A Book Nerd's Guide to Falling in Love

Chapter 22: Magic was Finding its Way

I thought sniffing books was euphoria. Well, it was until Finn confessed. Then it was a whole new level of high.

He said he liked me. He liked me!

I couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't sleep for two nights over the weekend because we kept texting each other until dawn, talking about random stuff, learning what we had in common—our appreciation for Victorian-era movies, our insatiable craving for pancakes, and our fondness for the rainy season.

He loved the rainy season because he liked playing soccer in the rain. I loved it because it brought the most cozy time for reading books.

We talked and chatted so much more than we ever had in the last seven years that we had known each other.

The bliss made me want to do something for him because I liked him too. So, when Monday came, I decided to give him his original birthday gift.

I pulled the book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain from my bookshelf. The urge to press my nose to its edge and inhale the addictive scent came, but I held it in.

This is for Finn, not for me, I thought as I wrapped it in a Merry Christmas gift paper, which was still the only wrapper I had.

I still couldn't believe Finn Johnson liked me. He was out of my league, and I kept asking myself, why me? What did he see in me? What did I do to make him like me?

I was a nerd—a quiet shadow in school. I was an in-between—one who didn't belong to either color or one who belonged to both. Confused.

Then there was Lotty. I had assumed she and Finn had a thing, but I was proven wrong. At least I knew now how Finn felt about her, but there was still the matter of how she felt about him.

When I said yes to Finn about dating, I was more feeling than thinking, but now that things were sinking in, the need to tell Lotty became unavoidable.

As soon as I got to school and entered the student-filled noisy halls of Littleton High School, my eyes searched for Finn so I could give him his gift. I stopped by his locker, but he wasn't there.

I checked the time on my phone. It was 8:15 a.m.—still plenty of time before the first period. Hoping to receive a message from him, I checked the top of my screen but there were no new notifications.

Pocketing my phone, I headed to my locker. Maybe Finn was waiting there. But I first passed by Lotty's where I found him talking to her.

They stood close to each other, whispering lips into ears as if they didn't want the entire school to hear their discussion, as if they had a secret to hide.

Taking a deep breath and pushing down the ugly jealousy that threatened to rise in my throat, I walked up to them.

Lotty noticed me first. She stepped back from Finn and smiled.

"Hey, Elsy," she said, waving. "I didn't see you this weekend."

Finn turned, his face turning into a brilliant smile.

My cheeks burned at the way he gazed at me. Lotty didn't see me over the weekend because I was with him for the whole Saturday and we'd been texting each other for all of Sunday. "I was finishing a book I was reading." I didn't mean to lie, especially in front of Finn.

"What book is that?" Lotty asked.

"Uhm... This new fantasy novel I picked up from the Farmer's Market. The Shadow Desert by Althea Basilio," I said before glancing at Finn to smile at him. It wasn't an entire lie. I read the book a little, then got distracted by his messages.