In the middle of geography class, Connor scrawled along a map of Europe at his desk. He was flanked at all sides by other students, with one teacher pacing around at the front of the room. Beside Connor, Harper scrawled on her map as well. The rest of the students followed the same assignment, with Kanashii and Shay also in attendance in the classroom. Connor etched "Libya" onto a line on Turkey.

"That's probably wrong," he muttered. Halfway into writing "Pakistan" over Portugal and he broke his pencil's lead, cracking it in two like the Titanic meeting an iceberg. "Shit. Hey, babe, psst," he whispered to his girlfriend. "Could I borrow a pencil?"

"Not right now. I'm trying to focus."

"Way to be dismissive."

"I'm taking a test, babe. Do I need to cater to your needs at every spare second?"

"I don't know why you're being so overly dramatic over a pencil."

"I just can't win with you, can I?" she muttered.

"Well, you wouldn't have had to try if you just kept to yourself before this whole thing started..."

She scoffed. "What? So- what- you just regret this relationship? Is that what that little comment was supposed to imply?"

As their conversation began to heat up, students in the classroom began to crane their necks and look up from their maps to stare in the mismatched couple's direction.

"I'm not implying shit, but it's always some kind of implication with you, isn't it?" he snapped, pointing the pencil at her. Tense and disturbed, Kanashii and Shay exchanged timid glances at each other, then over at Connor and Harper. "Always evaluating me-assuming there's gotta be something more to what I'm saying. I can't ever just be innocent in that way, can I? I tell you what, Harper, I don't think you really even like me that much. Why the fuck are we dating?"

"Of course I fucking like you! What the hell are you on about?"

"Think for a minute-is that really such a ridiculous question?" he retorted. "You're acting snippy over a pencil!"

"Is there a monkey with cymbals where your brain should be? First you kick me out of my home, then I try to finish this test, and you find a way to make that an insufferable process, too."

"Insufferable? I'm insufferable?" he snapped. Shay hunched lower at her desk while Kanashii tugged at his hoodie scruff and feigned a cough. "You-"

"Hey!" the teacher shouted, taking out two earbuds in the process. "Goddamn! You're lucky I'm into black metal and couldn't hear any of your shit, but fuck, guys. Y'all are way too damn loud." The teacher irritably settled at his desk. "Jesus."

Soon enough, the bell rang and class was dismissed. Tense and rigid as ever, Harper brushed past students as they poured out of the classroom. Annoyance on her face, the preppie girl stormed off before Connor could come out. After he exited, balling his fists and growling to himself, out came Kanashii and Shay together. The pair watched him as he took off.

"Dude..." Kanashii murmured.

"That doesn't ever seem to get any better, huh?" Shay replied.

"They're like a time bomb. No, they're worse than a time bomb. At least after the time bomb goes off, the damage is done and that's it. These guys are constantly imploding, over and over again. They're like if Bill Murray played a time bomb in 'Groundhog Day'."

"They seem about as happy as Bill Murray would be if he had to come back for a Garfield 3," she added.

The token Asian student shook his head. "Something needs to be done, methinks."

Without warning, Shay headed off, her puffy, colored hair bouncing as she walked. "Something will."

Not long later, Shay headed through campus, attempting to cover herself more than her black bomber jacket allowed; the sudden flush of wind was unforgiving. The weather in Bullworth was growing colder by the day. It was apparent that winter was almost upon the student body.

It didn't take long for the pastel goth to find Connor. He was sitting on the brick and stone-fortified balcony that the group Pete gathered to help Noah for the class presidency debate had used. He leaned over the balustrade overlooking school antics with familiar unhappiness in his eyes. Casey of the jocks and Ethan from the bullies wrestled at one corner of campus while a prefect chased after a couple of rowdy greasers.

Shay stepped up the stone steps to reach the balcony. She didn't approach him at first, watching with unease, yet with the same serene gentleness she often exuded.

"You can come here," he answered her silence at last.

She winced inside at the pain in his voice. Stepping towards him, she murmured, "Hi, Connor. How are you doing?"

"I'm sure you can guess. Shit's about as bad as it can get. I've got a friend in the hospital, a clique full of fucking assholes up my ass, and now Slug's riding me, too. I don't know what his problem is with me." Facing Shay, he added, "All I'm trying to do is get back at the people at this school that deserve a beating. I don't pound on nerds or offbeat students just trying to get by around here. Guess none of that matters any." He scoffed and shook his head. "Pete. He was only trying to talk to me, and I cast him out. That's what happened right before he got hurt. I was supposed to protect him. There's a reason why I never let anyone in before Bullworth. It's like I'm a magnet for skirmishes and dick-measurers trying to fuck with me."

"I'm willing to bet that Pete won't be mad at you for what happened," Shay replied.

A moment of silence transpired. Connor wouldn't look at her, then she spoke up again.

"I think... I think there's one other thing you didn't mention."

He paused, a frown on his face, then he let out a sigh. "Harper," he mumbled.

"In my experience..." Shay chose her words carefully, allowing her nurturing voice to become even softer. "It's best to let others experience things for themselves, and I agree with that sentiment, but I-"

"But you have to be the ninth person to tell me you disrespect my choices." A few moments later Connor realized his mistake. "Hey. I know you're just trying to help. I'm... I'm sorry. I just... Say what you're gonna say. Don't hold back."

"Well, I would never deliberately try to hurt your feelings, so if I do, I'm sorry."

He let out a quick, pre-laugh nose exhale. "I wouldn't be too worried about that."

"I know you're tough, but we're all only human. Relationships are inherently emotional affairs, after all. Connor... I don't doubt there was something about Harper when you two first got together, but it's apparent to everyone around you that what that was has run its course. You two are always fighting, and it doesn't seem to be over anything of any importance either. I don't think you deserve that, and frankly, she doesn't either."

"I know it's not helping with the preps either," he grumbled.

"Well, let's just forget about the preps for a minute. Berating yourself for what your relationship means for external factors... let's just remove that for a second. Think about yourself. What do you want? Is Harper what you want-what you truly want? When you're in love, you're bound to fight eventually, but the two of you have only been together for a matter of weeks. There isn't supposed to be a souring phase after the honeymoon phase. The fact of the matter is- is there anything that this girl has in common with you? Is there any real reason you're still together? Are you scared of how it'll feel to remove yourself from the situation?"

"I..." Connor fumbled for words, keeping himself slouched and physically apart from Shay's conversation. "I feel... I think..."

"Take your time."

He hesitated. "I didn't have the right role models growing up. My... my mother was frequently labeled a trainwreck by the people around us. Some douchebag, methhead knocked her up and she couldn't afford the abortion, so I came to be. We usually get on well, other than the part where we don't. We're always fighting, day in, day out. She's had more boyfriends than I can count, and all but, like, four of them have sucked."

Shay placed a dainty hand on Connor's green jacket sleeve. "Hey. I'm really sorry to hear about that. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me."

He gently removed her hand. "That's... not really necessary," he muttered. He sighed again. "Part of the reason I avoided Avery when she wanted to date was because my shit upbringing seeped into my past relationships, but, fuck... not only is Harper a lot hotter than Avery, but she's persistent. She wants something and she takes it. That's her shit upbringing coming through-spoiled, daddy's princess type. I guess I can kinda relate to that other part. Maybe that's why we work... worked... at first... I mean, I care about her, but I also feel zapped of all positive emotion when I'm around her these days. Yet I get excited to go see her."

"I think it may be time," Shay gently pressed, "and I think you know that."

Connor finally found the strength to look her in the eyes again. At the sight of the pain in his, she hunched a hair closer to him as they watched the horizon over campus.

Harper gently creaked open the door to the beach house, closing it behind her as she murmured, "All right, here I am, so what was it you wan-"

The preppie girl turned around to see Connor standing by the bed with a bundle of yellow roses in hand. Her eyes lit up and she approached him with warmth radiating from her.

"Oh, Connor..."

"Wanted to surprise you with these."

"I see that." She reached in to hug him. Afterwards, she took the flowers from him and stepped over to the bar table to set them down. Connor followed along with a hopeful pep to his step.

"So... you like them?"

She paused. "Yeah. Yes, I do..."

"I've been thinking about us and, well, I wanted to do something special for you. Haven't given you a gift in a while."

"Yeah, I noticed..."

"Something wrong?" Connor urged.

Harper's eyes were clouded with emotions the ruffian didn't anticipate flowers would bring.

"Connor, is this supposed to be some kind of ceremonious gesture?"

He eyed her a bit closer. "What do you mean?"

She removed one of the roses from the bundle and twiddled it between her fingers. "I can't help feeling like this is somewhat... I don't know... artificial? Like, disingenuous?"

Connor failed to stifle a scoff. "Where did you get that from me buying you flowers?"

"I just mean- it doesn't feel real. It feels like you only did this to fix something."

He hesitated. "Well, if something's broken, you would only naturally fix it, right?"

"Do you mean to tell me you think we're broken?"

"No, I just- I just got you a present. It's not that deep."

"I think it is," she argued. "It doesn't feel like you actually wanted to give me a present, it feels like you just did it so that we don't yell at each other. Or, so that I'll let you make out with me. Besides, I'm bored of flowers; it's just not as special anymore."

"'Let me'? Like you're some kind of thing I have to earn admission to? That doesn't make us sound like equals. And what are you talking about? Your love language is presents."

"But I've always gotten presents. I don't know, I feel like I should love it... but... it's like the-"

"Spark," Connor continued, inadvertently overlapping the word with her.

"Has..." she broke off.

He paced around the beach house for a moment, then let out a sigh as he smeared his hands down his face and took a seat on the bed. She watched him with discomfort.

"Come here," Connor finally urged, tapping his hand against the bedding beside him. "There's something I need to say."

A while later, Connor wheeled Pete in a wheelchair down the pier. It was the same pier above the beach where Pete had unfortunately sealed his fate by "defeating" Oliver. The tiny student was dressed in a hospital gown and had blankets around him to keep him warm in the colder elements in the air. Connor finally stopped wheeling Pete by the time they reached the edge of the pier, then he took a seat on a bench beside his battered friend.

"Nice day out," Pete wheezed, then coughed.

"You good, man?"

"Ah, well, the oxys make me feel a little woozy, but overall, I'm good."

Connor slouched and rested his head in his hands. "This never should have happened to you."

Pete nodded. "Yeah, dude, but it did. Wish I could have gotten a cool scar out of it at least. Instead, all I've got is a chipped tooth. Sexy. Has anything else happened with the preps since my injury?"

"Kanashii, Shay, Evan, and I trashed Harrington House. That was a good time. Then we went to Chandler's and destroyed his gazebo. It felt good, but it wasn't enough. All it felt like was another... like some kind of move. Not the move, if that makes any sense."

"You need a master plan," Pete presumed. "I hate to say it, man, but that was one thing that made being around Benji valuable. Just about the only thing," he grumbled. "That guy could make a plan, despite how much dicking around he did."

"Yeah, but, even when he was dicking around on us, he wasn't dicking around on his own plan the whole time to manipulate us and Evan." Connor groaned. "I hate feeling like Benji was right about me, that I'm some dumbass that can't think for himself."

"I don't think that describes you," Pete protested.

"I don't know what to do. I'm on my last leg here."

The pair went silent. Seagulls in the distance cawed, and the distant sound of civilians hanging around on the beach became audible for a moment.

"I've got it," Pete snapped his fingers. "Caden."

"Hmm?"

"Caden Jones. Look, bro, you can beat up a prep any old day of the week, but you're only giving them what their parents give them at home. Their whole clan operates with their noses in the air and their sense of self-importance just as high."

"Not sure I follow," Connor replied.

"The majority of the preps might be good boxers, but even random-ass greasers can take them down-not to say they're as bad of fighters as the bullies, but Caden and Oliver, mainly Caden, are a different story. Caden's the champ; no one beats him. Connor, your plan to fight off the preps wasn't enough; I think if you were to go in there, challenge him once and for all, then beat him? That would sabotage everything that keeps the preps high and mighty. Their foundation would go crumbling. Beat up Oliver next?"

"Make him admit to your injury and get expelled?" Connor continued, a mischievous glint beginning to form in one eye.

"Ye- wait, what?"

"Slug says my ass is grass if I don't get proof that I didn't somehow bring on your beating. So, if I do what you say, then get Oliver publicly humiliated and force him into admitting his crime and show the preps-"

"That you're better than their best man in front of the whole clique-"

"Then we officially pacify those freaks!" Connor exclaimed. "Yes, Pete! This is it."

Pete grunted from the pain in his ribs, yet excitement for his friend was plain on his face. It didn't last long, however, once he saw Connor withdrawing once more. "I-Is something wrong about that?"

"It's just... everytime I go toe to toe with Caden, he... he lays my ass out." Connor sighed, cloaking his face in his palms as a deep, burning feeling of shame overwhelmed him. "Oh, god. I never wanted to say that out loud... Fuck. Harper was right..."

"Yeah, well..." Pete stammered. "Well, you know, personally, I think that's a load of bull, dude. You know, someone I'm quite fond of said something to me one time about being better than I think I am-about how I was holding myself back with my perception of myself. Sound familiar? M-Maybe I didn't get the girl back then, but it worked out just the way it needed to. I-I-If..."

Pete fought through the pain in his words.

"If someone else would make Shay happier in that way, then it's okay. I'm not gonna hold her back. The point is, you were right about what you said. I think. And I think I'm right about what I think about you, bro. You're Connor fucking Henson, dude. You're the best fighter I've ever seen. If you can get cornered by Evan, someone way bigger than you, and take him down with a crazy-ass drone in the mix, why let someone like Caden rattle you? He's just another obstacle, man. You can take him. You can do this. I believe in you. I'm just sorry I can't be there to help you."

Connor smiled over at Pete, a sight that was quite rare for his friend to encounter. He fist-bumped him and said, "Yeah? Thanks. That made me feel a lot better about things."

"Good, dude. Now, I know this isn't too different from the plan you and Kanashii made originally, but I think you could really tip the scales in your favor if you enlist some help-you know, in case things don't go as expected? There's Orion. He's a greaser, but a friend of mine. Maybe Evan would be willing to help if you throw him some cash?"

"Those are good ideas. There's also Roman Malloy."

"Kanashii told me he betrayed the preps to help you guys and that he was wronged by Benji, too?"

"Right."

"Say, if he was a prep, he can probably box, right? I bet it'd be worth your time to train with him. You stand a far greater chance with Caden if you can expect and counter some of his techniques."

"That's great thinking, Pete. Thank you."

"One more thing, though," Pete grunted, adjusting in his wheelchair. "About you and Harper. I wanted to apologize for acting like I know better than you. I have zero experience and no room to judge. You do what you've gotta do. I'm sorry, man."

Connor shook his head and glanced to the sealine horizon. "Don't apologize to me. You were right. You and Shay both."

"So... does that mean you're-"

Pete cut off as Connor reached into his jacket pocket, setting a wad of cash in his lap.

"-handing me a stack?" Pete finished.

"Think of it as a little compensation from Chad Morris. His way of apologizing for your misfortune."

"Voluntarily?"

Connor smirked. "Sure."

"Thanks, Connor. You're a great friend to me, you know that?"

He patted his much smaller friend's shoulder. "I'm here for you, buddy. Thanks for all your help."

"For sure, man. The way I see it-if we put our heads together, then we don't even need Benji; we can make plans all on our own."

"We never needed that snake."

After standing in line in the Bullworth Academy cafeteria for a serving of pig slop disguised as edible people food, Roman wandered through the aisles of long tables, the sounds of echoing chatter drowning out any other sound. His feet nearly carried him in the direction of where the preps ate: all the way on the other end of the cafeteria, opposite the greasers' spot. For a change, both the preps and greasers glared at him. Casting uncertain gazes at both the tables that housed Casey and Lightning overly intensely arm-wrestling, and Harold showcasing underwear on the outside of his pants to Avery and Sam, Roman decided to go sit at a table with non-clique kids.

He set his tray down, curtly nodding to the others. He lifted his spoon, but before a morsel could reach his lips, the kids had all silently fled the table. Roman frowned as he took a bite. Soon after, Connor sat down at his table.

"Tough being an offbeat in this hellish cairn, isn't it?"

"S'up, Connor? Yeah, it is. I've never felt more alone, surrounded by so many people."

"I'm used to it. In fact, I'm still adjusting to caring about people. Listen, dude, Oliver, Caden, and the rest need to be stopped. I'm sure you heard about Pete?"

"He wound up in the hospital, right? That's what Mr. Frog said-right before he puked into Ricky's shoes."

"I don't know if I can take Caden on without proper training. Roman, will you be my teacher?"

Roman cast another glance at the pompous preps at their table across the cafeteria. They shared a laugh over something inaudible over the sea of other voices. With their noses high in the air, even the way they laughed was conceited.

"Yeah. I'll teach you everything I know."

A couple of days later, on a cold, cloudy, and gloomy evening, under a gazebo in the preps' turf within Bullworth town, not far from the clothing outlets and shops the preps adored, several of the offbeat clan loitered. Winston laid on his back with his tail wagging and his tongue out while Kanashii and Shay rubbed his belly together. Meanwhile, Evan and Orion paced under the gazebo.

"Keeping your distance from Winston, are we, Evan?" Kanashii assumed teasingly.

"If Fido goes for my pants again, I've got 102 ways of tearing your ass open that I can choose from."

"101 too many," he responded. "Anal shouldn't have to be so complicated."

"What are we doing here again?" Orion asked.

"We all got the same message from Connor, right?" Kanashii assumed. "Looks like we're finally getting back at the preps."

"If I were organizing this," Evan started, "I'd have avoided such a ridiculously public meeting point. 'Tis the trouble you get with Connor as your leader."

"He's no idiot," Shay argued.

"Right, right. He's more like a reformed idiot. Always learning."

"Didn't you learn all about blacking out the last time you were in front of my fists?" Connor jabbed back, appearing from down a sidewalk with Roman alongside him. They shuffled up the steps to the gazebo, and Kanashii and Shay stood to greet them, with Kanashii keeping Winston close on a leash.

"Hey, guys," Roman nodded to the pair.

"Good to see you," Shay said to Connor.

"Same to you. For anyone who's out of the loop, Roman and I have been spending plenty of time together recently. He taught me the noble art of boxing."

"So that's where you disappeared to over the past few days," Kanashii concluded.

"Yep. Listen up, everybody-"

"Actually, first," he intervened, "I wanna say something. Can I say something?"

Somewhat disgruntled, Connor replied, "Okay."

"On the topic of disappearing- all right, I know I'm usually the more mellow, goofball type of fella around here, right? But there's something I've been keeping quiet about that I think I need to say. Connor."

The offbeat watched him speak with annoyance.

"All this shit we're dealing with, well, I think it might've been a lot less of a conundrum if it weren't for your involvement with Harper."

"Here we fucking go."

"No, no, listen to this. You know it's true-Oliver would've been one hundred percent less whacko-mode if it weren't for you dating her. In a way, in some messed-up kind of way, it feels like you and her being together is what led to Pete's injury."

Hardly a moment after getting out the word "injury", Connor was stomping towards him with Roman and Orion bracing up, readying to hold him back if they needed to. Winston instantly rose to his paws and stood to defend his owner, a growl rising in his throat.

"How the fuck can you blame me?" he growled. "I'm not responsible for the way people act. If the wind were to knock over a lighthouse, I'd say that it's the foundation that's to blame. The wind probably wouldn't have had a chance to knock it over were the lighthouse more stable."

"What the fuck are you even talking about?" Evan retorted through a chuckle.

"Shut up!" Back to Kanashii, he snapped, "Besides, you're the one I had to claw off of Dave in the gym that day! You're the one who wandered into their gym like a moron when I had to come rescue you!"

"You didn't have to do any-"

"Yeah, I did. We know these people, Kanashii, they're scum. If no one had come for you in time, they'd have kept beating on you until maybe you ended up in the hospital, too! Roman, tell him."

"It's... it's a possibility," Roman answered.

"Then that'd have been my fault, too, right?" Connor continued. "Because of 'stealing Oliver's girl'. Funny, considering Harper's the one who practically threw herself at me."

"The point is that you went down that road at all, man," Kanashii murmured. "You made a poor choice and you glossed over the consequences it'd create. All right, you're right; you're not the reason Pete's on narcotics right now, but don't you think being with Harper is just making this worse?"

"It was until I left her!" Connor snarled.

The crowd went silent. Some of them were surprised, others, less invested, stoic. Shay's gentle, compassionate eyes communicated her sympathy.

Connor's mind wandered him to a recent, painful memory within the beach house. He was sitting on his bed, his eyes to the sleek, wood floor with the preppie girl right beside him. Where there was once closeness, a peculiar warmness for a couple this different, there was now coldness-harsher than the wind outside. In an attempt to glaze over his pain, he focused his eyes on a bundle of yellow roses he'd brought Harper, lying on the bar table. She sat on the other side of the bed, pulling down her skirt and sniffling.

"But why?" she whined.

"It's just... It's... I don't know."

"Don't you have more to say than that?" she sniveled. "That pathetic excuse for a response is all I get?"

Connor slouched even lower. "I don't know what to say to you."

"Well," she sniffled again, her voice shuddery and weak. "Well, I don't know what to say to you. You just- you make someone care, and then you just throw them away like trash. Am I just trash to you?"

"No, Harper, god, no, just- it's clear we've got issues, all right? I shouldn't have said yes to you in the first place."

"But I always get what I want." Harper sobbed into her palms. "Always. That's the way it's always been," she added, muffled.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, I am, but that just isn't the way it works."

Catching her breath, she glared at him. "Maybe not for you, but I come from wealth. I come from importance. The Harringtons are as close as you're gonna find in the 'real world' to royalty, all right? I have never had what I want taken from me. So, now you expect me to upend my entire way of life because you're not happy anymore? What about my happiness? And why aren't you happy? What can't I provide for you? I'm pretty, and I'm well-traveled, and I have money. You can do whatever you want with me!"

"But we fight. We're just," he sighed again. "Face it, Harper. We're just chasing the dragon. I-I- I've got problems, okay? I've mistreated you. I've got shit I need to work through. I see now I wasn't as ready for romance as I thought I was."

"Oh, that's just abundantly clear," she whimpered, shuddery, then she got to her feet. Connor felt his heart snap at her red-eyed, tear-stained face burning a furious, devastated glare down at him. "You know what your problem is, Connor? You're a loser! You get me all interested, then once I'm yours, you ruin everything!" she cried. "You're really not shit, you know that? You're not nearly as cool as you think you are, acting all distant and stoic and all this. It doesn't work, you know."

"Harper-"

"Why can't you just love me? I love you!"

These words stung him even harsher than her cutting insults.

"No, you don't. We don't love each other."

She sniffled again, failing to stifle more sobs. "Yeah, I see that now. Asshole! You ruined my life! I tried to be enough for you. I tried to change. Why do you think I hate Emma so much? Huh? 'Cause all she has to do is open her legs and she gets any guy she wants and everyone thinks I'm too much of a bitch to date me! I take a chance on the short, ugly guy and then I get my fucking heart broken. Thanks a lot, Connor. This was real cool. Real nice. I hope your precious happiness can fill back up, not like mine matters."

Connor stayed still while his now ex-girlfriend stomped towards the beach house's door. At the door, she turned to face him again, muttering, "I know we don't make sense, but I really did try, all right? I was willing to go anywhere with you. You weren't even willing to let me be seen around your friends. How did you change, Connor? I at least tried to set aside my lifestyle for you, but you were broody and distant the whole damn time... yet you're the one breaking up with me?" She shook her head, tears readying up to keep flowing, but she held it back as best she could. "I'm glad we're done. Good riddance."

With that, she slammed the door, leaving Connor alone in dismal, unbridled solitude.

"I sat there and thought about it," Connor murmured to his friends, back to the present moment in the gazebo. "Thought about whether it was all my fault. Then I got up off my ass and hit up Roman. It occurs to me now that some of this is my fault, and I'm sorry. Truly. I know I've been negligent, but right now, I need all your support. This is our moment."

Orion raised his hand.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanna say-I was supposed to warn Pete about Oliver's ambush. I- I didn't. I'm sorry."

Connor let out a sigh. "Yeah, well... we all make mistakes, I guess."

"I really dropped the ball, pretty damn bad, but now I'm here to see if I can't fix it. But what happens if Caden and Oliver aren't at the gym? Do we just leave a little note?"

"Then we wait until they get there. This happens now."

"Do you think you're ready to face Caden?" Shay asked.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Kanashii. Do I have your support?"

His friend hesitated, then he held out an arm to dap his new leader up. "I'm on your side, bruv, that's not gonna change."

Connor nodded, exchanging glances with his ragtag team that he'd assembled. "Great. Let's go."

Not far from the gazebo, Chandler strolled through the Glass Jaw Boxing Club gym's foyer to the entry door where he was greeted with Connor, Kanashii, Winston, Shay, Evan, Orion, and Roman standing before him. The overwhelming amount of foes had him stunned. Winston barked.

"Chandler," Roman greeted him with a tap of his shoulder. "Hey, chap. Get out of our way."

"It's the food stamp club," the prep mumbled.

"This is our turf now, bee-yotch," Orion threw in.

"Caden may have a few words of objection."

"So, you were expecting us?" Connor asked.

"See for yourself," Chandler muttered.

"Lead the way," Evan urged.

The offbeats followed the chocolate-maned prep through the foyer into the gym ring. It didn't take long for the preps beating punching bags to stop what they were doing and gather up around the ring. Jayshawn, Bryce, and the rest were in attendance. The groups slowly stepped towards each other, disdain for their opposing teams in their eyes. They remained rigid and determined; not a single person in the gym was unaware of the impending brawl that would be coming. Caden revealed himself quite easily through the crowd. With Orion on their side, just an inch above Caden, Connor no longer felt the champion boxer's height difference quite as strongly.

"Connor Henson and the welfare rangers. Welcome back to our gym."

Orion spat against it. Caden glared at him.

"Oh, shit. Should I have done that outside?"

"Speaking of outside, whatever it is you think you're here to do won't happen until that damn mutt is taken out."

"What the fuck is you people's problem with him?" Kanashii interjected. "Huh? This is my sweet, blubbery boy and he's not hurting anyone."

Caden cast a coy smirk on the token Asian. "Do you think we're a collection of morons? If by some miraculous course of events things don't go our way, we don't need the animal biting us and giving us rabies."

"He's cleaner than you guys, you incest-mongerers!"

"Says the fellow who looks like he was panini pressed between two dirty mattresses for eight hours. Take the dog out. Now."

Shay gently took the leash out of Kanashii's hands. "It's okay, I'll take him out. Let's just listen to them for now."

"Why?"

"If you get hurt," Connor intervened, "Winston's gonna start biting, then these crybabies will make certain that you lose him. Just do it."

Kanashii reluctantly nodded. "Fine."

"Jayshawn will escort her," Caden decided.

As the bulky prep came to budge Shay along, Winston planted to the sleek floor for a moment, his tail between his legs as he looked pleadingly up at Kanashii.

"It's okay, buddy. I'll see you soon."

Shay softly prompted Winston along, and his tail wagged low as he followed her and Jayshawn out. Once they exited the gym, Shay went to work on tying up his leash to a bike rack outside the door. Her heart dropped when she heard the sound of a lock turning. Before she could even react, Jayshawn grinned through the glass of the door and left her outside.

"Hey!" she squeaked. She banged on the door then groaned. "It's too cold out here for this!"

Jayshawn headed back to his group of preps and grinned as he stated, "The little goth chick wanted to hang outside."

Kanashii glared and shook his head at the pompous boxer.

"So, Connor," Caden clapped his hands together. "I can guess what you're doing here for myself, but I want to hear you say it."

Connor stepped out from his quintet to stand, glaring up at the taller, leaner fighter before him. "You and me, snob, once and for all. As many rounds as it takes for one of us to hit that mat, either unconscious or swearing allegiance to the other."

Caden stroked his chin with curiosity. "Hmm. You mean to imply that when I beat you, you'll willingly disband your little outcry against Bullworth's superior race?"

He shrugged. "Sure. But if I win, you and your little preppie party have to answer to me, and you have to stop harassing my friends, too."

"Quite a big pair of balls on that pauper," Bryce taunted.

"Indeed," Caden agreed, his amused eyes resting on Connor. There wasn't an ounce of fear in him. "Though even the largest of balls can be drained to a miniscule pulp."

"That's... ugh," Connor grimaced. "Really wish you didn't just say that."

"I accept." Caden strolled forward, his face merely inches from Connor's now. "I've been looking forward to this. When we're done, you can shine my shoes."