Page 80 of Frat House Fling

He handed me the bag after he paid at the window.

“That’s the best restaurant in the world?”

“Yep. Haven’t you eaten their chicken before?”

“Yeah, but?—”

“It’s good.”

“Yeah, but—” This conversation was going in circles.

Ian turned again, this time into a park, a pretty green spot with a lake in the middle. He drove to the far side of the lake, parked so that we could see the water, and stopped the car.

I was so utterly confused when he handed me one of the meals.

“What’s going on?”

He took a bite of a chicken strip. “When I was a kid, my mom used to take me to the drive through once a month. I’d look forward to it for weeks. But some months, we wouldn’t go.”

“Why,” I asked in spite of myself.

“Because we didn’t have the money.”

My jaw dropped again. He was in the most elite frat and an expensive private university. What the hell was he talking about?”

He smiled at my confusion. “Eat your chicken, and I’ll explain.”

I was too astonished to do anything other than what he said. The chicken was pretty tasty. “My grandfather sometimes got this for me, too.”

He nodded. “And didn’t you think, when you were a kid, that it was a real treat? A special break from the ordinary?”

I nodded.

“Most Langley students have probably never even tasted this chicken, because they grew up in middle-class, or in most cases, upper-class households who probably thought fast food was beneath them. But that’s not how you grew up—and it’s not how I did.”

I sipped my soda as I stared at him, hanging on every word. “But how did you end up here at Langley?”

“My story starts before that. In high school. My mom and I lived in northern Virginia. Well, she still does. In a town probably not too dissimilar to the one you grew up in. And we never had enough money. Ever.”

“So how did you end up meeting Grant and Theo?”

“They lived closer to the capital, since Bennett’s father was in congress and Grant’s dad represented a lot of politicians and important people. And Theo’s dad kept his home base there though he flew all over the world for projects. The three of them went to a world-class private high school that offered them every advantage a student could possibly get. It was a school I never would have set foot in, but I got a scholarship.”

“To a high school?”

“To a private high school, yes. They had a few slots open for kids that weren’t from rich families, just so that they could brag about how generous they were.” He sighed. “It was an entirely different world for me, and I struggled at first. But then I made friends with Grant and Theo. And ever since then, I’ve followed them. Or they’ve pulled me along.”

“What do you mean?” I was focusing so hard on his words that I accidentally squeezed my soda and spilled it on my pants.

“They paved the way for me. When they decided to go to Langley, Grant and Theo searched high and low for a way to get me here, too. Because there was no way I could’ve afforded the tuition, and I didn’t qualify for that scholarship for native Georgians the way you did.”

“So what happened?”

“My buddies got their parents to make a scholarship. Grant and Bennett’s dad got some board he was on to create a scholarship for a ‘deserving student’.” He used air quotes for that. “And that’s how I got into Langley.”

“I had no idea.” A new thought hit, making the food in my stomach turn to led. “So you did need the housing stipend. I’m sorry that I thought you didn’t.”

He turned to me, his face clouding. “Yes and no. I wanted it so that I could pay for my room at the frat house. I wanted to pay my own way. But if I didn’t get it, I knew it was okay. Grant and Theo would cover me. It’s a backup plan that I don’t want to need—but I sometimes do.”

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