He spent the rest of that night paranoid.

Just when he thought he was at least surviving on varsity, they had to go and screw everything up, pranking his friends when they were at their lowest.

The guys on varsity practically kept him hostage for most of the night, celebrating their "victory" over the JV team. Adam's nerves were on overdrive the entire time.

Would his friends retaliate? Did they think he had something to do with it? Did they all despise him now?

It didn't help matters much to know that the majority of them, at least the Minnesota Ducks, didn't exactly have the financial means to buy new clothes whenever they needed. It may have only been one outfit for each of them that had been destroyed, but to Adam's guilt-ridden mind, it was as if he had taken their parents' money and just thrown it away.

When he finally escaped to the sanctuary that was Jesse's apartment later that night, he told him everything. Every last thought in his head.

Jesse assured him that it would all blow over, but he understood Adam's concern. Adam could tell Jesse already hated the guys on the varsity team, sensing what they stood for and the kind of people they were without having even met them once. Between how they treated his boyfriend and the way they looked down on his friends, he knew they were just like the guys on the Hawks had been. He hated that he couldn't be there.

He couldn't be the support he'd always been.

When Adam left the next morning, he gave Jesse his word that he would call to let him know how everything had turned out.

When the Ducks had retaliated by destroying the varsity jackets, Adam actually had to laugh. That was pretty genius. Plus, he knew they could easily get new jackets made for them, which they did.

After that, it seemed as though everything had been swept under the rug and everyone involved was past it. The varsity guys told him about a tradition where the varsity hockey team take the freshmen to dinner at the Minnesota Club. It sounded legitimate, something Eden Hall would definitely do in order to showcase its never-ending supply of "class."

He made sure to put his friends at ease, secure in what he knew had to be one angst-free evening.

He had forgotten that the fates seemed to have it out for him.

They didn't tell him until they were on the way to the restaurant.

Of course, he should have known his hopes for peace would be shattered.

He had a long way to go before he reached Jesse's level of optimism.

The entire dinner, he felt sick to his stomach. He could barely keep down his food, let alone look any of his friends in the eye.

This was the ultimate crime they could pull on them. A bunch of rich, spoiled kids leaving a bunch of unsuspecting people on the opposite end of the income scale with a bill Adam was sure would be almost a thousand dollars.

As soon as he got back to the dorm, he immediately ran for the restroom, puking out all the contents of his stomach.

He didn't even go see Jesse that night. He didn't feel he deserved the relief.

The bites from the fire ants hurt like hell, but not nearly as much as when Charlie, of all people, didn't believe him when he said he had had no idea about the set-up at the restaurant.

Charlie was one of his closest friends, and Jesse's best friend. How could he doubt him?

He remembered with vivid clarity the day he first showed up in a Ducks locker room, Charlie trying to welcome him before Jesse held him back, trying to protect his friend.

If he weren't in the middle of such a stressful situation, Adam would have laughed at the irony of it all.

Once the game started, as he had predicted, the varsity team was brutal.

He still played as hard as he could, knowing the Ducks weren't going to be showing him any sympathy and the varsity players would kill him if they noticed he was slacking, but he refused to follow the "by any means necessary" approach.

He refused to cheat.

And yet, that still didn't save him from ridicule at the hands of the people he thought were his friends.

When he and Charlie finally came to a head, he couldn't believe it was actually happening.

All he wanted was to fit in wherever he was and for everyone to get along. He tried his best to always follow the rules and do what made people happy. And now he was thrown into this chaos where the closest to him were looking at him like an enemy.

When Charlie told him to go "cry to his rich parents," he had finally had it.

Charlie didn't know the torment he suffered through every day. He didn't know how much he hated that he had money while his friends' families struggled to make ends meet. Didn't know how cold and demanding his parents were and how it all just killed him inside.

The only one who truly knew it all was Jesse. He was the only one who cared.

And it looked like now he was all he had.

TBC

Another update! I wish it was longer, but this chapter was much harder to write for some reason. Thanks again so much to all of you who have stuck with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter. And your feedback is the best kind of motivation. I should have another update soon. :)