Chapter 2

Hank then grabbed his glass and smashed it against the bed frame, waking up everyone who was asleep.

"Playing dead?!" he snapped. "And who's oinking?! Give it up already!"

Ben had heavy dark circles under his eyes. "Oink? We only heard you kick the bed post…"

"Shut up! It's so loud! Are you deaf?!"

"I just slept at five… What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?!" Hank hollered. "Someone is screwing with me, and I can't even ask a question now?! So you're trying to take it out on me after screwing up your interview?!"

Zac was rubbing his brow when he turned to me. "I know you're upset about last night, Carl. Pranks are permissible, but is it that fun? I don't think so."

My heart skipped a beat. "You heard oinks too?"

"No, but that doesn't mean it wasn't you."

"What proof do you have?"

"It had better not be you, and what's with that reaction? I'm just being reasonable."

Hank poked out his head right then. "No, it has to be that fool! He's always quiet like a corpse, but heaven knows what nefarious nonsense lurks in his mind. Oink again, Carl—just try it! I'll smash your laptop!"

"No one's oinking. Only you did."

"Are you talking back?! What else do you know aside from that?!"

I rolled my eyes.

Even when dealing with the paranormal, they refused to look at facts and picked on the easiest target in the room.

[Polymorph spell progress: 12%]

I brought Hank breakfast at twenty minutes past seven, but he was snapping after he looked inside the bag, "I didn't ask for vegetable muffins!"

"It's one vegetable muffin and two sausage muffins. The latter are below."

"Is that even edible after getting vegetable flavor all over it?!"

Despite his complaints, he picked up his Diet Coke and drank some of it… and put it back, flinging the whole bag at the bin.

The bag was open, so the Coke spilled all over the bin and around it.

"Buy it again!" he snapped. "It isn't cold! And keep the muffins separate!"

I stared at the Coke spilled all over the floor. "You just drank it."

"And I then realized it wasn't cold. What, you bought me crap and you think you're innocent? Go, now! I want it before eight!"

Ben had slung his backpack over his shoulder and was looking at me anxiously. "Just go, Carl. I'm in a rush—stop this nonsense already."

"Then you can be his errand boy," I retorted, wheeling on him. "Why me?"

"That's not what I mean. It's just breakfast, so just get him what he wants, and it's over."

Zac quickly chimed in, "It's not that expensive. Why fuss over it? Hank is just cranky after just waking up, so be nice, and everyone will have it easy."

However, I didn't clean up the mess or leave the room.

Seeing that, Hank reached for my cupboard. "You want to mess with me, huh?! Let's see what you have here!"

"Close it," I growled.

"Just because you said so? And it's just a fire safety check. I'm checking for fire hazards."

He then took out two packs of beef jerky and a box of chocolates, quickly gouging on them while snapping, "So what if I eat your stuff? You have your scholarship money. Or are you going to charge me for this too?"

"My sister sent me those."

"So what? Does that make these inedible? Or what, is she as stingy as you? Guess it runs in the family."

I shut the cupboard door. "Don't ever touch my stuff again."

Hank shrugged as he munched on my chocolates. "What are you going to do about it? Hit me?"

"And I'm not going to be anyone's errand boy—not even yours."

Hank simply laughed out loud. "Oh, Mr. Scholarship has grown a spine! Do you think the world will stop if you do? Don't give yourself too much credit—the dorms will still run without you!"

[Polymorph spell progress: 19%]

-

The next day, Mr. Birch the counselor pinged me in the school chat group.

[@CarlLorenz, watch your behavior. Don't affect your roommates over your personal interests.]

Hank waved his phone at me with a smug grin, but the worst had yet to come.