>
Parker’s mouth stretched across his face in a broad grin, and then he looked out onto the lawn. A group of girls were in a huddle; arms hooked together to fight the cold. Crepe paper and beer cans littered the grass along with empty bottles of liquor. Among the clutter, Sig Tau brothers were standing around their masterpiece: a pyramid of kegs decorated with white lights.
Parker shook his head. “This place is going to be destroyed in the morning. The cleanup crew is going to be busy.”
“You have a cleanup crew?”
“Yeah,” he smiled, “we call them freshmen.”
“Poor Shep.”
“He’s not on it. He gets a pass because he’s Travis’s cousin, and he doesn’t live in the House.”
“Do you live in the House?”
Parker nodded. “The last two years. I need to get an apartment, though. I need a quieter place to study.”
“Let me guess … Business major?”
“Biology, with a minor in Anatomy. I’ve got one more year left, take the MCAT, and then hopefully I’m off to Harvard Med.”
“You already know you’re in?”
“My dad went to Harvard. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but he’s a generous alumnus if you know what I mean. I carry a 4.0, got a 2200 on my SATs, thirty-six on my ACTs. I’m in a good position for a spot.”
“Your dad’s a doctor?”
Parker confirmed with a good-natured smile. “Orthopedic surgeon.”
“Impressive.”
“How about you?” he asked.
“Undecided.”
“Typical freshman answer.”
I sighed in dramatic fashion. “I guess I just blew my chances at being exceptional.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I noticed you the first day of class. What are you doing in Calculus Three as a freshman?”
I smiled and twisted my hair around my finger. “Math is sort of easy for me. I packed on the classes in high school and took two summer courses at Wichita State.”
“Now that’s impressive,” he said.
We stood on the balcony for over an hour, talking about everything from local eateries to how I became such good friends with Travis.
“I wouldn’t mention it, but the two of you seem to be the topic of conversation.”
“Great,” I murmured.
“It’s just unusual for Travis. He doesn’t befriend women. He tends to make enemies of them more often than not.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’ve seen more than a few that either have short-term memory loss or are all too forgiving when it comes to him.”
Parker laughed. His white teeth gleamed against his golden tan. “People just don’t understand your relationship. You have to admit it’s a bit ambiguous.”
“Are you asking if I’m sleeping with him?”