Page 122 of Learning Curve

“I don’t get it,” I whisper into Finn’s ear, getting up on my tiptoes to reach. “Blake could have any girl on campus, but he’s fawning over the one girl who continues to show that she doesn’t want anything to do with him.”

Finn’s smile is unbelievably sweet as he shrugs. “I guess you can’t help who you love.”

“Hey, Lexi, how’d you get the security codes?” Ace heckles from our spot in the crowd as she’s preparing to speak.

She doesn’t bother giving him a response. “Tonight, you’re going to try to find history,” she announces. “Our university’s founder, the late Harold Dickson, is rumored to have discovered a devastating truth about his pregnant wife in 1923. Per the century-long gossip mill, Harold found out that his wife Anastasia was having an affair with a high-ranking member of a royal family in Europe and that their baby was not his. Somewhere in this library are letters that reveal the truth.”

Lexi looks around the room and flips on her flashlight. “Was his wife Anastasia really having an affair? Who was the high-ranking member of the royal family? Is Harold Dickson Jr. actually Harold’s son? No one has been able to find the letters between Anastasia and her mystery royal lover, but they’re rumored to be here, somewhere inside these walls,” she announces. “Tonight, your mission is to find those letters. Find the truth.”

Connor flips on his flashlight and steps up to take over for Lexi. “You have three hours, and you’re in luck because tonight, there is no entry fee. Since no one was able to find the golden football in Dragon Stadium last week, we’ve rolled that pot over to tonight.”

“What’s the pot at?” someone in the crowd asks.

“A lot,” Lexi answers with a grin. “I highly recommend you split off into groups. Three hours isn’t much time to hit every inch of this library by yourself.”

Ace, Blake, Kayla, Julia, Finn, and I group up without hesitation. We agreed a long time ago to work together, and after everything that happened over winter break, I petitioned to add Kayla to the Double C mix. We got in trouble with Lexi the first time we brought her, but now that Finn’s her uncle, there wasn’t much she could do.

The birthday boy guides us toward the staircase that leads to the basement of the library, ready to get started.

“Hold on.” Julia holds up a hand and stops walking. “Wouldn’t the basement be too obvious?” she questions, and Ace turns around to meet her eyes.

“You think you have a better place to start, Jules?”

She nods, but she doesn’t voice it. Instead, she gestures for all of us to lean in closer to her so the rest of the crowd doesn’t overhear. “I think we need to start in the attic.”

“There’s a fucking attic?” Ace asks, and she slaps her palm over his mouth.

“Yes, Ace. There’s an attic,” she whispers and stares at Ace with wide, knowing eyes. “But not a lot of people know about it, and I’m hoping to keep it that way.”

“How the hell do you know about it then, Jules?” Ace whispers, and Julia shrugs.

“A guy from my history class showed it to me a few weeks ago.”

“What guy?” Ace questions, and his voice is rising again.

“Just some guy I’m doing a group project with,” Julia answers, and she’s already heading toward a different part of the library, her eyes not realizing Ace looks like someone just shot his puppy.

“Jules, what’s his name?” Ace asks, picking up his pace to catch up with her.

But I don’t get to hear her answer because Finn grabs my hand and drags me toward the stacks. “Finn!” I whisper-yell, and he just grins at me over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I want to show you something.”

I giggle and follow his lead. As we’re walking, I find myself thinking about how far we’ve come over the past month and a half. Ever since he showed up at my dorm that one night, things have been different. Amazing, actually. The first week after we got back together, we spent a lot of time having real conversations and talking about the things we both had missed when we weren’t on speaking terms.

He told me everything that has been going on with his father. He told me about the Winslow family and what they’ve done for his mom and his siblings. He told me Reece is going to be transferring to Dickson next year. He told me what his reality was like when he was a kid living with an abusive drunk as a father.

And I told him what my life was like when my dad was still with my mom and what it’s been like for me since she showed up at that frat party. I even told him more about my sister Wren and my dad.

It feels like we’ve talked about everything, but seeing Ace in his birthday boy sash tonight has me realizing there is one thing I’ve never asked him. “Finn, when is your birthday?”

“November 15th.”

“November 15th?” A frown turns my lips into a crescent moon. “You mean I missed your birthday?”

“It’s no big deal.” He guides us through the rows and rows of books, and he doesn’t come to a stop until we’re so far from everyone else that I can no longer hear quiet chatter or see the glow of moving flashlights.

“It feels like a big deal,” I say, sadness evident in my voice. “I missed your birthday, and I didn’t even get you a present.”

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