FOURTEEN Jessie

FOURTEEN

Jessie

Jessie felt like they were missing something. They had been in the study room for the last couple of hours trying to find out everything they could about the missing-person reports that were filed in 1972. She had hoped the letters would be a little bit more transparent about the things they did or where they were or the people they knew. But instead, there were only tiny clues that required internet searches and lots of archive reading.

Ravi propped his feet on the table and pulled his hood over his head. "Don't you think we're trying a little too hard to figure out what they were doing instead of where they went?"

"We don't want to miss important details," Jessie said. "This is how we understand them, right?"

"I guess so. But, Jessie, what if all of this is just a stack of letters and it doesn't tell us much more than the fact that two people fell in love?"

Jessie felt a pang in her chest. "Then I would be really sad that I couldn't find out what happened to Divya."

Ravi dropped his feet to the floor and then rounded the table. The closer he came, the harder it was for her to control her fidgeting. She worried the dry erase marker between her fingers, moving it back and forth.

"You have to remember," he said quietly as he leaned against the table facing the whiteboard with her. "If you make this about anything more than uncovering a story, you may just be disappointed, right? We've found her name. We can use that for our paper."

Jessie looked down at the open book, and the stack of neatly folded letters that they had put to the side after reading and dissecting. There weren't that many to go, and she couldn't help but feel like she was losing a little faith. Maybe these were only the letters that Christian left behind? He might have taken the ones that meant the most to him since he was missing, too.

Jessie's arm bumped against Ravi's as she looked at the mess of notes on the whiteboard.

"I understand if you don't want to do this anymore," she said quietly.

"I'm no quitter," he said. He nudged her with his elbow. "Come on, maybe we should stop for the day and switch to doing some homework."

"I guess you're right," Jessie said. "I have a big physics exam next week, and I feel like even though I'm prepped for it, I need to keep my head in the game."

There was that crooked smile again. "I don't think you have to sweat your exams too much. I bet your parents would be proud of whatever you got."

"I know, but I need to keep my scholarship."

"Hey," Ravi said. She turned around to look at him. "I know I already said it, but I'm going to say it again. Thanks for inviting me to brunch last weekend. Your parents are great."

"They are," Jessie said. "They worked really hard to give me a great life." Jessie picked up her phone and took a picture of the whiteboard. She thought about his parents and remembered that Ravi said he never felt supported by them. That he was the stereotype for filthy-rich kids. Raised by staff and shown affection only by people who were paid to do it. She turned to look at him.

"Can I ask you a question? Do your parents care about your grades? I mean, it's no secret that they expect you to join the family company after you graduate."

Ravi was shaking his head before she finished. "I think as long as I graduate, they don't care. But getting good grades matters to me. Just don't tell people I said that. I'd like to keep some things secret."

Jessie made a motion of zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key. Then she picked up the board eraser. "But you do get good grades."

He shrugged.

"Ravi ..."

He held up his hands. "I get good grades because it's something I can control. They're a reflection of my own efforts. The TAs who review my tests don't care about my parents. Most of them don't even know who they are. So yeah, I get good grades because that's something that I can do for myself."

If she hadn't come to like him since their first encounter, she would have liked him now. Jessie respected his determination. It was something that she tried so hard to cultivate in her soul, so she recognized it in someone else.

"Okay," she said as she turned to wipe down their notes on the board.

She was about to erase the column about Divya's lover, Christian, when Ravi placed a hand on her wrist.

"What is it?" she asked. He was close enough that she could smell the rich, clean scent of his cologne.

"You know the information we pulled from the yearbook archives? Do we have a list of last names from the Christians who were around at that time?" Ravi asked.

Jessie sat down and turned her laptop so that Ravi could see the screen, then pulled up an Excel spreadsheet where she had been logging details. "I'm sure it's here somewhere."

They began to scan the spreadsheet, heads tilted close together, knees touching. Jessie's heart began to pound as they scrolled to the end of the data. Was there something here that they missed?

"What are you looking for?"

Ravi tapped the screen, pointing to the column next to the names. "I was thinking about grades and then remembered the part of the story that one of the lovers was related to someone who worked for the university. I wonder if any of the last names here would show up in the emeritus database?"

"I guess we could try," Jessie said. "But there is a chance that there is no correlation, either. Parts of the legend may just have been made up because it sounds better when people are trying to scare each other, telling stories at parties."

Before Ravi could reply, his phone began to buzz on the opposite side of the table. He made a grab for it and looked at the screen. "That's strange. She usually doesn't call ..."

Jessie started to stand. "Do you want me to—"

Ravi rested a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down in her seat. He answered.

"Hi, Sahdna, what's up?"

There was a sound of muffled conversation from the other end, most of it in Hindi. She could pick up a couple of words, but Sahdna spoke way too fast. Then Ravi's body went tense, and his hands fisted until his knuckles whitened.

"What?"Ravi said. "How did they find out?"

There was another pause, more muffled conversation; then Ravi began to swear. "I don't want them to know where I am. They'll be down here every day if they find us."

Another pause. Jessie could see the clenching of his jaw from across the table.

"Yeah, we'll go. Thanks. And tell Tanvi I said thank you, too."

The mention of her roommate made Jessie wary, and she whipped around to look at him. "What?"

He said a quick goodbye before he hung up the phone. "Sahdna is with Tanvi," he replied.

"That's ... okay. I mean, other than the fact that Tanvi didn't tell me that she's hanging out with Sahdna, what does that have to do with you?" Her anxiety surged, like a car jack lifting the rear end of a sedan.

He ran his fingers through his hair, accidentally knocking off his hat, which fell to the floor. "She was giving me a heads-up," he said, putting his hat firmly back on his head. He tugged the visor low to shadow his face. "Vik and Deep called her, asking if she knew where I was. They're on their way to the library, looking for me for some bro intervention or something. She mentioned it to Tanvi, who was with her at the time. Tanvi said that we're both here together, and we may want to leave before they show up."

"Okay," Jessie said. She started packing her things into her backpack. If his friends were coming to the library, she didn't want to be there, either, in case they found her and interrogated her about Ravi's whereabouts. Especially when they knew they shared a study room. "I'm going to get out of here, too."

He pulled up his hood and slung his designer backpack over his shoulder. His eyes briefly flickered down toward her bag from high school, a ratty gray Jansport that struggled to contain all her textbooks. "Actually," he said. "I have a favor to ask. Come with me back to my condo."

"What?"

"Come with me," he said again. "I think we're onto something with Christian's last name, and I don't want to wait to read the next letter. I feel safe in my condo, and I know we won't be disturbed by my friends."

"Why don't we just wait until your friends go away?"

"Who knows when that'll be?" He checked his wristwatch again. "Come on. Knowing Deep and Vik, we don't have much time."

He opened the study-room door, and after another moment of hesitation, Jessie looped her backpack over her shoulder and made the decision to follow Ravi home for the first time since they met. "Fine, let's go."

Without another word, Ravi led her through the basement, up through the lobby, and out the building's side entrance. They walked in silence, like they often did when they were heading to her dorms late at night. But this time, they were heading through the small city center toward the high-rises that were flanked with restaurants, bars, and shops.

"I feel like I'm in a John Wick movie," she whispered.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look down at her. "A John Wick movie," he said, deadpan. "Seriously?"

She shrugged. "Yeah?"

He shook his head, then continued to lead her across campus. When they reached the outer perimeter of buildings, she nudged his arm.

"I thought you lived on campus close to your fraternity brothers."

"I like my privacy," he said. He then crossed the street, his knuckles brushing hers as they moved close together on the sidewalk before making a left onto a pathway that ended in front of a doorman building encased in glass and steel.

With her nerves rising like a tide, she followed him past the doorman through a marble-and-glass lobby to a set of elevators that required a key card. In the small confines of the polished silver elevator, Jessie let out a deep breath, feeling the air thin in the confines of the space she shared with Ravi.

He still didn't look at her, didn't speak as they ascended.

When they reached his floor, he led her halfway down the hallway, where he used a fingerprint scanner to open his front door.

"Welcome to my home," he said, a slight tremble in his voice.

He stepped aside to let her enter, and she wanted to ask if he was nervous having her over, to tease him about the number of women he'd probably invited home.

"Whoa," she said as she looked around.

To the left of the front door, a small kitchen flowed into an inviting living space that had a couch, coffee table, and two armchairs, all aligned toward a flat-screen TV with speakers on either side. The room's far wall was made of glass and had a beautiful view of the downtown and campus area. Everything was absolutely spotless. The counters were wiped clean, and the coffee table had a small leather-lined tray with one remote and a neat stack of coasters. There were no tapestries, no band posters or school-spirit banners purchased from the bookstore. No, this condo belonged to an adult. The kind that had lived on their own for quite a while.

Jessie tried to make sense of everything she knew so far about Ravi Kumar.

He studied for his tests. He kept his condo spotless. He checked out the same study room she loved at the same times six days a week. He bought gifts for her parents and pretended he didn't so her parents would accept them. And he took her out on her first date, which was one of the best nights that she'd ever had.

Ravi toed off his sneakers to reveal white socks that didn't have any holes in them. Then he dropped his backpack into a chair. "Want to set up here or in the living room? I can order some pizza from that new place I was telling you about."

Jessie knew that her spiraling was getting out of control. "Ah, if I'm getting pizza, I want—"

"Ham, pineapple, and jalape?os. I know."

"How in the world do you know that?" she blurted out.

"You mentioned it on our date last week," Ravi said. He opened the fridge and pulled out two cans of seltzer water. He tossed one to Jessie, and she caught it easily.

"Let me get this straight," she said as she stepped into the kitchen. She put the can down on the counter. "You remembered my pizza order that I said in passing last week? And you want to buy pizza for us while we read letters?"

He gave her a wary look. "It's the least I can do, considering my friends may find our study room."

"So it's a gratitude thing. Just like your reading letters to make up for the fact that your friends locked me in Davidson Tower."

"What? No. Well, yes. Partly," he said, his voice stuttering as she grew closer, taking up his space. "Jessie, what are you doing?"

"I'm asking the questions," she said. "I have another one. When was the last time you vaped?"

He clenched his jaw. "Why do you ask?"

"Because the answer is important to me," she said. She was standing in front of him now, inches away. "When did you last vape, Ravi?"

Ravi leaned back against the fridge. "I don't know. Two weeks ago, maybe?"

Jessie grinned. "You did it for me."

"Shit, Jessie, of course I did it for you. I like you—"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence, because Jessie reached up to cup his face between her palms. Looking into his eyes, she drew him closer so she could press her lips against his. For a moment, he stood frozen, then his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. His mouth glided over hers, and she closed her eyes, drowning in the feel of him.

Then she couldn't think at all. Because Ravi Kumar wasn't just her first date; he was also her first kiss, and the experience was nothing short of magical.