Gossip Gay

Eleven: Concessions

Dan sighs, slumping into a spot in the grass beside Serena when she meets him for lunch. His appetite died during the recruiter meeting, so all he's grabbed is a water bottle. Serena sees this and gives him a concerned frown.

"You're not eating?"

"Not hungry. Ivy Week sucks," Dan replies, sighing again. At least he's stopped shaking since he talked to Nate.

"The interview went that bad?" His blonde best friend frowns.

"Worse. It was like I was talking to a statue..." Dan groans. "I swear the guy stopped breathing for a solid two minutes, he was so quiet."

"Sometimes quiet is good," Serena says with a shrug. "You're the second smartest guy in our class, why wouldn't Yale pick you?"

"Because one of the other candidates is the smartest guy in our class," Dan whines.

"Nate?" At Dan's nod, Serena opens her mouth to reply, but the bell rings, ushering them back inside for classes.

Two hours later, Dan stands in front of the announcement board, numbly reading the Usher list over and over again. There's Nate's name, right next to Yale. And where is Dan's? Right down at the bottom of the list next to a job title that would send most of the parents of students in this school into the Dean's office screaming.

Concessions.

Everyone else would be vying for a chance at a better future and Dan would be offering people cookies and pouring cups of punch!

His fantastic grades don't matter. His perfect behavior doesn't matter. The fact that Nate insisted he doesn't even want Yale doesn't matter. None of that matters. Because in the end, its just like Blair said.

The school doesn't want 'Brooklyn Boy' representing them. That's all it comes down to. Dan should have known better than to think the Dean would ever let him Usher Yale.

Turning to leave the school, go back to the Palace and sulk, Dan walks straight into Nate, but in the moment, he's too upset to say anything and he simply ducks his head, walking out.

"Nate? Nate, sweetheart, are you even listening?" Anne asks. The family is on their way to a nice restaurant for dinner in order to celebrate Nate getting to be the Usher for Yale. 

"Sorry, what?" Nate asks his mother, earning worried looks from both of his parents.

"What's got you so distracted, son?" Captain asks. "Are you still sulking over the Blair issue?"

Nate sighs in response, shaking his head. "I...can't stop thinking about Dan. It doesn't seem fair. I don't even want Yale."

At this, his mother frowns, while his father shakes his head.

"That's not on you, son, its on the school," Captain says. "St. Jude's would never let a Brooklyn native represent them to a school like Yale, and after his parents split was all over the news last year, Dan is lucky the school let him participate at all."

Nate scowls, but before he can cut in, his father continues. 

"A boy like Dan will probably end up at some new age theatre school, studying philosophy, where he'll grow dreads and get hooked on LSD."

"Oh Captain, really!" Anne exclaims, stepping in to defend her son's friend. Turning to her son, she continues. "Will Dan be at the party at the end of the week?"

Nate nods. "Yeah, he's working the concessions."

Captain snorted at this, a sharp, unattractive sound, only to receive a pointed look from his wife.

"Then your solution is simple," Anne stated. "If you want to give Dan the fair chance your school refuses too, bring the Yale scout to him. Get them talking."

At this, Nate smiles. His mom has always been the one he can count on to solve problems he can't solve on his own. Grinning, he hugs her, seeming to have cheered right up. "Mom, your a genius."

"I know," His mother smiles.