"Do I really have to be supervised? I mean, the walk from the art room to the office isn't that far. I'm not going to get lost along the way." I said. The prefect, whose name I learned was Edward, gripped my elbow as he guided me down the hall.

"Dr. Crabblesnitch insisted that I escort you. No more talking, miscreant."

"It's Ms. Kastner, actually." I joked. He didn't seem to find it funny.

At the top of the staircase we came to a halt. A loud explosion made both of us jump and we peered over the bannister at the floor below. Several students were lying on the ground, groaning in pain while others shrieked and ran away. In the middle of the ring of incapacitated students was one of the nerds, clutching a handful of fire crackers, squinting as he aimed for his next target. Edward, along with the other prefects, chased after the frail boy as he charged through the front doors.

"That woke everyone up, huh?" Pinky stood in front of the trophy case, books held close to her chest as she stared down at the aftermath. She seemed to perk up a bit after a moment and smiled at me. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something. Would you come by Harrington House today? We haven't seen you in a while; you haven't chosen that psychopath over us, have you?" she narrowed her eyes at me.

"What? No, I've just been busy. How about I stop by later? Crabblesnitch is making me suffer the consequences of skipping class, so god knows when I'll be done." Skipping class was only scratching the surface of what I had done, and I wouldn't divulge much more than that.

"Okay…but don't be late." Pinky closed the gap between us and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Some of the others found a case of liquor in the basement last night. Not a bad way to spend the evening, hmm?"

A drink or three sounded like an excellent way to end a day like today. I could use something to take my mind off of Gary's violation of personal space, if it really was him that was in there.

"Yeah, sounds great. I'll catch up with you later." I said and parted ways with my former roommate to enter the office.

Gary was already there when Ms. Danvers ushered me in and I wondered what tedious task I'd be stuck with. Filing papers and making copies wasn't all that bad, but since I hadn't shown up for my medication for the last day or so—which I hoped had gone unnoticed—I knew there would be a more severe punishment thrown my way.

As luck would have it, the nurse was there doling out narcotics. She waited until I set my books down to shove the white cup in my face and I briefly glanced at the principal, waiting for the inevitable speech about my bad behavior. His mouth was pressed into a firm line and his bottom lip quivered slightly. I imagined the words struggling to fight their way out, like hordes of warriors using a battering ram against castle doors, slamming and banging until they eventually broke through.

"This is the second time now that you've skipped your treatment, Ms. Kastner. I never thought I'd say it, but Gary here is doing a far better job of keeping up with his medication." Crabblesnitch scowled. "Miss it again; I'll begin taking away your privileges."

I held back an over exaggerated eye-roll. "I'll do my best to remember, sir."

What more could he take away from me, let alone anyone else? There were no privileges to be had in the first place. I swallowed, tossed the cup into the trash, and opened my mouth for the nurse to show I hadn't hidden the pill anywhere.

He huffed. "I have a meeting this afternoon; therefore the two of you will not be working here, but in the basement under the supervision of the custodian. Whatever he asks of you I expect you to do it without question, and to the best of your ability. Go on now."

I could only imagine what he was going to have us do in the underbelly of this shithole. Never had I been down here prior to this afternoon and it was surely a place I could have gone without visiting. The light bulbs were a few flickers shy of not working, walls covered in a thin layer of grime. Faulty, exposed wiring jut from the ceiling creating an obstacle of sorts that put my agility to the test. Somehow, by the grace of whatever god was looking down upon me, I managed to make it through without electrocuting myself. It was an accomplishment I'd have to remember to write home about one day. I was sure my mother would love to hear about that.

The janitor came to a stop near a particularly hot portion of the basement, the high temperature only raising the intensity of the already incredibly rank smell that I feared would cling to my skin for days. He wheeled the dolly toward Gary and nodded at the two large boxes stacked on top of each other.

"I don't think I need to tell you we've got a rat problem. Set the traps around here and then you're good to go."

Just like that he left us alone to scatter the mouse traps and weaved his way out of the maze of wires and back into the main halls. Gary tore through the cardboard and flung the wooden blocks haphazardly. I half expected him to just dump the contents onto the floor and leave. The janitor didn't specify whether he wanted them set neatly so tipping the box and hoping they caught something wasn't that bad of an idea.

I dropped a handful every few feet down a long hallway, filling in the gaps Gary had missed. He dropped the box and looked at me over his shoulder.

"The Hole." He said the words fondly, a sense of nostalgia lacing his tone. Gary edged toward the mouth of the large pit and peered through the fencing. "I don't have enough fingers to count how many times I've watched these idiots tear each other apart here."

"What is this, a makeshift ring?" I joined him at the pit's edge. Faded blotches discolored the cement floor and I guessed it was blood that hadn't been cleaned up. I let go of the metal, wiping my hands on my sweater. "I'm afraid I might get hepatitis if I touch anything."

"Don't be such a wuss." Gary sneered.

"Shut up." I mumbled.

I grabbed another handful of traps and began setting them around the ring. The Hole was littered with graffiti, a smattering of colors that blended into one another. Each layer hid the former's proclamation of who rules, childish insults, and lewd—but surprisingly well detailed—drawings of the female form. In some spots the paint still smelled fresh. I wondered who had wandered down here, spending their time decorating the concrete walls with their art and leaving their mark for few to see.

Crabblesnitch may have sucked the life out of many here, but it seems his hands hadn't wrung out all of their creativity.

Gary and I met each other near the opening of the Hole, dropping the last of our traps onto the floor. Some of them skittered off the edge and bounced their way down the rusted ladder into the abandoned pit. He followed them, choosing to hop off the ledge instead of climbing down. Gary landed with ease and walked toward the center, sighing loudly as he took in the sight of the ring.

"Have you had the pleasure of meeting Hopkins yet? He nearly got himself pummeled into the ground here. I didn't expect him to beat Russell."

I broke apart the box and set it over the edge, planting myself right in the middle. "Didn't expect him to beat you either, did you?" Gary glared. "Word travels." I shrugged. "I know all about what happened. How you turned on him and tried to take Bullworth over, went all nuts and got your ass kicked…"

"He turned on me. Hopkins ruined everything I had planned." Gary seethed.

I waved my hand. "I didn't say that I cared. I just know what happened. You wanna complain? Keep going to your mandatory therapy sessions."

My frustration was mounting; I wanted to be out of this hot, moldy basement and seated comfortably in the furniture polish-smelling lounge of Harrington house. Away from the squeaking rats and the hissing pipes, but at the same time, I was exactly where I wanted to be.

Here, with him.

I couldn't stall any longer. This was the perfect chance to ask him.

"What's got your panties in a bunch, Kastner? Did the batteries run out on your—"

"What were you doing in my dorm room?" I rushed the words out. "At first I thought it was Eunice that had done it…but it was you. Why?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have no reason to waste my time breaking into the girl's dorm, and if anything happened to your room, you'd be smart to keep pegging the blame on that whale." He said. "It makes sense, given the friendly relationship the two of you have. But for me to be there? See, that makes no sense, and it's something you couldn't possibly prove."

"My room was completely ripped apart and when I was cleaning up that mess, I smelled something on my clothes. I couldn't tell what it was, cologne, or whatever, and at lunch I smelled it again. On you."

"Oh, okay, so because you smelled something on your clothes obviously that means I did it." Gary said, nodding his head. "That doesn't make you sound completely nuts."

I pushed off of the ledge and walked toward him. "And like your mental well-being is any better. You're a sociopath and a manipulator. How do I know you're not a stalker on top of that?"

"Exactly. You don't know, and if you have any doubt in that thick head of yours about just how crazy I really am, then you'd better stop pissing me off." He said, his face just a few inches away from my own.

I looked him in the eye. "You don't scare me, Gary, so be as angry as you want. The only reason someone would be this mad and defensive is if they did something wrong."

"I wasn't in your room. I have better things to do than waste my time in there."

"Like what, plot your revenge against Hopkins?" I said. "I'm not an idiot Gary, and I'm not crazy either. You have been up my ass since I came here. Why?"

He stepped back. "I'll tell you the same thing I told you before. I don't have many friends anymore. I take what I can get."

"You still haven't denied it."

"I'm done here." Gary walked past me and climbed out of the Hole. His foot-steps echoed as he headed down the hall alone.

I slumped against the ladder, defeated after my pointless and idiotic questioning. Never had I felt like such a fool in my entire life. Accusing someone of raiding my room because I thought I smelled something familiar?

What the hell is wrong with me?