24. Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alex
I should’ve known they would retaliate. Fucking shit-stirrers really did a number on us this time. I guess having to unseal every window and door of their house could be tedious, but painting dicks all over the exterior of ours is taking it too far. This is going to take every man we have and then some to clean up and it has to happen fast before the school president sees this and gives us a citation.
“This is bullshit,” Kai says, slapping the soaking wet sponge to the outer wall. There’s paint everywhere, on the windows, walls, even the gutters. The deltas must’ve used brushes in the dead of night because one of us would’ve woken up to the sound of spray paint, but none of us heard a damn thing last night.
Keith grunts in agreement as he travels up the ladder to remove a crudely drawn ball sack from the second story window.
“You know we need to get even now,” Devon says, using a long mop to hit the top corner of the first story wall.
“One could argue that this is them getting even with us,” Keith shouts down to us.
“This is not fucking even,” I say, taking the sponge to the brick staircase. “Blatant vandalism is not the same as using a little bit of glue.”
“Damn, fellas, that’s a real low blow.” A voice shouts from the sideway and we all turn to see a few DE boys standing on the curb, holding in their laughter. The comment comes from Ryan, the clear leader of the pack. “I can’t believe someone would shaft you like that.” The group erupts into laughter, and I physically hold Kai back from jumping at them. Without another antagonizing word, the group continues down the street toward their own house.
It takes three hours to scrub the front of the house as clean as we can. The rest of the freshman brothers spend longer on the rest of the exterior but the pressure wasn’t as heavy because you can’t see it from the street.
Exhausted, we collapse on the couch as Keith gets us all beers from the fridge.
“So what are we going to do now?” He asks, handing us each a cold one.
Devon opens his bottle and takes a long sip. “We can put rotten eggs in their heating vents.”
Keith shakes his head. “Too easy to clean. We need something equal to how fucking long it just took us.”
Kai looks over at me. “What about emotional warfare?” I raise my eyebrows at him in question. Kai continues. “Clearly, shithead Ryan did this. What’s important to Ryan right now?”
The wheels turn and click instantly. “No. Leave her out of this.”
“Come on, man. Take your personal feelings out of it. We all deserve revenge. She’s our best option.”
“I fucking said no, Kai. That’s the end of it. Think of something else.” Leaving the unopened beer on the table, I walk upstairs to my room. As much as I’m pissed that Margot’s shithead boyfriend pulled this shit on us, I can’t exactly blame him. That’s what happens between rival frats. I just didn’t realize he would stoop so low as to vandalize our house.
We need to do something. If we just let this lie, they’ll think they’ve won. And they haven’t fucking won. Not even close. But I can’t involve Margot. Not again. And not now that we’re so invested in the podcast together. And the friendship…
I need to think of something good enough to get my brothers off my back that doesn’t include any innocents this time.
Sitting on my bed, I pull out my phone to try and google some inspiration. But instead I find myself pulling up my text thread with Margot and sending her a message. Maybe it’s petty but I need her to see what her boyfriend just did to us. I text her a picture of the outside of our house with no context. She answers within a minute.
Omg what happened??
Your boyfriend
Ryan did that? Why?
Just some frat prank war bullshit
But that's too far. That's vandalism! Are you sure he did that? It really doesn't seem like him…
Is she serious right now? Of course, her angel boyfriend Ryan would never stoop to my immature level and pull a prank like this. My anger builds as I think about her standing by his side, supporting him against me. Some fucking friend…
Of course you'd take his side
What the hell, Alex! I'm not taking sides. I'm just saying it doesn't seem like something he would do
And you know him so well
By not taking sides, you're not taking mine. Just forget it
She calls my phone, but I ignore it, throwing the device down on my bed and heading back downstairs. If she wants to support him, fine. She can help him pick up the pieces after the fallout.
The boys are still sitting on the couch, no doubt brainstorming our next move. I stand directly in front of Kai. “What do you have in mind?”
A slow smile curls onto his face and I take a resigned breath. This is probably a terrible decision but at this point, all I see is red.