I had no idea who Jack was, but I looked again with this in mind. Now I did see a stocky guy with red hair giving Brougham the side-eye. When he caught me looking over, he turned his attention promptly back to his food.

“Still salty about the prom fight,” Finn said.

I perked up. This was the first prom-related gossip I’d been privy to, given basically everyone hated me. “Ooh, what prom fight?”

Finn gave me a funny look and quirked his head to the side. “Uh, Brougham’s?” he said, the same moment Brougham jumped in with, “Let’s not talk about that right now.”

I looked between them, my mouth hanging open. “What? What happened?”

“Brougham got drunk and punched Jack Miller.”

“I did not,” Brougham said calmly. “It was before I got drunk.”

I’d never heard of this Jack Miller before. “Are you serious? What happened?”

Finn answered. “Well, that’s the great mystery. He won’t tell us why, and neither will Jack.”

Stunned, I gave Brougham a questioning look. He met my eyes and stayed passive as he chewed a mouthful of lasagna.

“I’m pretty sure I know what happened,” Finn said.

“Do tell, I’m fascinated,” Brougham said.

“I will. Darcy, tell me if you think I’m hot or cold. Winona and Jack have been carrying on a star-crossed love affair for months now, and they weren’t able to commit because their parents work at rival bookstores. An indie and a big chain.”

“Presumably, they’re the children of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks,” Brougham said dryly. Finn looked blank: the reference obviously didn’t hit. “Also, you know Winona’s mum works in a bank. Why don’t you listen to people?”

“Because I don’t retain boring information. Okay, fine. An indie bank and a big chain bank.”

“An indie bank,” I repeated. “How indie are we talking? Like, someone’s stash of money under their bed?”

“Sure, sounds romantic. Anyway, their parents are rivals and secretly in love themselves, so Winona and Jack weren’t able to consummate their love.”

“And it’s become clear you don’t have the foggiest what ‘consummate’ means,” Brougham added.