you she got rug burn?” I asked.
“No,” Luke said.
“Was she the one who took a tequila shot off your stomach?”
“No.”
“Was she the one who took eight pictures with you and then cried because she dropped her digital camera?”
“No, not that one,” Luke said. “I didn’t actually talk to her at the party.”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “She wasn’t busy arguing about Chris Brown songs, was she?”
“No,” said Luke.
“Phew.”
“She didn’t stay long,” Luke said. “She doesn’t really like parties. And she doesn’t like football, so I can’t get to her that way.”
“Well, what does she like?” I asked.
“Books,” Luke said glumly. “Wait!”
Jumping up from the desk, Luke knocked my chair over. He had his energy back. I felt the need to issue a tornado warning for the tristate area.
“You can help me!” Luke said. He literally jumped up and down. Our floorboards creaked in protest.
“Finn, you can help me! This girl likes books! You must know her!”
“How would I know her?” I asked.
“Oh, come on,” Luke said. “All you people who read know each other.”
“People who read books?” I said. “No, we don’t all know each other. But maybe I’ll start a Facebook group.”
“Finn, this is brilliant!” Luke was still pumped. “You can definitely help me out! She’s your kind of girl. She’s smart, she’s quiet, she’s terrible at kegstands….”
“One time,” I groaned.
“But you can help me!”
I shook my head. “I have my own girl problems, Luke.”
“You owe me,” Luke told me. “Come on, help me out! I’ve helped you with girls before.”
I scoffed. “You invited me to one party with Kate,” I said. “I got punched, and she left.”
“I’ve been helping you get girls all your life!” Luke wheedled.
“All my life?” I questioned. “Kate was my first girl!”
“Hey, what about…” Luke racked his brain. “Hey, what about, remember that librarian you liked when we were little?”
I feigned ignorance. “Librarian? I don’t remember.”
Luke rounded his hands out from his chest. The universal sign for “big boobs.”
“All right,” I admitted. “Yeah, what about her?”
“Remember that time you had a broken ankle and the fire alarm went off in the library and that librarian carried you out, all, like, wrapped in her arms?” Luke asked, with a surprisingly accurate memory. “She carried you out, man.”
“Yeah,” I admitted. I did remember. The librarian had picked me up and held me to her chest as we evacuated beneath the flashing fire alarm. I’d felt so safe and nonflammable between her breasts.
“So what’s that got to do with you?” I asked.
“I knew you liked her,” Luke said. “So I set that up.”
“You pulled the alarm?” I asked, shocked.
“No!” Luke protested. Then he grinned. “I set the fire.”
I laughed out loud, which I shouldn’t have, because setting a fire in a place full of paper is a dumbass thing to do. But Luke did it, and it didn’t end in disaster because he’s protected by all the good luck I didn’t inherit.
“Well, I guess I could tell you some things to read.” I shrugged. “Do you know what kind of books this girl likes?”
“Um…” Luke looked away. I’d never seen him look embarrassed or awkward before. Oh, wow, finally—there was the family resemblance.
“She likes werewolf books,” he mumbled sketchily.
“Wait, Luke,” I began suspiciously. “You hate beards. They itch inside your football helmet. And there’s no way you want people to know you’re a redhead. You look like a leprechaun.”
“Yeah, well…” Luke continued mumbling.
“I know what you’re doing!” I crowed in triumph. “You’re—”
“All right!” Luke said. “All right! I know! I’m kind of—”
“YOU’RE BECOMING A WEREWOLF!” I yelled. Then I cracked up in hysterical laughter.
“I’m not becoming a werewolf,” Luke corrected me. For once, he cared about semantics. “I’m just… rocking a werewolf look. I mean, I’m not gonna bite anyone.”
“You’re so copying me!” I protested. “I became a vampire, and I didn’t bite anyone!”
I knocked Luke on the shoulder, which was dumb, because he felt pretty much like a concrete wall.
“I’m not copying you!” Luke said. “A werewolf is totally different than a vampire! You’re creepy all the time. Mine is just, like, a monthly thing….”
“Like PMS?” I suggested.
“Shut up!”
I laughed at Luke, and I walked away, saying, “Man. You’ve always wanted to be just like me.”
That Sunday, I was supposed to go running with Jason Burke in preparation for our first winter track practice on Monday. It didn’t happen. Jason had a hook-up-related injury. While he was getting with Kayla Bateman at a party that weekend, she climbed on top of him and he got crushed by her