Chapter 4

I told Jessica everything. I felt a little ridiculous admitting that I had developed a crush on the guy across the hall. I’m twenty-five years old. A grown woman gossiping about unrequited feelings for someone that would drop me on my face and not feel bad about it.

I told her how humiliated I felt when my entire class saw it. Especially considering that I was already feeling ostracized next to all my younger peers. I felt so small. It was really getting to me.

On the way back to our dorm, Jessica tried her best to make me feel better. “Hey, I’m sure it’s a bigger deal to you than it is to anyone else that saw it. People move on to the next thing pretty quickly.”

I knew it was absurd to hang on so tight. I didn’t know why I couldn’t just let it go.

“What’s the big deal about this guy anyways? We see plenty of jerks every single day. Catcallers, sexist professors, even that random guy that seems to know so much more than I do about my own body. Why is Rowan such a big deal?” Jessica asked.

I thought about my answer. Then I realized. “When I left Texas, I swore that I wouldn’t let anyone make me feel that small again. And now here I am, feeling small. Insignificant. It’s not just because he’s a jerk, Jessica.”

Jessica paused. Understanding washed across her face. “Why don’t you go confront him then? Get some closure before never seeing his stupid face ever again?”

I scoffed. “Yeah, right. I don’t even know the man. How am I supposed to know where he’s going to be anyways?”

“I know,” Jessica said nonchalantly.

My eyes shot up to her. “I’m not going to his house, Jessica.”

Jessica laughed. “He lives in an apartment, but I wasn’t going to suggest that.” I furrowed my eyebrows at her, and she put her hands up in defense. “Calm down. James is his roommate. I didn’t even go inside.”

“Okay? Then what was your suggestion?”

“Two words: Trivia Night!” Jessica declared, clapping her hands together.

I stared at her dumbfounded. “I never thought you were crazy before, but now you have convinced me that you’re f*cking insane.”

Jessica held her hands up in defense. “Hear me out. The guy is a history buff. He’s getting his master’s in that boring subject, and I happen to know that trivia night is extra credit on his midterm. You know, because it’s being hosted by his professor.”

I remain quiet, narrowing my eyes. “Yeah. I’m not going to that.” I turn, about to walk away, but she grabs my arm.

“Think about how satisfying it will be when you kick his a*s at the subject he’s majoring in. Your first specialty was teaching history to little eight-year-olds. Your nose was always buried in some nonfiction encyclopedia.”

I had to admit that trivia night did sound very intriguing, and I was just petty enough to do it. Jessica could tell that I was slowly getting convinced.

“And there’s going to be drinks, so I’ll be there too. Tomorrow night?”

I tried really hard not to smile. “Fine.”

*****

The last thing I expected was for it to be crowded. It’s a history trivia night for crying out loud, but it seems like the booze and food was enough to draw more than just Jessica. It looked like it was catered by the more advanced culinary students too.

I began to have second thoughts.

This was stupid, right? Not too late to cut and run? I glanced down at my button and dry erase board because Jessica had so graciously already signed me up before I got here. Definitely too late to run now. Might as well take a seat. Jessica was sitting at the bar with James, which meant that Rowan was probably already here.

“Excuse me,” a gravelly voice said from next to me as he nudged his way past. He was carrying a button and a dry erase board as well.

I look up and look Rowan directly in the eyes. “So, you do have manners? Shocking.”

That seemed to take him off guard for a moment and that confused look on his face almost made this who excursion worth it. Oh, but I wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot. I took a seat next to a bunch of people I hadn’t met before. Normally, I wouldn’t have had the courage to sit next to a group I didn’t know, but Rowan lit a fire under me.

I couldn’t help but watch him take a seat a table away from me. His eyes didn’t leave me until his professor took the stage and the trivia night began.

“Welcome everyone to our history trivia night! Quite the turnout today. Can I get all participants to this front table? We have twelve people signed up,” the history professor hummed and looked over the names.

I hesitantly walked up to the long table towards the front. I looked back and saw Jessica giving me a thumbs up. Rowan seemed like he couldn’t get far enough from me and sat on the far end.

“As my students know, if you participate you get fifteen points on your midterm, twenty-five if you win. So, we have some pretty high stakes.” The professor seemed surprised for a moment and looked right at me. “You’re not in my class.”

I smiled sheepishly, “No, just a history buff.”

The professor seemed content with that answer. “Well, welcome! Rules are that all questions get answered. One wrong answer and you’re out. Then we go to sudden death with the final two participants. Is everyone ready?

I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I prepare my dry erase board in front of me. I glance over at Rowan, who is still eyeing me from the end of the table.

“First question: How many years did the 100 years’ war last?”

I wrote down my answer quickly and slapped my hand down on my button before anyone else. “116 years!” I said, turning my board around to show my answer.

“Woo! That’s my girl!” I heard Jessica yell from across the room.

“Correct!” the professor said.

The first question knocked out a few students, but they didn’t seem too heartbroken as they went over to the bar and catering station. Rowan is still sitting on the other end of the table.

“Second question: Which mountaineer and his Sherpa became the first men to conquer Mount Everest?”

I scribbled my answer as another student rang in their buzzer. I flashed my answer: Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.”

“Third question: How did Alexander the Great solve the puzzle of the Gordion knot?”

I snickered under my breath, because I thought that tidbit of history was funny. True case of work smarter, not harder. I rang in my answer, “He cut it with his sword.”

“Correct!”

Ten more questions passed, and Rowan was still in the game, as was I. Some students would get knocked out, but it seemed like most of the audience was invested. There were two other students still in the game.

“Would the remaining contestants sit closer together?” the professor asked. I scooted down and now there were only two people between Rowan and me. I could see him grip the marker tighter in his fist. I look back and Jessica is still cheering me on. James is next to her, but he doesn’t share her smile, instead, he’s looking intently at Rowan.

I look back at Rowan and he’s leaning heavily on his arm toward me, covering his face partially. Then, he seemed like he relaxed for a moment, bringing his hand down and loosening his shoulders.

“Question fourteen: Which Greek historian is known as the father of history?”

I swore I heard Rowan chuckle as he rang in his answer, “Herodotus.”

The answer matched mine, but that throaty noise he made caused my heart to beat a little faster. That really look me off guard, but I cleared my throat and focused. Eyes on the prize.

“Question fifteen: Who created the first successful printing press?”

“Johannes Gutenburg,” I answered quickly.

“Question sixteen: How long did it take Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, to orbit Earth?”

One of the students in between Rowan and me rang in their answer first. “90 minutes!”

I glanced at my board, which said a different answer, and I worried that I was wrong. I could have sworn it was eighty-six minutes.

“Wrong,” the professor said. “The answer is eighty-six minutes!”

Both of the middle students got knocked out and the professor urged both Rowan and me to scoot closer together.

“And now sudden death!” the professor declared.

Rowan was now right next to me, and I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my face. It wasn’t a cold stare, but it gave me shivers, nonetheless.

“Final question: What does the ‘D’ stand for in D-Day?”

I was the first to click my button. “It stands for deliverance.”

The professor pauses. “That is incorrect. Rowan, what is your answer?”

My heart skips a beat. A small smirk pulls on Rowan’s lips as he answers. “It doesn’t stand for anything.”

“That is correct! Congrats, you get the extra credit. Good effort for Astrid here who beat out most of my students.”

The bar erupts in applause. I look down for a moment, my cheeks reddening in embarrassment. What was I thinking doing trivia next to someone getting a masters in the subject? I look back up and Rowan is still looking at me. His chin is resting on his hand. His eyes are brighter than I was used to seeing them.

“What?” I ask.

He leans back and shrugs. “Nothing, I’m just surprised. You don’t seem like a history buff.”

“Well, I know a thing or two,” I reply sheepishly.

He actually laughs and stands up. The noise sounds so unusual coming from him, but I can’t help but want to hear it again. “Yeah, I can see that.” He pauses before leaving and says, “By the way, I wanted to apologize for the other day.”

“The library or dropping me in the hallway?” I shoot back.

“I guess, both.”

Our eyes are locked together, and I clear my throat and draw my lower lip into my mouth and chew on it for a moment. “Then, I guess, I’ll let it go.”

Rowan smirks and pushes his chair back under the table. “See you around, Astrid.”

“Okay,” I reply. All other words seem to escape me for a moment.

“Okay,” he agrees, looking at me one more time before joining James.

Jessica approaches me and nudges me a few times in congratulations. She follows my gaze to Rowan who is just now leaving the bar. “I’m sorry, was that flirting that I just saw?”

Heat rushed up to my face and I said, “No, absolutely not!”

Jessica laughed. “Yeah, right. Let’s get out of here, runner up!”