“Andronicus campus has two food courts, one on the east side and one on the northwest side,” Nelson explained as they crossed the campus. “You’ll want to figure out which one is closest to your afternoon classes if you want to save time, but I personally like the east food court.”

“The hell is this? A dictionary?” Zane asked as he leafed through the two-inch-thick “booklet” Nelson lent him.

“That’s the fifth edition student handbook. It has all the rules, regulations, codes, and expectations for Andronicus students.”

“Jesus… Do they expect us to memorize the whole thing? I’ve got required reading for classes!”

Nelson fished around in his bag and tossed a somewhat more manageable booklet. “Here’s the pocketbook version.”

He flipped through the booklet while Nelson led him across campus. “Hey, Nelson.”

“Yeah?”

“The rules here are fucking weird.”

“Andronicus is one of the top schools in the country,” he shrugged. “They must be doing something right.”

“I’m serious. ‘Track meet etiquette?’ ‘Proper discourse in the face of victory?’ Is that something you need to write a how-to manual about?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“No, I assure you I won’t,” Zane drolly replied. “If you win, you celebrate. If you get out of hand, someone punches you in the face and you stop! It’s not rocket surgery! Seriously! Enforcing these rules must be a bigger pain in the ass than following them!”

“–And you might want to think about cutting back on swearing while in public or wearing your uniform,” he anxiously informed.

“That’s weirdly specific,” Zane replied, glancing around for fencers as he’d developed a habit of doing every so often.

“We can’t do anything that reflects poorly on the school. Most people won’t care, but if someone on the disciplinary committee hears you, they’ll either make you pay a fine or take remedial classes.”

Zane stopped dead in his tracks. “Excuse me, the what?”

“Disciplinary committee?” Nelson asked as if it were a common thing. “The group of students responsible for upholding and enforcing the school rules?”

“You mean what the fencing team does?” Zane worriedly clarified.

“Well, all the heads do it to some degree, but it’s mainly the disciplinary committee’s job. Patrols, inspections, breaking up fights, it’s all them. The fencing team wouldn’t go out of their way to do anything about it unless Felicia specifically tells them to. Did your last school not have a disciplinary committee?”

“Not run by students!” Zane cried, still grappling with the idea. “My old school wouldn’t trust a student with a well-sharpened pencil, much less authority over each other! Where are the teachers during all this?”

“They’re only here to instruct classes.” He quieted his tone as he was growing conscious of the attention Zane’s surprise attracted. “They don’t have any real authority outside their classroom, kind of like university.”

Zane let out a beleaguered breath and scratched the back of his head. “First hit squads, now school cops. Fuckin ay…”

“If it makes you feel any better, the committee’s bound to due process a little more strictly than the fencing team,” Nelson consoled.

“So are the regular police, but my asshole still puckers when one looks at me funny.”

Nelson grimaced at that mental image. “Just don’t break any rules and you’ll be fine.”

“That’s what I told myself before I was abducted!”

Zane shifted his weight off his left leg just enough for Nelson to realize he was hiding a limp. “Are you okay, Zane? If you need to sit down, we can take a break.”

“I’m fine, just a little pissy,” he brushed him off.

“Are you sure?” he asked, becoming concerned over the red splotch on the heel of Zane’s shot. “It looks like you’re bleeding!”

“I said don’t worry about it!”

“If you say so…” He sounded less than sure, but not quite brave enough to press the issue. Nelson’s phone alarm went off. “I’ve got a class in five minutes. Finish the tour later?”

“Whatever.”

True to Nelson’s observation, Zane’s stab wound started seeping when he got agitated. Fortunately, it wasn’t soaking out into his slacks, but dripping into his sock which wasn’t nearly as expensive. He spotted someone with a sword on their commute between classes and ducked into bathroom, taking the opportunity to replace the paper towels wrapped around his calf.

“What am I going to do?” he muttered dejectedly to his reflection. “I can’t beat up everyone on the fencing team! Not if I want to keep going to this school! What’s their problem, anyway?”

The door opened for two students, one of which wore a blue armband identifying them as a member of the disciplinary committee. Zane’s first instinct had him in a stall before they got a look at his face, but their confused and apathetic reaction only made him self-conscious.

“It’s getting really hard to not hit all my problems,” he anxiously whispered to himself. “What would a good little boy do in this situation? A good, law-abiding, normal person…”

Zane had a realization and peered over the stall door at the authority figure washing his hands. He gave a courtesy flush, then nervously stepped up to the sink next to the committee member and went through the motions of washing his hands.

It shouldn’t have been awkward, but it was. It was perhaps the most awkward Zane ever felt, and he hated it.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“So… you’re on the disciplinary committee,” he unsurely stated without looking up from his hands.

The guy was startled, but casually replied in the affirmative.

More confident now, Zan asked, “you wouldn’t happen to know what to do if someone was getting… harassed, would you?”

The committee member looked suspiciously at Zane. “You’re getting harassed?”

“It’s been a weird day, okay,” he aggressively retorted. “A lot happened, and I don’t need you giving me shit about it!”

He blinked in surprise at the affront to his ears. “Wow, okay, check your mouth at the door and we’ll see if I can help you.”

Zane bit his tongue over the little slip. “Sorry! Weird day. I just defaulted to asshole mode– shit! I mean–” he sighed with resignation. “I’ll shut up now.”

The committee member pointed Zane to a building around the corner hosting some teacher offices and clubrooms, among which was a little alcove for the disciplinary committee, their main office being in the main building on the other side of campus. It was a plain room with a handful of computers and a tv on the wall displaying live committee updates. According to the timeline, Zane missed a fight in the east cafeteria not five minutes ago. Though, he didn’t know what these soft, rich kids thought of as a “fight.”

Two students currently occupied the office, one of them doing homework, the other stopped packing up for their next class when they noticed Zane standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“Do you need something?” he asked amicably.

“Uh, yeah,” Zane uneasily answered. “I’d like to report… harassment?”

An uneasy pause followed, then he replied, “Sure.” He gave Zane a page from a stack of papers on one of the desks. “Write down your name, date and time, and the name or names of whoever’s been bothering you, along with the nature of the harassment, and my friend here will help you out.” The student doing his homework waved without looking up.

Zane stared at the page. “That’s it? I won’t have to worry about it anymore?”

“That’s it. Don’t be afraid of whoever it is finding out you came to us. All submissions are anonymous. We only need your name for clerical purposes.”

“That doesn’t bother me,” Zane readily assured. “Actually, I want her to know it’s me who has a problem with her. Does it matter if they work for the school? People seem to think she’s a big deal.”

“No one’s above the rules. We’ll go up the chain if we have to.” He checked the time on his phone. “I’ve got to go. Sean, help this guy out when he’s ready.”

“Sure thing,” the other student replied, still focusing on his homework.

“Huh. I guess it can be this easy,” Zane remarked. “Let’s see… Zane Ashford… Felea… Felli… shit. How do I spell her name?” He made a ballpark attempt nowhere near close to correct. “Kidnapped me… barged into my room… sent her friends to attack me… what else? Oh, social profiling and was a huge bitch about it. That should be enough.” He called the other committee member whose name was Sean.

“Be with you in a sec.”

Zane sat back and sighed with relief. “No problem like someone else’s problem.”

Sean got up to put his homework away when Zane happened to glance at the tv on the wall. His student ID picture appeared with a notice to call in if anyone spotted him.

Sean took note of the newest notification, but when he turned around, Zane was gone.

“I thought geology would be easy!” Nelson lamented as his class let out.

“It is easy, you’re just stupid,” the blank girl from his club emptily retorted.

“Don’t be so cold,” Nelson pouted. “I bet I’m not the only one having trouble on their first day!”

“You’re lucky you’re taking this class with me and not the club president or Serena. They wouldn’t let you sleep until your grades were as good as theirs.”

Nelson shuddered at the thought. “Don’t make me think about taking classes with the president! I couldn’t keep up with the advanced courses she’s in. But Serena wouldn’t care if I failed. We actually have four of the same classes this year! Isn’t that a coincidence?”

“Huh. Blind and stupid. It’s going to be another rough year for all of us.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nelson obliviously asked.

She turned up her nose defiantly, and just as well because they were approached by a student wearing a blue armband. “Hey…” he checked a note on his phone, “Nelson Reese?”

“Yes, I’m Nelson,” he nervously, but dutifully, answered.

“What did you do?” the blank girl emotionlessly asked.

“I didn’t do anything!” Nelson indignantly cried. And then with sudden dread, “Did I?”

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” the committee member assured. “I’d just like to know if you’ve seen your roommate recently.”

“Zane? I showed him around campus after lunch. I think he has a class right now, but I don’t remember which.”

“That’s alright,” the committee member replied, pocketing his phone disarmingly. “Let us know when you see him again.”

Nelson worked up the nerve to call the committee member before he left. “Hey, before you go, why is the disciplinary committee looking for Zane?”

The committee member looked troubled, then leaned in and lowered his voice. “Don’t tell anyone I told you, but rumor has it he jumped some members of the fencing team. Sent two of them to the nurse’s office.”

“No way, Zane did that?” Nelson gasped in disbelief.

The committee member nodded.

“Which members?” the blank girl asked.

“Adrien and Millicent. The whole fencing team’s shaken up over it.”

“But he seemed so determined to stay out of trouble…” Nelson said gloomily and a little betrayed.

“We don’t know the whole story yet. Tell us when he turns up and we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“Right…” he distantly replied.

Once the committee member was gone, the blank girl glanced at Nelson and prodded, “So these are the kinds of friends you hang out with?”

“I just met him today!” he defensively cried. “He seemed like such a nice guy! A little unfortunate and rude… and a little bit scary… but not the kind of guy to beat people up for no reason!”

“Not just any people. Adrien and Millicent are two of Andronicus’ top fencers. A-rank, national level.”

“So, it’s a big deal he beat them?”

“They carry their swords at all times and have near perfect tournament scores,” the blank girl said with tinge of enthusiasm permeating her otherwise colorless tone. “It’s a big deal anyone could beat either of them, much less both. Andronicus is going to suffer this season if they’re too injured to compete.”

“I didn’t know you kept up with sports,” Nelson acknowledged with mild surprise.

“I have my hobbies,” she deflected.

“That’s interesting. I thought I knew everything there was to know about you. What else don’t I know?”

“You have no idea,” she muttered just low enough that he didn’t hear it.

“What was that?”

She raised her voice unexpectedly. “I said, don’t be late for tonight’s club meeting.”

“Right!” He pulled out his phone and proudly displayed the clock. “It’s not going to happen again! I set a timer and everything!”

“And Nelson.”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful of the company you keep.”

“You don’t have to worry about that!” Nelson chipperly assured. “All my friends are in the club!”

“That’s a little sad,” she dryly acknowledged. “You should have at least one guy friend.”

“Yeah,” Nelson pitifully laughed. It was all he could muster because she was right.

They said their farewells and parted ways to their next classes. The moment the blank faced girl turned her back, a hand went over Nelson’s mouth and he vanished into the bushes.

“Quit struggling, it’s just me!” Zane tensely whispered.

The assurance did little to calm Nelson. He pushed himself away and pressed himself against the wall. “What are you doing here? The disciplinary committee’s looking for you!”

“No shit!” he said as tensely as he could while maintaining a whisper. “I went to them for help and the next thing I knew, my face was plastered all over their wanted board!”

“What did you expect?” Nelson demanded. “I know the fencing team’s been a pain, but that doesn’t mean you can take out your frustration on them!”

“They asked for it! Literally! At sword point!”

Nelson paused, confusion on his face. “Wait, wait, wait. They approached you? You didn’t attack them out of nowhere?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t know they existed! One minute, I’m eating my lunch, the next we’re on the roof and they’re trying to get me to fight!”

Nelson stood up and yelled, “Then what’s the problem?”

Zane quickly dragged him back into cover. “In case you forgot, I just beat the ever-loving shit out of two of that crazy bitch’s favorite sword jockeys!”

He pulled Zane’s hand away from his mouth and bluntly stated, “If it was a formal challenge, you haven’t broken any rules.”

Zane stared blankly. “…What?”

“Okay, look. Open your handbook.”