Jesse and Sean turned the campus upside down, looking for Danny and Ryan’s younger brother. They checked all his regular haunts, the football field, the weight room, the sorority house where the cheerleaders lived, the coffee shop. They even went back to the bookstore, but by four o’clock they had still had no luck, and discouraged, they decided they better get back to the house. They could only hope that Gregg’s search had been as fruitless as theirs. They were sure he would not have tried so hard.

They slumped into the common room to find Andy and Pat sitting apprehensively at the table, each with a pile of new books before them. They were, for the moment, the only ones there. Sean and Jesse avoided their eyes as they flopped into two of the comfiest overstuffed chairs, but Patrick and Andy both turned white as they looked at their friends’ faces.

“It’s true?” Andy finally ventured in a small voice. Sean looked wearily at him and nodded.

“Let me guess,” Jesse interjected bitterly, “Mcarthy told you.”

“How did that fucking blabber mouth even find out?” Pat demanded angrily, and Andy sighed.

“Gregg’s been waiting for this day for nearly a month now. I’m sure he has spies everywhere. I was sure hoping he was wrong, though.”

Sean shook his head. “I was with Ryan when he checked his mail this morning,” he said softly. “I saw both slips.” Andy sank lower in his chair, and leaned on the table, propping his forehead against his hand.

“Damn it!” Pat protested. “Why now?”

“I don’t know,” Sean whispered.

“I’m sure Mcarthy’s been riding Steve about it,” Andy speculated darkly, “but still! I mean if you’re going to do it, do it, but to wait to the last week of the semester? That’s bullshit! He’s totally blindsiding them!”

“I don’t think so,” Sean replied quietly. “He’s blindsiding us for sure, but I think Danny and Ryan were not quite so surprised. I’m sure Steve and Ry have been talking about it. It makes sense, kind of. I know they didn’t want anymore problems from Coach. Plus, there’s a whole month between now and next semester for everyone to forget about it.”

“I don’t care what his reasons were!” Andrew seethed. “It’s still bullshit! Why isn’t Mcarthy getting a summons?”

“You know Matt already handled that,” Sean defended Steve softly.

“Well, it’s not the same, and I don’t think it’s fair either!” Patrick sulked, and an awkward silence fell.

“We’ve been looking for Kevin,” Sean finally continued, changing the subject. “You guys haven’t seen him have you?”

“Jesus! He doesn’t know, does he?” Patrick exclaimed. Jesse and Sean shook their heads.

“Not unless Mcarthy found him,” Jesse added bitterly.

“Ryan and Danny never told him what happened?” Andy asked. Sean shook his head, despondently.

“I don’t think they wanted him to know. We were all hoping Steve would just forget about it.”

“How stupid were we?” Jesse piped up once more with his cheery perspective. “Mcarthy’s probably been badgering Steve about it everyday between then and now.”

“Speaking of the devil,” Patrick scowled. His friends turned their heads, and followed his gaze to see Gregg Mcarthy’s gloating face as he stood in the door of the common room.

“Keep him away from me!” Jesse muttered turning around once again, and glaring balefully at the floor.

“Well, well, isn’t this an interesting little gathering,” Gregg baited as he came further into the room with his little band of no goods behind him. “What? No Kev’bo?” He came up and placed a hand on Jesse’s shoulder, and Jesse jerked it away, looking at Sean as Sean glowered at their adversary. “Surely you invited him,” Gregg sat down in a chair next to Jesse and kicked back, smugly, placing his feet on the coffee table in front of them. “I know you would want him to be aware of all this before it went down. It would, after all, be a rather nasty surprise, don’t you think?” Gregg taunted and his friends laughed as they spread out around the common room. Some of them sat at the table across from Andy and Pat, smirking at them as Gregg continued. “You’d want to be there to support him, soothe him, tell him how it’s not his fault, and basically blow sunshine up his ass.” Gregg traded amused glances with his allies as Danny and Ryan’s friends shifted uncomfortably. “You’d want to keep him away from Ryan and Danny,” Gregg went on, “so they could go to some little corner somewhere and cry like the little bitches they are, in peace, without their little brother nagging at them.” Sean’s face flushed, and Andy’s brow darkened. Jesse and Pat gritted their teeth, and Gregg once again paused to enjoy the moment. “Most of all,” he continued at last, “you’d want to keep me from finding him because you know I’d tell that whiney little shit exactly how it is. How his brothers deserve every painful smack they get today, and how it’s all his fault for being such a spoiled little brat!” Jesse sat forward in his chair, gripping the arms.

“Take it easy, Jess,” Sean warned.

“For all these reasons,” Gregg focused entirely on Jesse now, “I know you told him. Unless,” he let his feet drop, and sat forward again, getting right in Jesse’s face. Jesse dug his nails into the cushions and tried to avert his eyes, looking for Sean once more. Sean and Andy were both sitting straight up now and frowning at Gregg in a menacing manner. “Unless,” Gregg continued, “you couldn’t find him.” He smirked again. “That means he’s still fair game!”

Gregg’s friends tried to sign a warning, but they were not fast enough. Nobody had heard Matt come in and Gregg never knew what hit him as Steve’s older brother yanked him out of his chair by his collar, and threw him against the wall, pinning him there. “You are a real horse’s ass! You know that?” he snapped. “You apparently don’t remember the talk we had three weeks ago! So, let me refresh your memory! There will be no more warnings, Gregg. You think you’re such hot shit, always picking on little guys, but you just keep in mind that the rules are not the same for me as they are for them! If I were Steve, I would have worn your ass out a long time ago, but he’s got too big a heart and an unshakeable propensity for fairness. I’ve got neither, asshole, and I’m telling you now, if you mess with Danny, Ryan, Kevin, or any one of their friends just one more time in the littlest, tiniest way, you are going to be hearing from me! Do you understand?” Gregg swallowed hard and nodded. “Good!” Matt let him go, and Gregg brought his hand up to rub the red mark on his neck. “That goes for all you jokers!” Steve’s brother glared at each of Gregg’s friends in turn. “Consider yourselves forewarned and leave these guys alone today, unless you want the tables to turn!” With that, Matt stalked out of the room and continued up the stairs to Steve’s room.

Now, it was Danny and Ryan’s friends who couldn’t help smirking as Gregg and his cronies retired to the far corner of the room, where they could bitch about Matt without being detected. “I wish Danny and Ryan had been here to see that,” Patrick asserted wistfully.

“I wish I had a damn video camera!” Jesse remarked sardonically. Sean looked at Andy, but looked quickly away again as they both tried to keep a straight face. Jesse, Danny, Kevin, and Kevin’s best friend, James, were all arguably in the running for the world’s original drama king, but in his big brother’s opinion, given the chance, Jesse would lock it up nicely.

Nobody paid much attention as Matt entered Steve’s room. Not long after that, however, they heard his door open again, and Steve’s friends Kurt and Mike peered irately down from the railing above. “You need a babysitter, Mcarthy?” Kurt called. Gregg flushed and muttered something under his breath as Mike closed Steve’s door, and the two seniors headed for the stairs. A moment later they appeared in the common room.

“Are you all right?” Kurt came up beside Jesse, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m ok, I guess,” Jesse replied gloomily, and Kurt dropped into the chair beside him that Gregg had so unwillingly vacated. Without a word, Mike sat too as he glared in Gregg’s direction.