Page 81 of Learning Curve

He pushes past me, and my heart cracks. “Finn, wait!”

“No, Scottie. If you need companionship that bad, why don’t you just go call Duke’s quarterback?”

Holy hell, he saw it. I can’t believe he saw it. “I don’t want that stupid quarterback who gave me the football! I want you! Can’t you see that?”

“I want a lot of things too, princess. But reality check, in real life, you don’t get them.”

Hurt burrows deep inside my chest and stays there, effectively evicting the very last shred of my hope. Finn isn’t going to forgive me for this. Not ever.

“You know what’s crazy, Finn?” I ask. “I know that everything you’re saying right now, you don’t mean. I know that it’s all bullshit. You know how I know that? Because I know what your eyes look like when you’re telling me the truth.”

His jaw grinds as he avoids my eyes, but I carry on. “One day, you’re going to realize what you’re giving up, but when you do, I’m going to be gone. Because from here on out, I’m going to make sure I stay as far away from you and your self-destruction button as I possibly can. How about that?” I laugh, but there’s absolutely no humor there. “Looks like you finally got what you wanted. I’m leaving you alone.”

I turn and run the path we used to get here, and I don’t look back.

Finn Hayes and I are officially done.

Thursday, December 12th

Finn

English class is pretty full when I arrive for our midterm exam, and an excitement about winter break is in the air. I make a point not to sit beside Ace, who’s been pestering me for the last two days about going to play poker at his parents’ house tomorrow night, and find a seat on the left side of the room instead. I don’t need him yapping at me while I’m trying to look through my notes one last time.

I open my backpack and pull out my notebook, but I don’t even make it through one paragraph of notes before my phone goes off in my pocket.

Ace: Cute of you to think you can avoid me in such a technological age, Finnley. Listen, do you want to be in charge of snacks or drinks for poker night tomorrow?

The urge to ignore him is overwhelming, but I can see by the way he’s staring me down from across the room that if I fuck around, I’m going to find out. I sigh and type out a message.

Me: Can we discuss crudites AFTER the exam? Maybe? Just maybe?

Ace: So, you’re coming?? Do I have this as your promise?

Me: Yes, dude. Whatever. I’ll come to poker and bring juice boxes or whatever the fuck you want if you just let me concentrate on studying right now.

I wait five full seconds in anticipation, satisfaction taking over when my phone doesn’t buzz again. When I glance up at Ace one last time, he’s waving a blank piece of paper in the air like a white flag.

I laugh. The motherfucker is so ridiculous. Ever since he won the Double C Texas Hold’em event three weeks ago, all he’s wanted to do is play poker.

It’s annoying as fuck, but truthfully, I’m not against going to his parents’ place to hang out for the evening. His parents are a hell of a lot better than mine, and it’ll give me something to do with my time on winter break rather than going home.

I look back to my notebook to read through some more notes, but Professor Winslow claps at the front of the room to get our attention, starting class ten insignificant seconds later.

I guess I know what I know at this point, and the exam will be whatever it is. I sigh again and shut my notebook as Professor Winslow starts to talk.

“Today is the day,” he announces with a big-ass smile on his face. “Your English Lit midterm. I sure hope you studied because I didn’t hold back when I had Doug help me create the questions. You think they’ll pass?” He looks over at TA Doug, and Doug grins.

“I don’t know, Professor. It’s a mighty hard exam.”

My brother—who still doesn’t know he’s my brother—laughs and rests his hip on the corner of his desk. He eyes the room for a long moment and then crosses his arms over his chest. There’s still a huge part of me that resents him, but I’d be lying if I said it’s as big as when I started this year. Meeting his sister—hell, my sister—Winnie broke down a truth barrier inside me I didn’t even know existed.

They got the easy end of the deal, sure, but they didn’t get it as the result of a conscious choice. They were abandoned.

“You know, my wife and my daughter are huge fans of Christmas. I’m talking, they’ve got my ass on a ladder stringing up lights and baking enough cookies to get diabetes kind of fans. And I don’t know, I’m starting to wonder if all of their Christmas spirit has seeped into my pores or something…”

He pauses, and a grin stretches across his lips. “I’m feeling really generous today, and I’m thinking that, maybe, you guys don’t need to take a midterm…”

“Yes!” one dude yells from the back. “For the love of everything, please!”

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