Schooling the Jock (Nerds Vs Jocks #1) - - Eli Easton Page 0,4

he was. Then, he rolled his chair back from his desk and tugged at his eyebrows thoughtfully. “You know, when I took over this job from President Orely, I asked him ‘What’s the biggest challenge I’ll face with the student body?’ And do you know what he said?”

We all stared at him.

“He said ‘The feud between ALA and SMT. I don’t envy anyone inheriting that stinking mess.’ So how does it feel, men, to know your college president considers both your houses a stinking mess? Because I have to say, I agree with him.”

“That’s not fair, sir,” Jax said with genuine hurt. “Sigma Mu Tau includes some of the best academic students at this university. We’ve won the national Quiz Bowl championship twice. I personally know students who enrolled at Madison just because of the Quiz Bowl team. It’s a gross mischaracterization to suggest that a little burnt popcorn or a few baggies of dog poop undermine everything our members have accomplished.”

“And Madison’s top athletic all-stars are in our house!” Rand exclaimed. “Our guys bring a lot of alumni to the games. Not to mention our national rep in flag football.”

“Yeah!” said Traynor.

“A stinking mess,” Dean Robberts repeated as if we hadn’t said anything. “And it’s going to stop now. Do you hear me?” He leaned forward over his desk, shooting us a stern look from under those exuberant brows.

Jax pressed his leg into mine. His hands were white-knuckled where he grasped the wooden arms of his chair. His face was ashen. Poor Jax. He took a lot of pride in SMT. He’d be crushed if it died under his watch.

And me? Cold slipped through me as my brain tried to process what it would mean if Dean Robberts disbanded our house.

It was January of my junior year. I hoped to live at the SMT house until I graduated next June. It was an awesome house, and I liked my frat brothers a lot. They could be fun, but there was also a studiousness and competitive aspect of the house that I enjoyed. It kept me motivated and my grades up. Beyond that, I didn’t want to have to find new lodging, which would be stupidly expensive and hard to find midyear. And then there was our Quiz Bowl team. Our team was under the SMT name. Which meant it would probably be disbanded along with the house. And that—that couldn’t happen.

“Sir,” said Rand, “please reconsider. If you disband the houses, that will negatively affect the financial packages of a number of our residents. Like Jesse here.”

Jesse shot Rand a look. Rand was again playing the football-star card. But hey, if it got the dean to change his mind, I was all for it.

Jesse glanced uneasily at the dean but managed to get words out of that tight-lipped mouth. “Rand’s right,” he said stiffly. “I see what you’re saying about the responsibility for the, um, hostility belonging to both houses. But not everyone participated in that. I didn’t. And we didn’t start the fire Friday night. It would put me in a difficult situation if I had to leave the house, and I’m not the only one.”

The dean held up a hand. “I think you should have all taken that into consideration before you committed this ridiculous travesty.”

Oh shit. I clutched Jax’s arm.

“When I was a kid,” the dean went on, suddenly sounding nostalgic, “there was a little boy in my class that I didn’t get along with. I’m sure we were total brats. Finally one day, our teacher got sick of it. He forced us to be partners at the school carnival. Sack race, ring toss, the whole nine yards.” He smiled fondly. “Having your leg tied to another person’s for hours on end gives you a new perspective on them, believe me.”

I gasped in horror. “But that’s bondage! I’m pretty sure there are international laws against that sort of thing.”

Rex muttered, “I can dig it. Just imagine a Poin within nice, close smashing range.”

All the A-hoes chuckled evilly.

Yeah no.. That was the whole point of pulling pranks. You could run away after a prank. The dean held up his hands. “No, no. I’m not suggesting you be tied together. My point is that sometimes the only thing that can stop a feud is to be forced to face it head on. In this case, to work together.” He steepled his fingers and gazed at us. A small smile crossed his lips. The expression made me itch. “So Rand,