Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
I finally said yes. Not as much for John as for Ian. Things had been a little strained between Ian and me lately, and I hated that that was the case. “All right. Let me go change.”
“Thanks, Hailey.”
I hadn’t been in Ian’s SUV since the night his advisor had the stroke in the first place. I tried not to think about that as Ian drove down the road to Haverford nursing home.
And then right past it.
Wait, what? “You forgot to turn.”
He chuckled. “I did, didn’t I? You must’ve been like, what the hell, is this guy trying to kidnap me?’”
I laughed, even though it wasn’t all that funny.
He looked over at me and smiled. “Yes, I am.”
My forehead wrinkled. “Yes, you are what?”
“Kidnapping you,” he said cheerfully. But then he switched tasks before I could even say what the hell. “I’m sure John really would like a visit from you, but I understand why you’d prefer not to go.”
“Thanks. Can we get back to the kidnapping thing?”
He avoided the question. “Have you eaten lunch?”
“No.” I’d just gotten back to the frat house.
“Good. Then I’m going to take you to the best restaurant in the world.”
Ian was acting so strange. Was he having a manic episode? Or actually kidnapping me. I wasn’t too worried about the latter, but I was beginning to wonder about the former.
And then I really questioned his sanity when he turned into the parking lot and pulled up to the speaker.
Had he really just brought me to the drive through at a chicken fast food restaurant?
My mouth hung open in surprise as he ordered two meals and two sodas. And he never drank soda, though that was hardly the most pressing matter at the moment.
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.”