I thought. He felt a little proud.

"…UHHH. HANG ON. HANG ON, OK?" There was a lot of racket, and a familiar, low mumble in the background that sent a chill down Karkat's spine. The door closed again, and a buzzing noise that was presumably Tavros wheeling down the hall.

"This is...this is Karkat Vantas, right?" Tavros asked after getting outside.

"Yeah. Yeah it is. What the fuck is going on, Nitram? I heard from Kanaya…whatever. What's the deal with this party? I know Gamzee is your roommate." Karkat leaned against a wall as he spoke, the cold stone sapping his warmth.

"Ok, Karkat, listen. I…you can't tell. Anyone. I'm telling you this. Not Vriska, not Equius, not Gamzee. Es…especially not Gamzee."

"No shit. If you're gonna beat me up, though, tell him to call off his boys. I mean, seriously, does he want you to run me over?"

"Haha! …ha. No. No, Karkat, okay. I really…don't know much. Gamzee seemed really nice, and he still does, but…he's like. Talking. Uhh. About his old roommate. You. And what happened the last night of school-"

"Fucked up, ain't it," Karkat drawled. "What the fuck though. Why is he talking about that, which, by the way, if you tell anyone about that I will shave your fucking eyebrows off and send them to your mother when you go missing."

"Hahahah, don't worry. I won't. I just…wondered why you didn't tell anyone. Gamzee wants to know too. I think…I think he thinks you're his best friend. Even if you're not." Tavros sounded a little nervous now. "Uh, I need to go back to my dorm now. Whatever you do, don't go to the party. Just skip it."

"Wait, what? Why? …he really is trying to kill me, isn't he?"

"Uh, I gotta go. Just. Just don't go to the party. Bye Karkat." Tavros hung up. Karkat stared at his phone. Well fuck. Everything's so clear now. That wasn't useless at all. He started to head back to his dorm. The noon sun was trying its hardest to give him a headache, and he suddenly felt pretty hungry. Breakfast…never happened. There was an hour before his next class, so he decided to hit up the café after grabbing his wallet back in the dorm. Feferi was walking down his hallway, away from Sollux's and his room. He averted his eyes when she waved. A giggle followed him to the door, which he pushed in angrily. Sollux straightened up from rummaging through a drawer.

"Hey, KK," he greeted offhandedly, before disappearing into the drawer again.

Karkat grunted, and checked out the room. Where the fuck did my wallet go? He toed the towel he had used that morning to the side, and his wallet shone happily up at him. He grabbed it.

"See you," he mumbled to Sollux, who looked at him, pushing his glasses up.

"Are you going to get food?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Cool, I'll go with you," Sollux said, abandoning whatever he was doing. Uh. What? Why is that even happening? Karkat searched for a reason to decline, but…there was none. He just stood for a minute, mouth attempting several times to make a word. He ended up looking like a fish with a gaping mouth. Sollux stood in front of him expectantly. "Ok? Ready?" Karkat snapped his mouth shut, then stormed out. He walked the entire way quickly, hoping Sollux would get lost or something, but he kept up annoyingly well, making small talk on top of it. Step on a rake, Sollux. They made it to the cafeteria in one piece, and stood in line. No sooner had Karkat opened his mouth to disagree with something stupid Sollux had said, that the person in front of them in line turned around.

"Kar?" Oh my fuck. What. Eridan Ampora, the king of hipsters, looked down at him. Eridan was clad in his signature vintage clothing, black-framed glasses resting on his nose and scarf wrapped in a way that totally negated its warmth-giving properties. Despite his second-hand appearance, he was practically the richest kid at school. He and Karkat had a very odd friendship. It had started on a city bus, Eridan riding for the ironically poor connotations, and Karkat because Karkat didn't have four cars like Eridan. Eridan had just broken up with his girlfriend. Karkat happened to be sitting next to him, and even more luckily for Eridan, Karkat happened to be a fucking expert on relationships. Not so luckily for Karkat, it began the veritable avalanche of awkward sleepover invitations, lunch offers, and random tickets to everywhere that Eridan apparently gave to those he deemed 'friends'. However, Eridan was now looking with annoyance at someone behind Karkat. That someone happened to be Sollux.

"Hey, Eridan," Sollux said casually.

"Captor. Long time no see. How's datin' Feferi going for you, jerk?" Eridan's cheek jumped with anger. Karkat stepped to the side a bit. Sollux and Eridan know each other?

"I'm going to tell you for the fiftieth time, Eridan, we're not dating." You're not? Okay, so Feferi wasn't Sollux's girlfriend. That was…surprising.

"Yeah. Sure. I'll believe that when-"

"When Feferi wants to date you? Guess you won't ever believe it then," Sollux said coolly. There was very little malice in his tone, just mild disinterest. Eridan was fuming now. Karkat felt unsafe at this close of a distance.

"Captor. Don't. Fucking. Push it," Eridan ground out. "Kar. I need to talk to you." He grabbed Karkat's arm.

"Actually, KK and I were just about to eat lunch. It's your turn to order." It was true. Eridan was next in line, and the person at the front was grabbing their food to leave. Eridan's eyes were nearly slits.

"Fuck you. Kar, pester me later. I need to talk to you." He whirled around, scarf swooshing. After looking disdainfully at the confused cashier, he stalked out of the cafeteria without ordering.

"…What just happened?" Karkat asked blankly. Sollux stoicly stepped forward to order.

"I'll tell you when we sit down. Yeah, two burgers, please."