text: I had a headache today.
  
  I usually did, when I thought of Wes fucking Malcolm.
  
  "That's your own fault, Chris Rhodes," some self-righteous asshole might say to me. "If you hadn't agreed to help orphan and cripple him all those years ago, you might not even be in this situation right now."
  
  "Yeah well, bite me," I'd say back. "Have Warren Rhodes for a father, and then come back and talk to me about how doing the right thing was ever worthwhile."
  
  If anyone still did, they'd be an idiot.
  
  But that didn't matter right now.
  
  What mattered was that if I let someone Wes Malcolm cared about get hurt again, he would find a way to make me pay. And in a way not even I could afford, judging by the hospitalization records of Dad's secret team.
  
  So here I was, in the school cafeteria, walking over to Davelon and Rachel's table like an idiot, despite the fact that they were persona non grata and I was the freaking most popular boy in school. But whatever. I had to make this quick.
  
  I made my way over to a table with four people that had every reason to hate me. The closest were two exchange students: Himari Saito, a short, goth girl from Japan; and Andre Ramos, a short, goth guy from Mexico. Edgy clothes, edgy haircuts, edgy expressions. They reminded me of two small woodland creatures who were always trying to look tough instead of adorable. Maybe that made Wes pity them.
  
  The other two were going to be much harder to deal with, but they were the ones that mattered the most. Wes' sister and best friend. Rachel's red-haired bangs whipped around as she turned her head to glare incredulously at me. I could understand that, but I needed to get my message out before she lashed out at me, not after.
  
  Davelon saved me from that worry, by getting up from the table and walking up to me directly.
  
  "Hi Chris," the burly, dark-skinned ex-linebacker said as he crossed his arms. "What can I do for you?"
  
  He used that same frosty tone he had been using ever since he found out I wasn't the flawless golden boy everyone else thought I was. In a better world I might have cared about that. But this wasn't one, and I was running out of time as it was.
  
  "I just wanted to pass you a message from the rest of the team," I said carefully. "We know this time is tough on you. Everyone still misses and cares about you, in spite of everything."
  
  Now yes, I knew this was a stupid fucking risk. In my defense, the team actually had written Davelon a note of support because he had kept the reasons for his departure quiet and because he had managed to be a nice guy without pissing everyone off, unlike Wes. So as long as he did what I thought he would do, I'd have a modicum of protection, and maybe I could avoid getting killed by either Wes or my dad.
  
  "That's nice," my large ex-friend said neutrally, not moving to take the note I was offering. "But you can tell them not to worry about me."
  
  <Fuck it,> I decided. I was taking a bigger risk by drawing this out instead of getting straight to the point.
  
  "Read the damn note, and tear it up afterwards," I whispered, going ahead and spelling it out. "Then make sure Christina finds out too."
  
  "About that," Davelon replied in a neutral, but firm tone. "I think you should stay away from her from now on."
  
  <Just take the damn note, idiot,> I wanted to say, but in fairness I wouldn't act any different in his shoes. So I snorted and answered him.
  
  "Don't worry about that. Wes has already had it with me. He'll kill me if I cross him again."
  
  Davelon's eyes widened. But he didn't say anything. That was good. I was still counting on him being much smarter than everyone gave him credit for. And besides, I was out of time.
  
  "Read the damn note, tear it up afterwards, then look after everyone Wes cares about. And the team's here for you if you need it," I added loudly at the end, to try and save both of our lives.
  
  Contingency complete, I walked away from Davelon and just hoped the message was enough to keep them all alive for the time being.
  
  Because now I had to get back to work on saving my own ass.