Chapter 42 - Scholars

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"When did the Civil War start?"

Lucas barely had to think before answering. "April, 1861, with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter."

"Yep. Ended?"

"Robert E. Lee surrendered on the 9th of April, 1865, but the last of their land was surrendered in June, same year." Again, the answer came easily. Dates were always the hardest, so he'd forced himself to read his notes over until it was a reflex.

"Very impressive." Damien looked up from Lucas' stack of notes.

They were sitting at one of the tables in the empty bakery. The last dregs of evening sunlight trickled through the wide glass window Damien sat beneath, playing across his soft curls, the hard line of his jaw, casting his skin bronze. He had annoyingly good skin. Lucas had a thoroughly-researched skincare routine as well as acne medication, but even though Damien probably just washed his face with bar soap his skin was smooth and unmarked. Life was very unfair.

"Lucas." Damien snapped his fingers in front of Lucas' face, and Lucas was pulled back to reality, blinking. "Lucas, tesoro, snap out of it."

"What?"

"You zoned out. I'm very distracting, I know. It's probably my stunning good looks." Damien gave him a teasing little smile, and Lucas rolled his eyes, though he couldn't suppress a smile. "Can't blame you for being more interested in me than this boring Civil War shit.

Lucas stretched his leg out to nudge Damien's foot under the table. "Shush. The Civil War is actually pretty interesting, you know. All history is. It's like one long, endless story about humanity."

Damien tilted his head to one side, watching Lucas. He didn't seem like he was really listening. "Uh huh."

"It's interesting." Lucas insisted. "Come on, next question."

They'd been there for over half an hour now, Lisa working away at some paperwork in the little office she had tucked away at the back while Damien quizzed Lucas on his US History notes. As the charity gala drew closer, she was getting more and more anxious, snapping at the slightest mistake and being extra strict with her employees, so Lucas and Damien had agreed to be on their best behaviour. Something Damien struggled with. Lucas could understand why Lisa was stressed. This was one of the bakery's first times catering, and such a big event could attract lots of potential clients. Besides, it was for charity, and it would've felt morally wrong to mess up such an important cause. There was obviously something else going on too, but Lisa was a very private person despite her fondness for gossip, and Lucas didn't want to pry.

"Battle of Gettsyburg?" Damien asked, pulling Lucas out of his thoughts.

"July, 1863."

Damien shook his head. "Wrong."

"What?" Lucas immediately sat up in his chair, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Really? Is it June? I'm certain that I got the year right." This was worrying, actually. He couldn't be getting the date wrong of such an important event, he was so sure he'd memorised them all. And if he was forgetting these simple dates, who knew what else he would forget? "It's June, then. June, 1963. Unless it was '64?"

"So you're saying June, 1964?"

"Yes. No." Lucas frowned, racking his brain for the answer. "I don't know?"

Damien only managed to hold the act a second longer, before his serious expression broke into a grin. "Kidding. You got it right the first time."

"I did?" Lucas' look of surprise quickly turned into a frown, and he redirected his legs to try and kick Damien under the table. "You asshole. I have a test tomorrow, you can't do this to me."

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