New York, Columbia University. 03/10/2012. 22:00
Late at night in the Basketball arena there were four people playing. Supposedly the arena was closed at this time but the team captain who was in the arena had a key. The team captain and his three friends were busy playing and cursing. Indeed, the four people there were Ethan and his friends.
Since the altercation with Nathaniel and them being busted by a teacher, they did not get to have a good day. Once their chapter head learned of what happened he yelled at them for almost an hour, threatening to expel them a few times. Getting a misconduct report that early in the year was really significant to a fraternity, more so for one as well known as theirs.
Hence they could not say anything then, but now that they were alone here they could voice their anger without fear of repercussion.
"That fuc*ing brat!"
"He was lucky that teacher was nearby or we would have fu*ked him up real bad!"
"Don't worry guys, the semester did not even start. Remember we own this school! If he wants to be in a team, he will find out it's impossible." Ethan said with a malevolent glint in his eyes.
He was a good friend of the football team captain and among the four here two of them were in the Basketball team and one was in the wrestling team. And among his fraternity brothers, their influence reached far and wide. Even if he was at odds with their head at the moment he knew that he could call on their help at any moment. That was the strength of the brotherhood.
"You are right, that kid can gloat all he wants now, he will realize soon enough that he needs to bow to our will."
"What kind of name is Nathaniel by the way, it sounds retarded?" One of the guys asked to no one in particular.
"Nathaniel came from the hebrew 'Netan'el' which means God given. Oh hi guys, fancy meeting you here." A playful voice interrupted.
Turning the way they heard the voice, they could see Nathaniel standing with a slight smile on his face. To say they were surprised to see him was an understatement to say the least. No one knew they were here and somehow that guy managed to find them.
"WTF are you here for?" One of the guys asked.
"That is a good question. You know I am sure I never did anything to any of you so I'm here to understand why you pick on me and especially you Ethan. Maybe you like to bully sophomores but I seriously doubt it, you seem to have something better to do with your time. Hence my presence here."
"Are you stupid? You seriously came here alone at this hour? Do you really think that we will not beat you up?" Ethan exclaimed menacingly.
"Ethan calm yourself! You know if we touch him, we will all be expelled."
"We just have to tell them that he was the one who jumped on us. It's four voices against one, I remind you."
"It will never hold, especially after what happened today."
��He is right, it will never hold but lucky you, I brought you a gift." Nathaniel said, fishing a folder from his bag and sliding it to them.
The one who was trying to calm Ethan down picked up the folder. Curious, he opened it and after reading the first file, he was dumbfounded.
"What is it?" Ethan questioned, his interest picked.
"It's a declaration saying that the fight between us and him is completely consented. Both parties are aware of the risk and they waive any legal responsibility. This guy is crazy! He has already signed it! He just gave us the right to beat him up without any repercussion!"
"Really? It must be a trap, there is nothing that says he will not denounce us to the dean after it." Ethan was immediately suspicious.
"Take a look at the second document." Nathaniel added.
Doing just that, he began reading through the document, his mouth hanging open in shock.
"So?" Asked Ethan impatiently.
"It's a NDA. If someone talks about what happened here tonight, he will have to pay 1 million dollars to the other party. There is even our name on the back of the document. How do you know our name?" He asked puzzled. He was sure that Ethan never mentioned them by name before.
"I just typed 'Dickhead Columbia" on Google and lucky for me, you were the first result that popped up." Sliding a pen in their direction, he added. "Now sign so we can start having fun. Don"t worry if you do not know how to sign your name, you can make a cross, it is allowed."
Being insulted like that, they got so mad that they all signed the two files without even thinking about it. The only thing that they wanted was to beat up that pretentious brat. Only after that would they will feel better about the entire situation.
Once signed they all rushed at him without a plan beside using force and numbers to swarm him. Sadly, reality did not look like that and one minute later they were all on the ground moaning and gripping their injured bodies. Nathaniel did not even need to show the extent of his combat prowess to deal with them. They could have surrounded him before attacking which would have made the combat more interesting for him but no. They choose to attack him all at the same time and in the same direction, hampering their movement range in the process, making things too easy for him.
"So why me?" Nathaniel questioned Ethan who was on the ground.
"Go fu*k yourself!" Ethan yelled.
Smiling, Nathaniel then starts kicking Ethan on the ground until he talks.
"Okay okay stop! I was jealous, okay! I heard my girlfriend talk about you so I got jealous! Stop kicking me!"
"Who is your girlfriend?" Nathaniel was surprised, he did not expect that answer.
"Emma Parrington."
"Emma? Brunette 5"7" in a sorority?" Nathaniel answered, realizing whom he was talking about.
"Yeah."
"I barely talked to her and I don't plan to do it in the future so don't worry. But still you should have discussed it with her before taking it out on me." Nathaniel shaked is head.
Male jealousy, the principal cause of war since humans discovered fire with religious beliefs coming as a close second.
"Now, I don't want to see you on my path again. If I see you giving me the stinky eyes, I will come back to you but without a contract. Are you understanding what I'm saying?" He asked threateningly. His voice was so cold that they could not help but shiver in fear.
A chorus of faint yes quickly followed.
"Good. Now, I have to remind you that we have a NDA. If I hear only a whiff of what happened tonight, I will take everything from you. Do not even talk about it between yourself as it will be considered a breach of contract as well. And trust me that if that happens I will know. Goodnight gentlemen."
Gathering back the contract and his pen he swiftly put them back in his bag before exiting the Basketball arena, leaving them to their misery.