Learning Curve

Finn

Bodies sway at the entrance of the Gyger Tunnel underneath the football field. A pulsing vibe thickens the air, and Lexi Winslow stands at the front of the group with her sidekick Connor and a couple other nondescript students wearing long navy-blue robes like they’re members of some kind of cult or the clergy collecting money from people.

There’s a door behind them and a vent cover above it. Unlike the last meetup, there’s no free betting going on—just a steady filing of bodies into the small space, handing over a set dollar amount when they’re told. The robes make a permanent marker scribble on their hand to keep track of who’s paid.

I glance down at my phone and watch as the time changes from 10:14 to 10:15. Lexi’s booming voice over the crowd is immediate, and the din quiets.

“Welcome back, boys and girls, for another exciting event.”

Ace looks between Lexi and the back of the crowd frantically, so I raise my eyebrows at him in question. “Julia’s late.”

“Why didn’t she just come with us?” I ask. My question is answered before he even speaks, with just a look at his puppy dog face.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. But they’re friends now, so Scottie is with her.”

I hate myself for it, but I start looking to the back of the crowd too. Blake keeps staring at the supposed woman of his dreams as she continues to talk in front of us.

“Tonight’s event has a flat fee of fifty dollars per person, and the winner will take the pot—minus some house fees, of course. But it’s not for the weak, so consider your balls carefully before agreeing to participate.”

Ace must spot Julia and Scottie, because one second, he’s beside me and Blake, and the next, he’s shoving people out of the way behind us in a straight line until he makes it to them. I glance at them as he pulls them through the crush back toward us, but when they get close, I force myself to concentrate on…well, I guess in some fucked-up way, my niece, Lexi Winslow.

“Legend and lore speak of a labyrinth of tunnels that scale the entire campus of the university in a complicated maze of darkness. But we’re here to tell you, they’re not just fable. They’re fact. Only the brave will make it to the other side.” She turns to her left, ushering Connor forward, and he takes over.

“Behind us, through this vent, is the start of a maze of tunnels in scale and size you can’t imagine. They sweep the entirety of campus, but their paths are far from direct. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, starts here, and ends at the tunnels’ end under the Abrams Building on the far side of campus.”

“You will get lost,” Lexi states unequivocally. “In fact, some of you may be lost for days, with no one to help you find your way out. When I say this is a risk, I don’t mean it lightly. You can work as an individual or as a group, but the winnings are the same. If you choose to work together, you win or lose together.”

Ace shoves in next to me, pulling Julia and Scottie in front of us. Julia falls into place naturally in front of him, leaving Scottie with nowhere to stand but directly in front of me. She faces forward pointedly, and I grind my jaw in response. I know it’s my fault, but I fucking hate that she hates me.

“If you panic, don’t come crying to us. You either have the guts to do it, or you don’t.”

Ace, Blake, and I look at one another and nod, and, surprisingly, so do the girls. Ace notices at the same time I do. “You don’t actually think you’re doing this, do you, Lia?”

“Of course I am.”

He shakes his head. “No way.”

“Are you doing it?”

“Well, yeah.” She narrows her eyes, and he puts his hands up defensively. “This isn’t sexist, this is protective.”

“Which is fucking sexist!”

“We’ll still split the money with you,” I add as a note of good faith, which, unfortunately, really pokes the Scottie bear in front of me.

“Like that makes it better?” she counters, but her gaze never meets mine.

Blake bravely wades in, though I’m not sure why. He could have held on to the safety of being a bystander pretty easily. “Of course it makes it better. You get the money, and you don’t have to do anything.”

“We’re doing it,” Julia says resolutely. “Scottie and I will be our own team.”

“What? Fuck no,” Ace counters again. “No way. If you’re doing it, you’re doing it with us.”

Julia smiles, and Scottie keeps avoiding my eyes. Blake nudges me. “Looks like that whole discussion really came full circle.”

Someone behind me shoves hard as Connor opens the vent and starts lifting participants inside, and I grab Scottie’s hips to steady her as we both lurch forward. As soon as we’re righted and she pulls out of my grip, I turn around and shove the person directly behind me, even though I don’t know if it was their fault or not. Evidently, the kid recognizes me from fight night because he backs up and takes a few of his friends with him, apology in his eyes. It’s only then that I notice Dane at the back of the room with a group of guys I don’t recognize. He’s not looking at me or even in this direction, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he were the actual culprit of the shove.

Ace pulls my elbow and turns me around, and we make our way to the front as a group, handing over our money to a guy with jet-black hair when prompted and getting our hands marked.

“At least half of the people who came here tonight left through the door they came in…but don’t worry, we still got their money for the pot,” Lexi tells people as they step up to the vent to climb inside.

“I love her so much,” Blake whispers so close to my ear, I have to wipe off some of his saliva.

“Down, boy,” I comment, to which he smiles.

I study Lexi closely as she checks all of our hands and look for any sort of family resemblance. She’s light to my dark, but I feel like there might be something there in the cheekbones.

I’m so fucking stupid for getting so involved with all these people.

“Really out here risking people’s lives tonight, huh, Lex?” Ace asks her directly, a small smile playing with the seriousness of his words. “Not even supplying bottles of water for people who might get trapped for days.”

She rolls her eyes and whispers, “There are exits all over the tunnel network. They might not be the right exit, but they’re exits. If people aren’t smart enough to take them, that’s not on me.”

It’s an amazingly cutthroat attitude, but coming from a Winslow, I can’t say I’m surprised. They’re all in a privileged, self-serving bubble.

“Here,” Julia says to Scottie and hands her a folded-up paper towel. “Just in case your nose starts bleeding again.”

My eyes shoot to Scottie’s face, searching it for evidence of an injury, and I immediately see faint bruises under her eyes. “What happened?” I ask, but she doesn’t give me a response. Instead, she just takes the paper towel from Julia’s outstretched hand and puts it in her pocket.

My chest tightens with irritation. I swear, if that fuckhead Dane did something to her, I will kill him.

“Scottie?” I step directly in front of her and gently slide my hand under her chin so she has to meet my eyes. “What happened? Who did this?”

“Tonya’s elbow.” She rolls her eyes at me and steps back so my hand falls away from her face. “It was an accident in practice, so you can relax.”

“Don’t worry, Finn,” Julia chimes in. “Scottie and I didn’t get into any brawls on our way here. Though, she did get some awful texts.”

“Julia!” Scottie snaps, annoyed.

“What awful texts?” Ace asks before I can.

“It’s some unknown number that keeps texting Scottie really nasty things,” Julia offers, making Scottie frown even harder at her. Julia is unfazed. “Sorry, girl, but I still think you should show campus police. Or, at least, make sure these big dudes have your back.”

Scottie sighs. “This really isn’t any of you guys’ business. I can handle it.”

“Show me the texts,” I demand as kindly as I can manage.

“No.”

“Scottie, let me see the texts.”

“It’s no big deal,” she says, and she makes a point to walk around me. “Now, come on, we need to get moving if we want to get through this maze before sunrise.”

She might consider this dropped, but I sure as fuck don’t.

Our group follows her lead, and when she steps up to the vent, I make a basket with my hands and nod for Scottie to step in it with her foot. She looks at my hands like they’re snakes.

“Look, you’re not getting up there on your own, so you might as well take the boost.”

“Fine. I’ll let you help me on one condition.”

“And what’s that?”

“You tell me where you went when you crawled out of bed without saying goodbye.”