Learning Curve

Saturday December 14th

Finn

Several pounding knocks to the door wake me up. With bleary eyes, I reach out toward my nightstand to check the time, and my swollen, still-bloodied knuckles hurt when I flex them to grab my phone. One tap to the screen and I see it’s only quarter to six. Way too fucking early when I didn’t go to sleep until four.

I lie back down, willing whoever is at the door to go away, but they just pound harder.

Ace groans in annoyance from his bed, and I’m on my feet, pulling a pair of discarded sweatpants over my boxer briefs and a T-shirt over my head.

I yank it open quickly, glancing back to Ace as he forces himself to sitting and then back to the man on the other side. “Are you Finn Hayes?” a man with a buzz cut in a Dickson Campus Police uniform asks.

I don’t bother with denying it. I had a feeling this was coming; I just hoped I’d get a little more sleep before it did. “Yeah. That’s me.”

“I’m Officer Walters,” he introduces himself and nods toward his partner. “This is Officer Marks.”

I hear a thud from behind me, and without even turning around, I know Ace is now standing at my back, wearing nothing but his boxers. “What’s going on, Officers?”

“Finnley Hayes, turn around, please, and put your hands behind your back. We have to take you into custody. Dane Matthews has pressed charges against you for assault,” Officer Walters states.

A deep sigh escapes my lungs, but I turn around. That fucking prick is so predictable.

“What?” Ace pushes, standing out of the way but not stepping back by any means. “What do you mean, take him into custody? Are you arresting him?”

“Dane claims Finn assaulted him at a party at the Delta Omega house last night, and an eyewitness substantiated his claim.”

“Who’s his witness?” Ace asks, crowding the door as the cops pull me outside.

“Nadine Jones,” Officer Marks says, affirming what we both already knew. It’s textbook.

“Fucking rich!” Ace exclaims loudly. “Did those assholes bother to tell you what they did?”

“Sir, you’re going to need to calm down,” Officer Marks tells Ace as they pull me away from the door, but Ace isn’t having any of it.

“Don’t say a fucking thing, Finn. Don’t answer any questions.” He’s already on the phone I didn’t know he had in his hand. He obviously grabbed it before coming to stand beside me. “Dad,” he says into the receiver. “Finn’s getting arrested.”

I comply as they guide me down the hall but stop halfway to ask a question. “Can I just check my phone real quick?”

Office Marks nods. “You have one minute.”

Ace is still on a call with his dad, giving him the rundown of what happened last night at a mile-a-minute pace, but when I walk back toward him, my hands behind my back in cuffs still, he jumps into action.

“What do you need?”

I nod toward my bed, where my phone is plugged into the charger. “I just want to check my messages.”

Ace holds up my phone in front of me to activate Face ID and then clicks open my message icon for me to scour it. The message I sent Scottie just before falling asleep is there, but so far, unanswered.

“You can bring your phone with you, if you want,” Officer Marks says, but Ace is quick to negate that idea.

“Leave your phone here, man. I’ll bring it up to you with bail money if I have to.” He looks at the cops as Office Walters takes me back out the door, the phone call with his dad still to his ear through it all. “Where are you taking him?”

“Since this occurred on campus, we’ve been instructed to bring him to the campus station, and Dean Kandinsky is meeting us there.”

“So, you’re not taking him straight to County?”

“Not yet. No.” Officer Marks shakes his head. “The dean feels strongly that he wants to have a conversation with all parties involved before we proceed further.”

“Finn, do you want me to call anyone for you?” Ace asks, and I shake my head.

I don’t want him calling anyone. “Keep this to yourself for now.”

“Don’t worry, Finn,” Ace agrees as both officers lead me down the hall once again. “I got your back, man.”

I know he does.

For the first time in my life, I know I have people I can count on.