Learning Curve

Finn

Gary drops us off right in front of the Delta Omega house on the way home from poker, where winter-break-happy students swarm every available part of the yard and front steps.

It’s a smart move by Ace, considering he would have had to stun-gun me to get out of our room had we gone back there first, but now that we’re here, I’m at least moderately okay with it.

The state of things with Scottie has gotten entirely out of hand, and after some self-reflection forced on me by the billionaires, it’d be so fucking pointless to leave things the way they are going into the new year. She was trying to help me and made a mistake. Fuck knows I’ve done a lot worse, and it’s time for the stubborn dick in me to let it all go.

A girl in a skimpy red dress runs down the stairs at the sight of Ace, barreling into his arms immediately, and my eyebrows draw together. Is there really a Scarlett? I thought Ace was bullshitting.

“Ace, you gotta get in here!” she orders, throwing a hand back toward the door as a stampede of people previously in the yard funnel through the door. My eyebrows draw together, but she keeps talking. “Something’s going down in one of the bedrooms!”

It’s only then that I notice the music has stopped too, the whole vibe of the house off.

Ace’s face mirrors mine as he has a similar realization, and he sets Scarlett away from himself gently. “Did you see Julia Brooks in there? Or Scottie Bardeaux?”

She nods. “Yeah, they were both in there, last I saw.”

Ace and I share a look, and I take off into the house. I hear him say, “Stay here, Scar,” behind me, but I’m through the door and shoving through the herd of people before I have a chance to hear anything else.

Something going down in one of the bedrooms is one of the most terrifying things I’ve heard in my life.

Blake’s voice booms over the din of chatter. “Get the fuck back!” My chest seizes, and I move through people without remorse, setting bodies out of the way with the bare minimum of care for their well-being and checking faces as I do. I don’t see Scottie or Julia anywhere, and white-hot panic makes my chest burn.

I spot Blake blocking a doorway, still shouting at people to get back, and I make a beeline over to him. I’m no longer even minimally careful as I maneuver through students to get to that doorway.

“Oh, come on, Scottie. You should look a little happier to see your mom.” I don’t even have to see him to know those words came from Dane’s mouth.

Laughter ensues, and the students outside the doorway are trying their hardest to get a look at whatever is happening in that room.

“Get the fuck back!” Blake shouts again, a vein popping at the center of his temple.

“Yo, Blake!” Ace yells, his voice at my back. Clearly, he took liberties with the crowd to catch up to me too. “What’s happening?”

Blake’s gaze jerks to me and Ace, his eyes wild and his jaw locked. He looks sad and fucking livid at the same time. My good-time, easygoing friend never looks like this. It does nothing for my sanity.

One by one, I pluck the rest of the bodies between us out of my way and into the wall and charge down the hall until I make it to Blake. He moves his body for me and Ace to scoot by and then blocks the space again, shoving the dude behind us with a hand at his throat. “I said, back the fuck up!”

Scottie is in the center of the room with Julia and Kayla, and their eyes are frantic as they try to keep her standing. A naked woman stumbles in front of her, trying to put on a pair of underwear, and a dude lies in bed with his hands behind his head. Dane’s and Nadine’s laughter provides a soundtrack to the whole gross scene.

“Come back to bed, Stephanie,” the naked guy says, a proud grin on his mouth. “We weren’t finished, baby. My dick is still hard.” As if the words aren’t enough, he moves one of his hands under the sheet to stroke himself.

“Scottie, honey,” the woman slurs, still struggling with her clothes. “I wants-ed to see you.”

“Yeah, Scottie. Your mom’s here for you. She just fucked a frat guy to kill some time,” Nadine comments, and the smile on her face is so vile it makes me sick to my stomach.

“Honeys, your boyfriend Dane told me that you wann to see me. I came here to see you,” the woman, who is apparently Scottie’s fucking mom, slurs.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Scottie shouts. “And I do not want to see you!” Her mom’s face strains to understand what she’s saying, but she’s too fucking lit to understand anything.

“What?” she questions, coming toward her and abandoning her attempts at the underwear. “I jus wann to see you, babs. Wanna see—”

“Shut up!” Scottie screams at the top of her lungs. “Just shut up!” Julia and Kayla pull her back from the vomit on the floor in front of her, and her mom slips in it, falling to a hip right in the mess. She looks around, stunned and confused.

Dane’s cackle follows immediately. “Aw, Scottie, don’t be mean to your mom. She didn’t even get to finish.”

I stride over to the pathetic fucker and grip his shirt with both hands, shoving him into the wall. I may not know the exact details of how this whole mess started, but I know for a fact that he’s behind it. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I shout into his face. “End this right now.”

“What am I doing?” Dane laughs. “Scottie’s mom is the alcoholic cougar who just fucked a college kid.”

I shove his back into the wall again and put a hand to his fucking throat to choke the life out of him, but Ace puts a hand to my shoulder.

“Finn,” he says, his voice edged with panic. “Stop.”

“No.” I shake my head. “No fucking way. I’m not going anywhere until I make sure this motherfucker chokes or bleeds out.”

“Finn,” he says my name again, putting force into the hand at my shoulder now. “Scottie needs you.”

I hold my hand at Dane’s throat but glance over my shoulder to see Julia and Kayla still struggling to get Scottie to stay on her feet. Sobs rack her body as her mom continues trying to talk to her from her puke-covered spot on the floor.

“My whole life, all you’ve done is ruin shit for me. That’s all you’ve done,” Scottie barely manages to choke out. “Why can’t you just leave me alone for good?”

She turns around to run, but she trips and falls over Kayla’s foot, splaying out on the floor right behind Dane.

I drop Dane to the floor, his legs crumpling like a house of cards, and spin toward Scottie as she gathers herself and jumps up again. Blake lets her through the door, and I chase after her, shoving anyone who gets in my way to the side.

It’s not over with Dane—not even close. But Scottie, right now, needs me more.