Page 37 of The Friend Game

Ha!

“So what about her?” Luke prompts.

Oh right. “Well,” I say, checking the backseat to make sure the girls aren’t listening. They're still naming vegetables or something as they slap hands, so I press on. “She has this daughter, Caroline, who’s being bullied at school and, to make a long story short, the administration isn’t doing anything about it. The bullying has gotten so bad that Sydney wants to pull her daughter from the school, only she doesn’t really have any other school options. She’s a single mom, already working two jobs to make ends meet, so there’s no way she could afford private school tuition.” My voice is coming out faster and faster, buoyed along by my nerves.

“And yes I know from Zach’s mom, Sheila, that there really aren’t any scholarships left andthat there’s even a waitlist for scholarships, so it’s just completely unfair of me to ask for you to give her special treatment, but Brooke begged me to ask. Plus I have this soft heart problem that I’ve never really been able to kick, which means it’s either I help get Caroline a scholarship or I go to her school, take this bully girl out to the playground, then whip her butt so badly in a Double Dutch contest that she loses face completely and never speaks again, let alone bullies someone—”

“Hannah," Luke cuts in, “slow down.” He holds a hand up. “Are you trying to ask for a scholarship for Caroline?”

I stare at him, my chest heaving a bit from forgetting to breathe during my impassioned rant. “Yes?” It comes out as a question which earns me a little snort of laughter from Luke.

“Okay, well you know there’s a whole process for that, right? Caroline and Sydney would have to first apply for a scholarship, then if the scholarship committee likes her application, she and Sydney would come in for an interview, and if that interview goes well then they can get put on our scholarship waitlist.”

“Oh, wow.” My shoulders slump, but then I look over at him and say cheekily, “I don’t suppose all of that can happen by Monday?”

Luke lets out a breathy laugh, then taps his fingers along the steering wheel. “Monday, huh?”

“That was the goal, but obviously Tuesday would be acceptable too.” I’m being flippant, because I can feel the ‘no’ coming, and I want it to sting less than I can already sense it’s going to. Brooke thought I’d have some pull with Luke, but clearly I don’t.

And okay fine, maybe I thought I might have some pull too. I mean we are going out in four months. Doesn’t that count for anything? Apparently not.

I only wish that fact didn’t hurt so much.

“Monday isn’t going to happen,” Luke says, and just like that I’m Eeyore after his tail fell off.

“Okay,” I sigh. “I understand.”

“Hey, don’t go planning your Double Dutch routine just yet,” Luke chuckles. “Yes, they’ll have to follow the usual admissions process and yes, there is a wait list for full ride scholarships,” I feel my shoulders droop as he speaks, “but I might know of a way we can bypass the wait list.”

“Wait, what?”My shoulders shoot back up.“You do?”

“Possibly,” Luke says carefully. “I’ll have to pull some strings, but if Sydney doesn’t mind taking her waitressing services to the library it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“To the library?”I peer at him in confusion as we pull onto my street. “Why? Do you need her to do some research or something?”

“No, not research.” Luke swings the car into Jill’s driveway. “I’m talking about employment.”

“Employment?”

I’m still not getting what he’s saying, but before he can reply Ellie leans forward and cries, “Hey look, Aunt Brooke is here! Yay!”

I turn and see that she’s right. Brooke’s white Bronco just pulled up to the curb. A second later Sydney pops out of the passenger side and opens the door of the backseat.

“Ooo-ooo,” Ellie squeals, “she brought Caroline! Mia you get to meet my dance friend, Caroline! We can all play together!”

I'm about to turn to Luke and swear that this isn’t some sort of ambush, when he speaks.

“Sydney and Caroline are here.” Luke puts his Jeep in park and turns off the engine. “Great. Mind if I come inside and we can discuss things with Sydney?”

Ellie and Mia are already tumbling out of the car and rushing toward Caroline.

“Sure.” I hesitate, but then can’t help but add, “I swear I didn’t tell them to come. I did tell Brooke I’d speak with you about Sydney and Caroline’s situation, but I never want to put you in an uncomfortable position of feeling like you can’t say no or that,” I swallow, “I’m trying to take advantage of our friendship or whatever it is we have between us. You can pull the plug on this whole thing rightnow if it’s going to cause you trouble or if it’s just not possible to get Caroline into Grace Canyon. I won’t be mad or anything.”

Luke studies me for a second. “Well,” he says carefully, “I appreciate you saying all of that, but as much as I’d like to witness you taking on a second grader in a jump rope competition, I actually would love to try and make it work for Caroline to come to Grace Canyon. When I became the pastor at Grace, I asked to take over the scholarship committee at the school. Giving kids an opportunity to come to our school when their families can’t afford it is sort of a passion of mine. Largely because Jesus is very clear that His followers are to provide for the less fortunate, but also because I myself went to Grace Canyon at a reduced rate thanks to my dad’s position as principal there.”

“Really?” I look at him with new eyes.

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “My family never struggled to make ends meet, but we were still decidedly middle class. My parents could not have afforded to send me and my sister to Grace Canyon if our dad hadn’t worked there.”

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