Page 82 of The Confidant
I studied his back and shoulders as he spoke to the barista. I was used to seeing Xander dressed in a suit and tie, since we usually saw each other at church things. But today he wore a charcoal sweater—the sleeves rolled up to reveal his muscular forearms—along with a pair of jeans.
His clothes were obviously designer and had most likely been tailored to fit his tall, athletic frame perfectly. But even though he still had the air you’d expect the son of a billionaire to have around him, if you didn’t look too closely at the Rolex on his wrist, he could almost blend in with the rest of the college students today.
He paid for our food, and then we went to a table near the back to wait for our order.
“What do you think of the school so far?” Xander asked, pulling out a chair for me. “Does it feel like home at all?”
“It’s really cool.” I sat in the chair he offered me and scooted in with his help. “But I might need to see the dorms before I can officially make my decision.”
“We can head there next if you like.” Xander took the seat across from me. “My dorm is just across the street actually, so we can just pop right over there.”
“Did you just say that you live in the dorms?” I asked, not sure I’d heard him right.
He furrowed his brow. “Where else would I live?”
“I don’t know,” I said, trying to think about where I’d imagined him living. “I guess I figured you probably lived in a big apartment off campus or something.”
Something with a maid service and personal chef—kind of like what the Hastings family had.
Xander shook his head. “I’ve thought about getting something like that, but I actually really enjoy life at the dorms. There’s always something going on, and if I lived off campus, it would be harder to stay in the loop and get the real college experience.”
“I guess that’s probably right.” I’d heard so much about how exciting dorm life could be. How the parties were crazy and there was always something going on.
I didn’t necessarily want to go to tons of parties next year, since I wanted to focus on getting my degree in two years instead of four. But it would be fun to have parties to drop in on once I’d gotten my studying for the week already done.
“Do you have a shared room?” I asked. “Or a single?”
“I’ve had my own room the past three years,” he said. “But I shared one with that friend I was telling you about my freshman year.”
I nodded, remembering the friend he’d talked about who had left The Fold and gotten into a lot of trouble because of it.
“And since that turned into quite the fiasco by the end, I decided to go with a single room after that.”
“Sounds like we had similar issues that year,” I said, remembering the difficulties I’d had with my roommate my first year at Eden Falls. “It’s hard when you don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“Yeah,” Xander said. “Or when people suddenly change on you.”
He met my gaze across the table, and I realized he was referring to the other thing we had in common.
The best friends who left our church.
The barista brought our drinks to the table. After thanking her, Xander took a sip of his cold brew and said, “It’s interesting how much you and I have in common, isn’t it.”
“It is.” I picked up my own drink and took a sip. And I didn’t know what I was expecting, since I’d never had a Mexican Mocha before, but it was good.
So good that I’d have to add this cafe to my list of reasons for why Yale was a good university to attend.
“So, are there girls’ dorms right across the street, too?” I asked, wondering how close I could possibly live.
“Yeah, the one I live in is actually gender-neutral housing, so I’m sure I could talk to the manager and arrange for you to get a room in my building if you wanted.”
“Really?” I asked. “You could do that?”
“Of course,” he said. “I know you’re still deciding between Yale and Columbia, but if you come here, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
* * *
The restof lunch was nice. Xander told me more about his favorite classes and professors, recommending which general education courses to take and which professors to avoid. And even though I’d been leaning toward Columbia after my tour with my mom, the more Xander talked about Yale and his experience here the past four years, the more appealing Yale became.
