I've had the highest mountains

"You cheated because you used psychomanipulation or whatever hoohah you’ve got under your belt to make me go first. Probably why you won that beauty contest, too—but no, I actually see you winning one, so heh. And hey, you get to roll again. Doubles roll again," Jeremy rambled as he gestured to the dice, eyeing his friend with mock distrust, followed by a short snort. As he watched the other play let go of the dice*, Jeremy’s eyes flickered over to Bryce curiously.

The boy didn’t have to indulge any of Jeremy’s whims. Jeremy’s text had been a moment of impulse, brought about by sheer need to connect with someone who didn’t put him under unreasonable amounts of pressure and stress. Jeremy was surprised, and a tad bit touched when Bryce agreed to it. Granted, Bryce probably had nothing else to do, but he could have found something else to preoccupy himself with. Jeremy just couldn’t believe it yet, that the boy chose Monopoly over some existent party or some soiree being conducted for the night.

"So Philosophy wins," Jeremy conceded. "Just so you know, Philosophy doesn’t make the current Economy run. But I admit that without it, we wouldn’t be here thinking and interacting as we are."

Jeremy chose someone who was amicable enough for him to stand for long periods of time, but was unfamiliar enough that they didn’t carry their baggage and problems and throw them at each other the first opportunity they got. Jeremy was fine with their little arrangement. Monopoly should bring out Bryce’ competitive side, and maybe show a little bit more of his true colors. The drinks should loosen them up a bit, offer a comfortable atmosphere for them to just mellow out. He had already thrown Bryce a bottle and almost hit him in the head, and the apologetic grin and shrug should have alleviated the consequences. He wasn’t trying to force the drink down Bryce’s throat. The boy could have told him long before he entered that he wasn’t a drinker, so Jeremy had gone casual about it and just brought the bottles in without question.

It would have been easy to delve deeper into getting to know Jeremy after their first conversation. The halls of Heathfield practically bounced off gossip as if it were a giant red bouncy ball. But Bryce knew the load of biased opinions he'd get of the Ellsworth student and it was only fair that he make up his own mind about Jeremy, especially after what he'd said the last time. And getting to know Jeremy meant talking to him and not learning by reading up on him. It was like school in that sense, textbooks were one thing, but without going out into the real world the knowledge you gained only remained within the pages. To make your reality you had to live it.

"Just as long as you know what started it all," he grinned. "Now it's your turn."

To say that he was thankful for the almost bruise to the head was one way of putting it. That drink was something he desperately needed, not because he wanted to get crazy —they were playing monopoly after all— but because he needed to properly relax. You could have beer at a party, let loose, but you couldn't relax. And drinking alone was one of the things Bryce hated the most. Somewhere in between was what he lacked. He tipped his head back to let the cold liquid coat his tongue before sliding down his throat. Here in his dorm, with a board game between the two young men, turned out to be that happy medium he was searching for.

Bryce was a particularly conscientious individual but right now, across from good company and indulging in equally good beer, those fleeting looks from Jeremy passed with little notice. Even so, Bryce seemed to give the other boy a few once overs himself.  The constant ever growing chatter amongst the halls made it hard for him not to hear the name Jeremy thrown around more than once. He blocked out the context but caught the name at least a dozen times this week. He wondered what about him made him such a topic of interest, a question he was set on figuring out by the end of the night. Bryce continued to steal glances, watching him as if doing so would reveal more than any answer to a question would.

"Since freshman year of high school the great Bryce Keller has been roaming these halls." he grinned sheepishly before biting his bottom lip in thought. "What exactly does a legacy student sound like? Pompous?" he paused. "Arrogant?" He began waving his head around and straightening his shoulders, mocking the other students. "To answer your question though, I'm third generation." Legacy, the term sounded so polished and sharp in his mouth, like it cut with a dirty clean point every time he uttered it. It was this sullied version of pride. Bryce was in many ways jealous of the non legacy students, because they at least could start with a blank slate. He wouldn't trade positions with them, knowing very well how lucky he was, but he envied their freedom. "Some times I wish I wasn't," he started saying out loud. "People expect something from you when you come with a background and then already you're shackled down with predetermined constraints. The thoughts that I have now and the choices that I make were never really my own in the first place." he sighed. 'They were made for me and conditioned into my mind until they become commonplace," he paused, thinking back to his first day at Heathfield. "And then again I wouldn't want it differently because I know what I got from my name. Then what does that make me? Just the same as everyone here I guess. I suppose it's it's good though, it gives me some sort of motivation to regain those individual thoughts and freedoms."

Jeremy threw the dice first, winking at Bryce as he glanced at him momentarily, before watching the dice come to a halt by the edge of the board. He peered over them and moved his little dog accordingly. A one on one die, and a three on another, effectively making him land on—

"Income tax," Jeremy deadpanned. "How do I have income tax when I don’t even have a freaking job yet? This game sucks," he whined, shoving his card into the minus side of the calculator-banker thing and punching in the numbers. "You rigged this game, you and your thimble. I don’t even know why there’s a thimble in this game. How the hell does sewing even relate to finance and business? I wouldn’t know. Would you? You’re smart. Connect the thimble to the game for me."

He popped open a beer, deciding that clearly his stroke of luck merited getting hammered, and pouted at Bryce. “You’re in philosophy and you’re winning. In Monopoly. Against a finance major.”

Bryce caught Jeremy's wink and returned it with ease. His eyes fell to the board and the dice that lay on top. He watched as the little terrier moved from GO to INCOME TAX. Bryce grinned, "Looks like Gizmo's off to an excellent start."

"Do enlighten me on how I cheated because I'd really love to know for future reference." he teased. Bryce continued laughing as Jeremy ranted on about the injustice of Monopoly and how illogical it was. Lifting his right hand to his head, he ruffled the stray hairs at the front that shook loose from the tremors induced by laughter. "What's the explanation on that dog then?" he asked. "I'd say the thimble is for quick fixes on torn Prada suits. Those dealing in property must always look sharp. Can't afford to tarnish our devilishly good looks with a ripped up suit. Charm goes a long way but we all know how this society runs on vanity."

"Philosophy gives me insight that proceeds numbers themselves. Philosophy practically gave you the term 'finance'." he said with mock boastfulness. It was true that Bryce was often pretentious, and he wouldn't deny it. But sometimes he played it up, and today was one of those times. Bryce took the dice in his hands, dropping them onto the board. "Snake eyes," he said, staring down at the paired single dots. "How do you like them apples?" He slid the thimble down two spaces after GO before picking up a card from the Community Chest pile. He lifted the card to eye level and began reading it out loud, "You have won second prize in a beauty contest collect ten dollars." Bryce grinned before putting on a face of bewilderment. "Wowee, are my looks really worth ten dollars?" he chuckled. "I told you the world ran on vanity." Sticking his card into the small device Bryce added the ten dollar amount.

"You're up hot shot."

"You know, when I was a kid I thought the thimble was a cup-shaped sponge cake," Jeremy remarked as he eyed the small golden avatar. "But I think I’ll go with the little Scottie dog since it barks in the computer version." He grinned at Bryce, gingerly taking the dog from under his nose before he could fight for it.

It was a strange but not unwelcome turn of events, that Jeremy found himself in Harrell House once again, in a different room, setting up a board game that anyone in Heathfield would find entirely amusing. Jeremy had long ago asked his mother to send his electronic Monopoly banking game over with her care package, for want of something to do since he grew progressively bored with half the month of August rolling in and schoolwork starting to pile up. He briefly wondered why Bryce had been in his mind when he thought of who to play it with, but then decided that he shouldn’t overthink anything. Bryce was certainly up for the challenge when he sent the boy a text about it, and Jeremy had gambled bringing over some drinks and maybe a few joints, if things got a little too tense or competitive.

Jed was out for foot ball practice again. He was out on the field most of the time, running laps or throwing around a ball. It left for a lot of quiet time for Bryce to study but also left for plenty of ever growing boredom. The text he got from Jeremy was a relief. He'd texted Jennifer but she was busy, Elliot was out; probably partying a little too hard, and Emily was no where to be seen; though she could have been ignoring him-- also a possibility.

Monopoly was an interesting choice he had to admit. Firstly, who came prepared with board games at Heathfield? Apparently Jeremy Morgan did. And secondly, why Monopoly specifically? In some capacity the game was like a version of what many of their futures would look like and thus, an interesting choice for a game. Perhaps not buying property specifically but something along the lines of that. Business was business.

Bryce threw his hands up in the air. "Fine. Me and this little thimble you so rudely discarded are coming for everything that you have. I'll be the slum lord and still take you down."

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