TWENTY Ravi

TWENTY

Ravi

Ravi knew that it was probably a bad idea to go to the professor who was grading their final papers and ask her if she had anything to do with Davidson Tower in her youth. But he realized now more than ever that when Jessie put her mind to something, there was no holding her back.

"We don't have to bring her in on this," he said for the hundredth time that morning. "I'm sure we can find the same answers on our own."

She tugged on the oversized sweatshirt she wore that she'd taken from his closet. She said that his clothes always felt better than her own. "Ravi, if there is a chance she can give us a single puzzle piece, then I want to ask for it. She was there. Gayatri remembered her so clearly, so she had to know Divya."

Ravi led Jessie down the empty corridor on the fourth floor of Hastings Hall, the floor that housed the offices for the professors and the graduate students. Professor Barnard's office was located at the end of the wing.

As they approached the office door, Ravi took a deep breath and stepped back so Jessie could enter first. He watched her read the quotes on the glass: One from Shakespeare. One from Zora Neale Hurston. And a poem from Charles Simic. Jessie lifted her fist and knocked gently against the Simic poem.

There was the sound of papers being shuffled inside before Professor Barnard called out, "Come in!"

Jessie turned to Ravi and nodded before twisting the doorknob and entering. Professor Barnard's office was the shape of a rectangle, with large windows stretching from the floor to the twelve-foot-high ceiling. Along one wall was a row of bookshelves crammed with hardcovers, paperbacks, mass-market paperbacks, spiral-bound books, leather-bound books, and stacks of paper held together with binder clips. There were also framed photos of children, one of Disney World, where Professor Barnard stood next to an attractive older man. They wore a set of matching Mickey and Minnie ears on a black headband. In front of the window and adjacent to the bookshelves was a low-back couch.

Professor Barnard sat on the opposite side of the windows closest to the door. She reclined in a leather office chair in front of a pristinely organized white desk. Her computer monitor took up most of the surface space. There was also a lamp that gave off a soft yellow glow, a small succulent, and a mouse pad with a green mouse that matched the green keyboard.

"Ravi and Jessie from my nonfiction seminar," she said in greeting. Her lips curled at the corners. Serene. Practical. Practiced. "How can I help you two? I admit, most students don't use my office hours unless it's exam season. They almost never come together, either."

Ravi sat down on the couch, then turned to Jessie, who did the same. "We were working on the paper for the final," he said. "Professor Barnard, we know a lot of students in the class are writing about the campus legend surrounding Davidson Tower."

"Yes, I do believe that's a popular subject."

"We both decided to choose the same topic."

She raised her brow skeptically.

It's too late to back out now.

Jessie pressed her knees together, then rested them against Ravi's thigh. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand.

"Professor Barnard," she began. "We started to do some digging into the legend of Davidson Tower. And I think, with the help of some information that fell into our laps, we've been able to find the couple that's thought to have disappeared."

Professor Barnard's shoulders tensed, but her easy smile told a different story. She clasped her hands and rested them on her knees. "What information makes you believe that?"

Jessie looked over at Ravi, and he nodded at her.

"We know their names," Jessie said.

Professor Barnard's jaw clenched slightly. "I have to admit, I think you're the first students to ever come to me and claim that you know the name of the legendary couple in my twenty years of teaching."

"You were a student in the university at the time she was alive," Ravi said. He glanced down at Jessie. "I think you may have known Divya Das."

There was that strange stillness again in Professor Barnard's demeanor. "Divya Das? Yes, it rings a bell, but I admit it's been a long time. I could be imagining it at my age. I may have gone to school with a Divya Das. But how can you be so sure that's the person the legend is based on?"

"We spoke to Divya's best friend at the time," Ravi continued, "and she said that only a handful of people knew the truth about what happened to Divya and Christian that night. She had some pretty convincing stories."

Professor Barnard stiffened at the mention of Christian's name. "We discussed reliable narrators and resources in class last week. You'll have to provide ample evidence if someone claims to be friends with—"

She stopped midsentence when she saw the blue letter that Jessie slowly retrieved from her bag. Her pallor became even more pronounced.

"They wrote letters to each other and hid them in the library," Jessie said. "Ravi and I have read most of the ones we uncovered. The last letter we combed through named another South Asian student who caught Divya and Christian together."

Professor Barnard flinched. "Where did you find those letters in the library?" she said. "And how do you know that they're accurate?"

This was where it got tricky. If they admitted that they were in Davidson Tower when it was locked up for the renovation project, then there was a good chance that they'd get in trouble. There was also a chance that Professor Barnard might shut down any access to the library for both Jessie and Ravi in fear that they might find something else, something they weren't allowed to see.

In an effort to distract her, Ravi took the envelope from Jessie and stood. He crossed the room and handed it to Professor Barnard to read. There was a slight tremble in her grip, the barest intake of breath. She opened the envelope, then began reading. When she was finished, she pressed the paper closed and handed it back to Ravi, as if she never wanted to see it again.

Ravi sat back down next to Jessie, who rested a hand over his knee. Her tension was as palpable as their professor's. "The letters are dated, and there's information in them that corresponds with all of the events, the rumors and the stories about the missing students from the 1972 fire. When we tracked down Divya's college friend, she verified the handwriting and said that it felt as familiar as her own because Divya loved to write letters to all of her family and friends. Professor Barnard, we're just trying to find—"

"The truth behind the names?" Professor Barnard raised an eyebrow as if the very idea was ridiculous. Her fingers trailed over the crisp line of her pants. "You two have gotten further than anyone. For that, I applaud you."

"But?" Ravi said. He could feel it coming from a mile away. His parents were big fans of this phrase structure.

"But," Professor Barnard continued, "there are certain stories that aren't ours to tell."

"What makes a story something that we don't have the right to tell? We found the letters. Can't we write about them from our perspective? We want to give respect to a name that's been lost over time."

Professor Barnard was already shaking her head. "Divya and Christian's story is so much bigger than you may think. They deserve peace. If you want to write about something you found in the library that may or may not be connected to their narrative, then that's your prerogative. But you have to ask yourself why." She straightened her suitcoat, then stood. "Now most student papers are about the Davidson family that donated the money for the tower back in the forties. I suggest you stick to that name instead. I'm so sorry to cut our conversation short, but I have a faculty meeting to get to. Good effort. Let me know if you'd like to discuss another topic, and I'd be happy to see you again during office hours."

Ravi stood, Professor Barnard's words circling in his head like vultures. When Jessie looked like she was ready to argue with her, he shook his head. "Thanks, Professor Barnard. We'll see you in class."

He waited until they'd stepped outside of her office and walked hand in hand some distance down the hall before he turned to her. "She knows more than we thought. She's got to be connected to the story directly, but how is that even possible?"

"I don't know," Jessie said with a frustrated sigh. "Why did you want to leave? We could've pressed her for information. She stonewalled us."

Ravi's heart continued to thud hard and fast in his chest. "That's not true. She did give us some information. Inadvertently."

"And what would that be?" Jessie asked, tilting her head.

"Professor Barnard was speaking in the present tense," he said. "As if Divya Das and Christian are still very much part of the same story."

Jessie's eyes widened. "Oh my god. She was."

"We have to finish reading the letters and put together all the puzzle pieces."

Jessie stopped and faced him, their fingers still entwined. "But what if Professor Barnard is right?" she said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "What if this story isn't one for us to tell?"

He wasn't sure why she would have doubts now. She had wanted to figure out the truth so badly that she had rummaged through Davidson Tower after his friends locked her in there, taking it as an opportunity to explore instead of freaking out like any normal person would.

Ravi leaned down so he could press his forehead against hers. "What's changing your mind? Professor Barnard's warning?"

She shrugged. "This was always so much more than a grade to me, but something about the way she warned us off makes me think I don't have the right to do this."

"You do," Ravi said. He didn't know why he felt so anxious about the thought of her giving up, especially since he hadn't understood her obsession in the first place. But her hesitation worried him. "Jessie, you've put in so much work already. You can't stop now. Worst-case scenario, this was all a hoax. Best-case scenario? They caused a small fire where no one else was hurt, and they ran away to live happily ever after."

She pulled back, but not far enough that he couldn't feel her soft breath coasting over his lips. "I guess I'm scared of what I'll find. Especially if they're not together."

"Why is that?" Ravi asked.

"Because what if they realized they were a mistake and decided to part ways? Their cultures were so different, and their actions shattered the trust of everyone around them. Was a college romance really worth sacrificing their entire worlds?"

Ravi didn't know how to answer that. He'd never found anything worth fighting for. He wondered if Christian and Divya felt like they were fighting for each other, too. He stepped back, and his fingers fell away from Jessie's. There was a small space between them now.

"Come on," he said. "We can't let fear stop us from facing the inevitable."

Even if the inevitable had the power to break his heart into tiny shards.

He'd never related to Divya Das's words more.