Learning Curve

Friday, November 15th

Finn

“I told you I’m not going anywhere.”

“Listen, Finn, you’ve been a mope-oppotamus for the last two weeks, and I’m done with it. I’ve never had a wingman like you, and I refuse to let you fall through the cracks.”

“You’ve got Blake.”

“He’s busy with football and shit. And he’s no Finnley Hayes, do you hear me?”

I roll my eyes and go back to changing the channel on the TV. Ace steps right in front of me to block my view.

“Get up, Finn. We’re going out.” I ignore him, so he waves his hands in front of my face. “It’s not here at Dickson, so you don’t have to worry about running into pretty, doe-eyed cheerleaders or anything, okay? My parents are having a Halloween thing with some of their friends, and they’ve insisted I attend. As such, you will be attending with me.”

“A Halloween thing?” Nausea rolls my stomach immediately. “No way.”

“Trust me, buddy, with the way you’ve been looking for the last little bit, it’s not like you need a costume or anything. You look scary enough as it is.” Ace misinterprets the situation entirely. “But my parents were in Cabo at the end of last month, and my mom’s upset they didn’t get to have their normal party. Now, get up, get dressed, put on some DO for your BO, and let’s roll. Gary’s downstairs with the car already.”

I sigh deeply and close my phone out of the text messages I’ve been staring at for the last hour. I’m not going to do anything with them anyway.

Scottie: I’m so genuinely sorry for invading your privacy, Finn. I realize you may never forgive me, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop caring about you.

Scottie: I know you think you know me and my whole story, but you don’t. You’d be surprised how much we have in common.

I think I have a good enough bead on Scottie Bardeaux to know that she is truly sorry. But she played me—gave me her fucking virginity—knowing damn well what she’d done, and I can’t seem to find a way to get over it.

I thought she trusted me…valued me. That the intimacy between us was a meaningful milestone for both us as a couple and me as a human being. Not some fucking cover-up for a mistake she made.

Not to mention the fact that I wasted days of my life thinking Ty Winslow had seen the damn thing when he hadn’t. I don’t know what I’m supposed to fucking do now. Leave it again? I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore or what my plan is. I wish it would all just go away.

I shake my head, fucking annoyed all over as I get up and Ace pushes me toward the bathroom, a fucking clown grin on his face.

I run a quick brush through my hair and do some oral hygiene before throwing on a long-sleeved shirt and some jeans and calling it a day. When I come out of the bathroom, Ace’s smile still stretches from ear to ear.

“Wow, honey. You’re like a new man. See, doesn’t that feel good?” I give him the finger, and his smile grows. “And you’re being playful. Oh, baby, I think you’re back.”

“Shut up. Let’s just go if we’re going.”

“I love when you get bossy with me. Keep it up.”

Despite myself, I’m almost smiling by the time we make it to the car downstairs. Ace’s raw magnetism is inescapable, and, I’ll give it to him, he knows when to avoid a subject entirely. He hasn’t asked what happened on Halloween at all, and he acts as though he intends to keep it that way.

My phone pings in my pocket again as I jump into the back seat of the Escalade and Ace gives Gary the go-ahead to head out. The glutton for punishment in me is hoping it’s Scottie. The realist in me knows it’s for the best if it’s not.

Willow: Happy birthday, Finney! Thanks for being the best big brother in the world!

I laugh at myself a little as I read it. I’ve been so lodged in the dumps of despair, I didn’t even realize it was my own birthday.

“What’s up, dude? What’s funny?”

I briefly consider telling Ace the joke but decide against it pretty quickly. No doubt he’ll make a big fucking deal out of it, and nineteen doesn’t feel so much worth celebrating at the moment.

I shake my head. “It’s nothing. Just my sister.” He jerks up his chin, and I change the subject. “Where’s Julia?”

“Oh shit!” he cries, his eyes widening. “I forgot to wait for her!” He only pauses for a second before winking at me. “Just kidding. She was getting her hair done or some shit. We’re picking her up on the way.”

I suck my lips into my mouth and nod. For the first time since he twisted my arm into doing this stupid thing, I realize he’s not wearing a costume either. After how seriously he took his snake charmer getup for the Alpha Pi party, I’m shocked he isn’t dressed to the gills. “Hey, why are you in a suit? I know I’m not into playing dress-up, but you are.”

He tugs on the lapels of his suit jacket. “What? You don’t think I look like a sexy beast today, Finnley?” I roll my eyes, and he laughs. “All right, all right, you caught me. It’s not actually a Halloween thing.”

I throw both my hands up and scowl. “Then what the fuck are you dragging me to?”

“It’s a surprise party for Julia. Her birthday is at the beginning of December, but her mom is using my parents’ normal Halloween thing as an excuse. I just didn’t want to chance you forgetting to be cool with all your brooding and sulking and shit and spoiling it.”

I cross my arms over my chest, and he holds up his hands in defense.

“I can see now that was a big mistake because you’d never be uncool because you’re the ultimate cool dude. So that’s my bad.” I sigh, but he keeps chattering. “Anyway, we’ll be at the salon soon, so let’s ixnay on the irthdaybay talk.”

I give a thumbs-up. “No worries, dude.” I won’t be talking about any irthdaybays, mine included.