A/N: This chapter possibly borders on an R-rating due to language. Lets just say that Reese isn't too happy. Just a word of caution.

A/N2: Thanks for your review you-want-to-know. You're right, Reese if very much a victim in this story. Hopefully it will make more sense later on. As for the MP3 player, he's had a few jobs on the show, then there's always Christmas. R&R everyone!

Chapter 3

Reese sat brooding in Mr. Herkabe's office while the dean added to the long list of offences that were in his permanent record. Becoming angrier by the second, he couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer. "It wasn't my fault! Aren't you even going to let me say what happened?" Reese finally blurted out.

"Reese, this file speaks for itself. You've been nothing but a troublemaker since you were in Kindergarten. I don't need to hear whatever BS story you've made up this time. You're suspended for a week."

"That's not fair! I was minding my own business when they came over and jumped me. It really wasn't my fault this time! What was I supposed to do?"

"Sure Reese. It's never your fault, is it?" Mr. Herkabe asked sarcastically.

"But it's really not this time! How many weeks are they getting?"

"They'll receive a warning."

"WHAT? Are you kidding me?" Reese jumped to his feet, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I suggest that you take your seat immediately, Mr. Wilkerson."

Anger burned in Reese's eyes as he returned the dean's unwavering gaze with contempt, but he reluctantly gave in and sat back down before he did something that he would later regret.

"Those boys are model students in this school. They maintain decent grades and are outstanding players on the football team. Who do you think I'm going to believe, Reese—them, or a constant nuisance like you?"

"Oh, that's it. I get it now." Reese sneered "If you suspend them, they'll be kicked off the team. You can't lose your star players, can you? Like winning a stupid football game is so fucking important!" He could feel his anger taking total control of him.

Mr. Herkabe remained collected in spite of Reese's flaring temper. "Your little outburst just earned you an extra week of suspension."

"I don't care! You're all just out to get me! I've had it with this damn school!"

"Three weeks."

"You know what? Why don't you save yourself some time and just expel me cause I'm never coming back to this hellhole anyway!" Reese couldn't believe the words that were spewing from his own mouth, but he couldn't stop himself.

"Oh, you'll be back after you serve your one month, Reese. I'm sure your mother will see to that. And I'll be here when you get back to watch every move you make like a hawk. I'll make your life totally miserable until the day you graduate, which will probably take years because you're dumb as a rock. I can't believe that you and Malcolm are even related. How does it feel being the failure of the family?" Mr. Herkabe scoffed. The dean knew that it was a low blow and completely unprofessional, but he wasn't exactly known for having good ethics.

"Rot in hell, you fucking bastard!" Reese jumped up from the chair with such force that it toppled over backwards. He spun around to walk out of the office, but was briefly taken aback when he saw that Malcolm standing in the doorway with a look of wide-eyed disbelief on his face. "Get out my way" Reese growled and pushed past his brother.

"Reese wait!" Malcolm called. Reese ignored him and kept walking so he turned his attention to the dean. "I heard what you said. That was below the belt! You had no right to insult him like that!"

"And you had no right to be listening in on a private conversation." Mr. Herkabe said flatly.

"I just came by to see if he's okay. Stevie said that he was jumped by half of the football team."

"It certainly wasn't half. Besides, I'm sure your brother was the instigator, as always." Mr. Herkabe said.

"That's such a load of crap! You don't even know what happened! You're looking for any excuse to suspend him again just because you hate him!" Malcolm shouted.

"And you two will be enjoying suspension together if you don't calm down. I wouldn't want your perfect 4.0 to suffer, would you Malcolm?" Mr. Herkabe said with a note of malice in his voice.

"Ok… I'm sorry that I raised my voice. I just wish you'd cut him some slack once in awhile. He's been having a tough time lately. You don't understand him like I do."

"Oh, I understand his deviant little mind just fine. And for your information, I only gave him one week. Reese chose to show a complete lack of respect for my authority, earning himself him the extra three weeks. You heard how he spoke to me yourself."

"Look, I know he was wrong and I'm sure he'll realize it too after he has a chance to calm down. Can't you give him a break this time and reduce it back to a week so he at least has a remote chance of passing?" Malcolm pleaded.

"You know that Reese isn't capable of telling the difference between right and wrong, Malcolm. I think a month to think about how he's behaved will do him good."

"Ok. I understand. So I guess I'll just head back to class now." Malcolm shrugged casually and got up to leave. "Oh, by the way, what do you think the odds are of you keeping your job as the Dean of Student Discipline if the word were to ever get around to, let's say, certain prominent members of the community about how you show favoritism to some students and degrade others by telling them how stupid they are. And I'm not just talking about Reese—over the past four years you've put down and outright humiliated over half the kids at this school at some point. I'm sure they'll be more than willing to provide written statements of all the demeaning things that you've said and done to them. You know, unnecessary personal attacks like that coming from someone in a role model position, such as yourself, could really lower our self esteem and damage our fragile teenaged minds, which, of course, might lead to some really nasty consequences. If something like that were to ever get out to the wrong people, I'm sure there would be lawsuits flying all over the place and you would probably never set foot inside a school again. Can I have a pass back to class?"

Mr. Herkabe's face flushed red in anger because he knew that he'd been beaten. He couldn't deny the truth in Malcolm's accusations. "You think you're so clever, don't you? Ok Malcolm, you win this round, but the time will come when you won't outsmart me!" He said through clenched teeth as he scribbled his signature on a hall pass. "Two weeks and not a second less! Now take your pass and get out of my sight!"

"Thanks Mr. Herkabe, I'll see you around." Malcolm said innocently, accepting the pass. He quickly left the office and grinned all the way back to class.

XXXXXXXXX

Reese stormed furiously from the school building with a look that dared anyone to try and stop him. His suspension didn't start until the following day so he was in violation of the rules by leaving without permission, but he wasn't about to go sit through his afternoon classes after what happened. He couldn't believe how unfairly and he'd been treated. He could almost accept the unfairness of it all because he was used to getting blamed for things that he didn't do at home and at school, but he couldn't accept how the arrogant dean had deliberately belittled him by comparing him to Malcolm and calling him a failure. Even if it was true, he didn't need to be reminded of it.

He trudged home, his face so twisted with anger that people crossed the street to get out of his way. In his room, he heaved a lamp at the wall causing a deafening crash to echo throughout the empty house. It made no difference; he was already in enough trouble to keep his parents shouting at him for the whole evening. They wouldn't even notice the broken lamp after they heard about how he'd been in a fight, cussed out the dean, and skipped school for the rest of the day to top it all off. His mother would make sure that his one month of suspension was a living hell and he would still be grounded indefinitely after it was over.

Exhausted from not having slept the night before, Reese decided to take a short nap. Before he got in bed he set the alarm to go off at 2:45, which would give him plenty of time to walk back to school so he could meet Jade. Breaking his 3:30 curfew didn't seem like such a big deal anymore.