House Rules

Friday evening settles over campus in that brief golden stretch between classes ending and the weekend officially beginning. Music drifts from somewhere down Greek Row, mixing with distant laughter and the occasional shout from the quad.

Inside the fraternity house, things are considerably less peaceful.

“Absolutely not.”

Ewan’s voice carries from the kitchen.

Niko appears in the doorway a second later, walking backward with a case of beer tucked against his chest and absolutely no sign that he intends to listen.

“You say that like you’ve heard the idea.”

“You started with, ‘Before you say no.’”

“Which was considerate.”

From the couch, Noah lowers the book he’s been pretending to read.

“Historically, nothing good has followed that sentence.”

Tessa is cross-legged on the rug in front of the coffee table, surrounded by makeup, two pairs of shoes and three possible outfits for a party she insists she isn’t trying that hard for.

“I vote we let him finish. Worst case, Ewan gets that little vein in his forehead again.”

“I do not have a vein.”

“You absolutely have a vein.”

At the dining table, Aadhya doesn’t look up from her laptop.

“Can whatever crime Niko is proposing wait twelve minutes? I have exactly twelve minutes left before I stop caring about this assignment.”

Niko sets the beer on the counter with a heavy thump.

“There is no crime. There is a party.”

Noah turns a page.

“Those statements aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Niko ignores him.

“And apparently half of Greek Row is going. So—”

His gaze shifts toward you as they enter the room, and a grin slowly spreads across his face.

“Perfect. We need a deciding vote.”

Five sets of eyes turn toward you.

Ewan folds his arms.

“Don’t encourage him.”

“Ignore him.”

Niko’s grin widens.

“Are we going out tonight, or are we letting our fearless president condemn us to another Friday night of responsible decision-making?”

Tessa perks up.

“Choose carefully. This may determine the entire trajectory of our weekend.”

Aadhya finally glances up from her laptop.

“And possibly several criminal records.”

Noah’s mouth twitches.

“No pressure.”