Matt closed his textbook and groaned in pain at the smells and sounds that suddenly assaulted him from the dorm hallway, frustrated with what he knew they meant. A pungent odor of spicy cheese sauce melted over chili fries accompanied by a cheerful whistling meant that Foggy was heading back to their room in a celebratory mood.

Sure enough, moments later his roommate burst through the door jovially, saying hello before resuming his melody.

Matt was hoping that his return would be quick, that maybe Foggy only needed to pick something up before heading back out. And sure enough, he heard the sounds of searching through dresser drawers. Then, when he couldn't find what he needed, Matt realized that Foggy was on his hands and knees rifling for something underneath his bed.

He expected Foggy to leave again when he found whatever it was, and was surprised when Foggy turned towards him and said "So, you're gonna love me!"

"Oh?" Matt asked. "Why's that?"

"Because I managed to score us both invites to the Beta Kappa Epsilon rush party tonight!" Foggy told him. Matt didn't have to be able to see to know that the other man was grinning as he said it.

"A rush party?" Matt said. "Really? Foggy, I can't. I have to study."

"What?" Foggy asked, incredulously. "Matt, come on! We're in college. It's not supposed to be all studying. You need to get out there! Meet new people, network, soak in the campus life. Did I ever tell you that my dad was a Beta?"

"Why does that not surprise me?" Matt asked. Of course Foggy's father was an alumni of their school and was in a fraternity. Matt knew that Foggy's family had money and were well-educated. It showed in the way Foggy carried himself. The lack of seriousness he had about his studies despite his intelligence, the constant complaining when the care packages his family sent didn't contain something crucial like toothpaste, and the softness and expensiveness of the clothing that he frequently forgot to pick up off of the dorm room floor. It was one of the reasons for Matt's constant frustration with the stranger the college had chosen for him to be stuck with. That and the snoring. Mostly the snoring though, really. Lack of sleep led to increased irritability.

"He held the office of treasurer," Foggy said. "You know, he actually met my mom at a frat party. I'm a legacy, which I figure makes me a shoe-in."

"You're going to pledge?" Matt asked, curious.

"Hell yeah! I'm a Nelson," Foggy told him. "Being a Beta is in my blood. I have to. That's why I want you to come. If you pledge too, then we can still live together. Not only that, we'd be brothers!"

Matt was startled by that idea. It never occurred to him that Foggy enjoyed his company all that much. "I doubt that the frat is looking for a blind pledge, Foggy."

Foggy made a noise like that wasn't something even worth consideration. "Why wouldn't they want you? You're funny, smart, good-looking, the girls all flock to you. Plus, I hate to say it but they would probably go really easy on you if you pledged. C'mon, Matt. Please, please, please! I need a proper wing-man to help me look good at the party."

Matt thought about it for a moment. On the one hand, he hadn't been to a college party yet and he was certain he would hate it. He didn't drink. He knew his blindness made other people feel uncomfortable. And drunk people were obnoxious.

On the other hand, if he could help Foggy convince the Betas to let him pledge, he might be able to finally get a good night's sleep. Maybe he could even convince the university not to replace his roommate and to let him live alone.

"One party," Matt told Foggy. "That's it. I'm not pledging. But you're right. You're only in college once, right?"

"That's the spirit!" Foggy said.

Matt could hear the Betas' party long before he became a part of it, the sounds of drunken revelry and loud music assaulting his ear drums from the other side of the campus. It was almost enough to make him turn back. But then he envisioned a solitary, quiet dorm room that didn't smell like beer and Funyons and used that fantasy to force his legs forward, stumbling slightly to keep up with Foggy's insistent tugging on his arm.

He nearly tripped when Foggy yanked him hard up the front steps of the fraternity house in his excitement, momentum pulling him slightly forward as they stopped abruptly.

"Wow," Foggy said. "Oh man, Matt. I know you can't see it, but the women here are so hot. This could be the first night of the rest of our lives!"

"I'm not pledging, Foggy," Matt said.

"I know, but just think about it." Foggy said. "Our future wives could be in this crowd."

And a crowd it was. The house was bursting with people and Matt knew that once they were inside it would be difficult for him to navigate, his senses struggling to make sense of so many individual people's body heat and heartbeats in such an enclosed space. Already, he was feeling claustrophobic and they were still only standing on the porch.

A man approached them, and Matt heard Foggy's heartbeat quicken.

"Franklin Nelson," the voice said, and it didn't sound happy. "You're here. We didn't know if you would come or not."

"Well, why wouldn't I?" Foggy asked.

"Right," the man said. "Why wouldn't you?" Matt imagined that they were thinking of a dozen reasons from the sound of it, but Foggy was oblivious as usual.

"You brought a friend," the man said, and Matt dreaded the introduction he knew was coming.

"I did!" Foggy said. "Matt, this is Tom Avery, the fraternity president. Tom, this is Matt Murdock."

Tom held his hand out expecting Matt to shake it, a common mistake. Unlike in most cases, however, Matt didn't acknowledge the gesture in any way, preferring to allow Tom to look like an ass and have to wallow in it.

"Ummmm..." Tom asked, "Franklin, is it really a good idea for your friend to come inside? I worry that his cane will cause problems. It's pretty crowded."

Well, now Matt had to enter the house.

"I'll be fine," he said, flashing a smile. "Someone will just have to direct me to the keg." Not that he intended to drink. But he was very good at pretending.

"Right," Tom said. "Well, I suppose I'll see you inside then."

He disappeared into the house, and there were so many people that Matt couldn't determine where he went or what he said to the next person he saw. He assumed it wasn't polite or meant to be overheard.

"Let's do this!" Foggy said. Matt imagined that Foggy was grinning. This was going to be awful.

Matt stood awkwardly in the kitchen leaning against the counter, a half dozen women surrounding him. They were all clearly attracted to him, and Matt acknowledged their interest with a few self-deprecating jokes and a smile. Most of them were only attracted to him out of pity, Matt knew. He disliked it even if he understood it. In fact, he figured it was natural for the women at the party to find him more worthy of their attention than the drunken antics of the idiots around him. He could hear Foggy's obnoxious laughter in the next room, and his sputtering as he tried and failed to drink from a beer bong without embarrassing himself. Why did he do this, again? Clearly there was no stopping Foggy from making a fool of himself.

He was in the middle of fending off the advances of the drunkest woman in his vicinity, who just so happened to trip and fall on him with her hands splayed out in front of her and his chest catching her fall, when Tom decided to make his presence felt. "Joanna!" Matt heard, and the woman groping him was violently yanked away. "What the hell?" Tom asked.

"We were just talking," Matt explained.

"Right," Tom said. "I'm sure. You know, ladies, Doug is about to do a keg stand in the living room and he was just complaining that he needs an audience to really cheer him on to go for the record."

The women begrudgingly left. "Where's your friend?" Tom asked.

"Enjoying himself more than I am, I'm sure," Matt said. "He's really excited to pledge."

"Seems like it," Tom said.

"Foggy's a great guy," Matt said, deciding that he may as well do what he set out to do in being there. "Loyal, and incredibly intelligent. You would be lucky to have him in your fraternity."

"We'll see," Tom said, and Matt really didn't like his tone. "You know you don't have to stick around if you're not having fun."

"I'm having a great time," Matt said.

"You look like you're having a blast," Tom said sarcastically.

"Where's the bathroom?" Matt asked, picking up his cane.

"Upstairs. First door on the left. Should I get your friend to help you find it?" Tom asked, not being as polite as he thought.

"No, I'm fine, thank you." Matt excused himself.

He made his way through the throng of people and up the stairs, jostled on all sides but easily able to find the long line for the bathroom. He waited patiently and tried not to overhear the sounds of sloppy, awkward sexual encounters coming from behind the other doors around him. Instead, he decided to focus on other conversations, snippets of drunken rambling, heated arguments and whispered gossip.

"and she totally made out with Jeff, can you believe it? Oh my God, right?" a woman was saying.

"Dude. Duuuuuude. DUDE! Watch me, dude. Just watch me," someone was demanding.

Someone else had decided that they couldn't wait for the bathroom to be available and was vomiting in one of the bedrooms. Matt choked down the smell.

"...a blind guy," Matt heard, and his ears perked up almost without him wanting them to. Someone was talking about him. "Who does that? Seriously, what kind of frat does he think this is? I mean, we're not actually considering fatty and the cripple, are we?"

"I don't know," another man's voice said, "Nelson is a legacy. And couldn't we get in trouble if the blind guy pledges and we tell him no? He could bust us for discrimination or something, couldn't he?"

"He's not going to pledge," another voice, Tom's, said. "You should see him down there, stealing all our chicks and then acting like he's better than us. Sure, guy, keep thinking that and accepting the women's pity like it means they're actually into you. He's only here for the free booze and because his roommate dragged him along, you can tell."

"But if he does pledge? We kinda have to let him in, don't we? We can't possibly make him pledge like everyone else. That wouldn't be fair," the first voice said. "If people saw a blind guy being humiliated around campus we'd get in so much trouble."

"I told you, he's not going to pledge so don't worry about it," said Tom. "But Nelson, though. That guy needs to be taught a lesson. Just because his daddy was once a brother doesn't mean he's earned it. What a joke."

"What are you gonna do to him, Tommy?" another asked.

"You'll see," Tom replied. "It's gonna be epic. No way he'll still want in when we finish with him."

Matt's fists clenched as he finally entered the bathroom for his turn. Who the hell did the Betas' think they were? Well, he may not be Foggy's best friend, but he certainly wasn't going to let him be insulted and degraded by a bunch of assholes. And letting them believe that he was some poor blind man who needed them to go easy on him or who accepted pity wasn't an option either.

The Betas were going down.