"I’ll call Steven, act like what happened in the stairwell scared the crap out of me. I’ll beg him for a second chance, tell him I’ll do whatever he wants," Joe said animatedly. "I’ll ask him to tell me again exactly what he wants me to do, play dumb, like I don’t remember all the details."

"That shouldn’t be too hard," Callie muttered.

Joe stopped only long enough to glare at her, his selective memory allowing him to forget he’d made a similar comment about her only moments earlier.

"I can get everything on tape. No way he’ll be able to talk his way out of it. Maybe I can even get him to admit his father knows what’s going on!" Joe looked at his brother excitedly.

"If he admits to the hazing and bullying other students into stealing tests for him, we can turn the tape over to the principal. But I’d rather have enough to take to the authorities." Frank frowned, his forehead creased in concern.

Callie looked at Frank questioningly.

"If we don’t get enough of a confession to bring some kind of criminal charges against Steven, he’ll probably just get kicked off the team and maybe get some kind of suspension."

"Isn’t that what you want?"

Frank shook his head. "He’d be back at school eventually. And he’d be out for blood." Frank stopped and looked directly at Joe. "Yours."

Joe’s eyes showed grim determination. "Then I’ll have to make sure I get him to spill his guts - about everything."

*****

It had taken only a short time for Steven’s self-pity to turn to rage. He stood and paced the room, thinking back to the events that got him here. They all had one common thread – Joe Hardy.

‘That stupid kid is the problem, not me!’ he thought angrily, feeling much more comfortable with himself now that he was able to shift the blame to someone else. ‘I’m the leader of this football team! He should do whatever I tell him without question – for the good of the team!’

Steven’s frenetic footsteps back and forth across the room had increased, keeping pace with his rapidly growing anger. Suddenly they came to a grinding halt as a grim smile crossed his face. The seed of an idea planted itself in his mind. He could kill two birds with one stone – teach Joe Hardy a lesson in respect and earn a little respect from his own father in return.

Steven’s smile grew as his plan began to take shape. Not only would Joe get him the test answers Steven wanted, he wouldn’t say a word about what had happened in the school stairwell and he would do Steven’s bidding for the rest of the school year. Best of all, after tonight, Steven’s bully of a father would see he could handle his own problems!

Frowning now, Steven wondered just how he’d be able to convince Joe Hardy to meet him tonight – alone – when the loud BRRRRRNG of the phone jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Steven? This is Joe – Joe Hardy."

Steven’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and he said a silent thank you at his good fortune.

"Please don’t hang up on me," Joe continued quickly. "I – I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier. I don’t know what got into me."

Steven had settled back on his bed and listened to Joe ramble on nervously. He was smiling, happy to note the Hardy kid sounded scared and more than a little desperate. ‘You’re gonna need to do a lot more begging than that. And that’s only the beginning…’ he thought.

"I-I don’t know what I was thinking. Could – could we maybe start over?" Joe stammered.

"Start over?" Steven repeated, trying to sound incredulous. "After you sucker punched me? Humiliated me in front of my boys? What do you think I am – an idiot?"

"No, of course not!" Joe replied quickly. "And if you give me another chance, I’ll prove it to you."

"How?" Steven asked warily.

"With that favor you asked for the other night."

Steven’s ears perked up. "Are you saying you’ve changed your mind about that?"

"About the test? Yeah, of course," Joe responded. "But could you tell me again exactly what you need me to do? I mean you kinda caught me by surprise when you first asked. I don’t really remember the details."

‘Not so fast, Hardy. You’ll definitely get that test for me, but first you need to learn a lesson,’ Steven thought sadistically. "Sure, no problem. Why don’t you come over to my place? We can order a pizza and talk about it. Maybe I can teach you a few new plays, too."

"Come to your house?" Joe asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. Is that a problem? Won’t Mommy and Daddy let you come out and play after dark?" Steven sneered.

"Uh – no, that’s not the problem," Joe sounded less than enthusiastic. "It’s just… I can’t drive myself over to your house and my parents have gone out."

"And your goody-two shoes brother wouldn’t approve?" Steven guessed. He hadn’t missed the reproving looks Frank Hardy had been throwing his way all week.

"Well, yeah," Joe said hesitantly. "And I’m gonna have to convince Frank to help me. So why don’t you just explain it all now so I can figure out how to get Frank to cooperate."

Steven grinned at the pleading note in Joe’s voice. This was working out better than he could have hoped for. "I’d rather explain it in person, just to make sure you understand. I’ll come pick you up. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Bye."

He quickly hung up before Joe could protest and immediately dialed Jonathan’s number. "Hey, man, it’s me. You up for a little fun tonight?" he asked evilly.