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“Anyway,” he mumbled, “if I do stay, and I do pass, I won’t be waiting for Primal Scream to show my naked ass. I’ll go streaking around the dorm rooms—through the whole bloody house!”

David let out a surprised laugh. “Sounds brilliant. Just remind me to check into a hotel.”

Zeke chuckled. “Now come on—my whole family is probably already on the phone to Interpol or something.” He picked up his pace to a jog, and David smirked, glad the guy’s spirits seemed to have cheered.

Though he couldn’t fully shake how upset Zeke had seemed, and made a mental note to try to keep an eye on him.

For now, David ran to catch up, and the two boys sprinted the rest of the way, egged on by the promise of a warm shower.

When they reached their destination, however, David’s face fell.

Music was blaring from within the house, florescent strobes pulsing through the windows, and the lawn was packed with people holding red Solo cups.

So much for a quiet night of recovery…

It was a struggle even to reach the front door, and when they did step through, it was even more crowded inside.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t crowded enough to evade the notice of Max, who was hovering at the edge of the hallway, a pretty redheaded girl hanging from one arm.

“Yo!” he roared above the deafening beat. “The cubs made it back!”

He rushed over to David and Zeke, quickly joined by Sebastien and four other housemates whom David suspected had been involved in the kidnapping. They swarmed around, slapping the two boys on the back.

“Congratulations, man!” Max yelled into David’s ear. “You survived the initiation.”

“Yeah,” David said dryly, trying to shrug Max off, as well as all the other hands that were pounding his bruised skin. Though he supposed he did feel a bit good about himself for surviving the ordeal. If he hadn’t had so much on his plate, he might even have been in the mood to celebrate. But as it stood…

“Now I’d like to take a shower,” he finished firmly.

“And get back to studying,” Zeke said irritably, ducking out from beneath Sebastien.

“Whoa, what? Studying?” Seb gaped. “There’s no way you’re studying with this party goin’ on!”

Without so much as a warning, Max dropped to his knees and rammed his shoulders into David’s legs, throwing him off balance. He was caught by three sets of hands behind him, lifting him horizontally into the air. They rushed him across the hallway and barged into the heaving living room. Before David could fight his way back to the ground, he was hoisted onto a screaming crowd and surfing across a sea of hands.

David groaned. Now, he was going to have to escape this forest.