The opening quote in this chapter comes from Lance:

When Rob came to B’Vale, I was the stud monkey here. Next thing I knew, I’d lost my girlfriend and my place on top. But for Rob that wasn’t enough. He’s one of those guys that wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire. He wasn’t happy to have it all, he had to make sure I didn’t have anything (30).

Young thinks back to when he first met Rob, right after Rob transferred to B’Vale. Rob came into Young’s Honors English class carrying a copy of The Duke of Deception, by Geoffrey Wolff. Young, like Rob, is an avid reader of literature, and the two quickly bonded when they first met. Young introduced Rob to Bobster and Coop, and Young recalls how “Rob had circumvented the routine. He gave us a place and a plan. We were random stars, and he made us a constellation” (32).

Young also recalls seeing Rob in the library shortly after they first met. Rob was looking through the yearbooks and taking notes on the most popular students. Young thought it was strange but didn’t ask questions. A couple weeks later, Young and Rob were in Advanced Bio together and had to kill and dissect frogs.