Class was only an hour away and I was nervous. Jack still hadn't come by, which meant he was either at his internship or he was meeting with the Studies Program Director. There was still that upcoming "announcement" by the Studies Program Director in class to contemplate. Time passed slowly as I gathered my books and notes for class. As I walked down with D to class, I couldn't stop fidgeting.

"Don't worry about it," D tried to reassure me. "Maybe the Studies Director just wants to announce that he's going to finally take that stick out of his ass."

"I wish," I replied. We arrived at the classroom and took our seats. A hush settled over the room as the Studies Program Director (herein known as SPD) walked in. He paused at the lectern and gazed emotionlessly at the class. The room grew quieter still as we waited for him to begin speaking. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jack sneak in. I gestured for him to sit in the seat I had saved for him, but he shook his head and sat by the back wall instead. Now I was really scared. SPD shuffled some papers and cleared his throat. The tension in the room was palpable.

"I want to make an announcement. A grave thing has happened." SPD stated.

I glanced nervously at Jack. He just had a grim look on his face.

"I've heard some reports from unnamed sources that a few of you have been drinking alcohol. Now I can't say who," he said piously, "but you know who you are and that it is against the rules. I am going to leave it to you to voluntarily turn yourselves in, and then we'll see how it goes from there. That is all." He exited the room as quickly as he had entered.
Everyone was stymied, but the rest of class passed quickly and without incident.

I cornered Jack after class. "So what happened?" I asked him urgently. "I though PSD was going to crucify you in class or something!"

"I totally denied it," he said. "And there wasn't much that they could do. I just have to keep a low profile until the semester ends."

"You know Jack," I mused, "I never asked you why you joined this program in the first place. It's so frigging conservative."

"I joined this Studies Program because it was the only way to get an internship in DC," he said. "A small religious college in the deep South isn't exactly crawling with opportunity, you know. I knew there was a chance of "being caught", but I couldn't pass it up, you know? I didn't think it would come to this, though. You know my roommates didn't even apologize." he explained.

"Damn them all to hell," I muttered.

"Well, that's the least of our problems. Are you going to turn yourself in, you lush?" he said half-jokingly.

Good question.