Aside from being a book addict, I was also a hypocrite.

I'd been annoyed when Finn told me he was an internet guy, and yet here I was using the same global network to help me with the biggest problem of my life.

"How to fall in love with books," I said as I typed on the Google Chrome search bar. There was really nothing wrong with the internet. I was only irritated because Finn had expressed no interest in signing my petition, but when he said he'd already signed it, I wanted to forgive him.

I had counted the number of signatures on the online petition and smiled as they had grown to twenty-one. Of the first one hundred and fifty signatures requirement, fourteen percent was completed. It seemed like it could make it that far after all.

But I couldn't bank on this one solution, especially with the low possibility of it reaching the second requirement. I needed to have a plan B, and the infographics Finn suggested was a great idea.

I didn't get to ask him if he wanted to help in distributing them to the townsfolk, but I doubted it. I could already imagine him saying he was more of a text-messaging type of guy who didn't do handouts.

Yet I wanted to believe he was genuinely trying to help, so I shook the negative thought from my head. Once I printed out the infographics, I hoped he'd be willing to pass them around so people could learn about what was happening to the Littleton Public Library.

"How to fall in love with books," I reread what I wrote on the search bar ready to start another night of research. But before I hit enter, my phone rang. I checked it beside my keyboard, seeing Finn's name flash on the screen. "What the—?" I quickly reached for the phone. Panic-stricken, I knocked it off the table.

"Oof!" I hoped he wouldn't hang up yet as I hurried to pick up the phone from the floor. But he dropped the call as soon as I pressed the green phone icon. "Oof!"

A missed call was registered on my screen, and the option to call back was right below it. All I had to do was press it. Then I'd be calling Finn.

I'd be calling Finn!

I pulled my thumb away from the call-back button. When was the last time we talked over the phone? Never. We had each other's number only because—I tried to recall—maybe he had asked one time to get help with homework. And that was about two years ago.

Did Finn need help with homework?

My phone started ringing again, and I jumped in surprise, tossing it in the air but catching it before it could slip to the floor once more. Without thinking, I frantically answered the call and pressed it to my ear.

"Hello?" My voice came breathy and shaking.

"Hey!" He sounded relieved on the other end. "Are you busy?"

"Uhm, not so much. 'Sup?" I was trying my best to be chill.

When did I get so nervous talking to Finn? I think it was since I noticed he was cute. When Lotty asked me if I thought he was cute. Well, I mean, I knew he was good-looking then. The whole school was aware he was hot and everything most guys wanted to be.

But it was only a few days ago that I truly noticed like noticed noticed he was cute... and hot.

That was why I'm nervous now. I was crushing on him when I wasn't supposed to be.

"I didn't catch you after school," he said, like we had always hung out after classes.

"Oh, did you need something?" I asked, wondering why he was calling me.

"No, we just didn't finish our talk about the infographics," he answered.

"Oh," I said again. "I was just about to do my research about infographics."

"Cool. Let me help. Is this an okay time to Facetime you?"

"Wha—?" I stood up to look at myself in the mirror on the wall near my bookshelf. I hadn't changed yet since I got home from school, so I appeared the same wearing my purple sweater, but I could use a lip gloss. I grabbed the one on standby at my desk and swiped it over my lips.

"You don't have to put on makeup, you know," I heard Finn say over the phone when I didn't speak for a while, catching a faint chuckle from his end.

Heat of embarrassment rushed to my face. At least I didn't have to apply any blush on now. "Hang on, Johnson," I said as I pulled the phone away and switched to video mode.

Finn was grinning on my screen. "Did you just call me Johnson?" He appeared to be in a dimly lit area, which might be his bedroom.

"I thought it fitting since you keep calling me by my last name." I returned his contagious smile.

"Fair enough. So, what do you have on the infographics, Watson?" he asked, switching back to his agenda.

Wondering why he seemed eager to work on this with me, I sat back on my desk and hit enter on my laptop to continue my web search. Results came up as I placed my phone on a stand beside the computer screen, its glow causing the bags under my eyes to disappear on video.

I noticed Finn swallow.

"You look cute." His voice came deeper than usual.

I paused and stared at him, my whole body heating up.

"Hey, did the call freeze?" He furrowed his brows.

When he first gave me that compliment, I thought he was teasing me because I was talking to a statue, but this felt different. This felt serious. "No." I shook my head. "I was just—You surprised me." I turned back to my laptop, pretending to read the search results, but all I could see were jumbled words, not making any sense.

"Has no one ever told you that before?" he asked.

"Some people have." I nodded.

"Except your parents."

"There's still some." I glanced at my phone, trying to not be pathetic.

"Except relatives." He tilted his head to the side.

I turned to him. "No one then," I admitted, a little provoked.

The side of his lips curved up. "I'm glad to be the first then."

Trying to figure out what he meant by that, I bit my lip. I saw him take a deep breath as he surveyed me through his phone.

"So, what's the update on the infographics?" he asked, and I thought I caught a little shake in his voice.

I cocked my head at my laptop, aware of him watching me. "I was thinking of doing a back-to-back print. The front will be the benefits of reading books, or like why people should read books. The back part will be the step-by-step guide on how to fall in love with reading."

"Concise. I like it," Finn said, getting up and moving. "Do you have any idea of what you want for graphics?" He appeared to be settling down on a desk. Like me, he placed his phone on a holder and turned on his computer, bright light blaring at his face.

"Not really. I'm bad at graphics," I told him as he got set up. The bright screen in front of him turned his pale skin aglow.

"I can help you with that." He wasn't looking at the phone anymore, allowing me to stare. "What kind of theme do you like?"

"I don't know."

Finn cupped his chin and gazed at me. His dark green eyes seemed to glitter in the video. "What's your favorite color?" It was a basic question people mostly asked to get to know others.

"Beige," I answered, wondering what his favorite color was.

"Okay. Beige it is." He returned his gaze to his computer. "Now, tell me the content of the front page."

"Well, I was thinking we could list down some benefits, then choose the best ones." I was finally getting into the work, focusing on what I was supposed to do to save the library and relaxing despite the fact I was talking to Finn over the phone with flirty compliments.

He also seemed focused as he worked on his side. And the way he asked me questions like a professional was encouraging. Was this what it felt like to partner up on a project with Finn?

We listed over twenty reasons why people should be reading books, but we only chose the top four.

We did the same with the other side of the print. There were plenty of sources on the internet sharing guides on how one could fall in love with reading. Finn and I created our guide, referencing on several blogs.

"And done!" Finn said, grinning at his work before turning back to his phone—to me. "I'll send it to you by email."

"Okay." I nodded and opened my email waiting for the final product.

The inbox automatically refreshed, and his email came through. I clicked on it and downloaded two images. Excited to open them, I glanced at the phone. He was patiently waiting and staring at me.

"Got them," I told him as I opened both photos at the same time.

FRONT

BACK

Finn captured everything I wanted for the infographics—the palette with my favorite color, the cute art, and the overall simplicity.

"Do you like them?" he asked.

"I love them," I said, turning back to him. "These look awesome!"

Finn grinned, showing off his dimple. "I'm glad you like them, Watson. I'm using this new AI for the graphics."

"What?" I frowned. "You used AI on these?" I didn't know how to feel about that. A part of me wanted to be angry, but another part was waiting for an explanation.

"Yeah. It's a really neat tool. Do you draw? I could show you how to use it," Finn said. Not exactly the explanation I was waiting for.

"No, Finn. I'm against AI," I told him. My voice came out harsh.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because—" I paused, thinking of the thousand things that technology had ruined, could ruin, like the library. "Because it takes away human creativity. It's the reason why students are no longer making any effort in their studies, and why people are no longer reading books. It's the reason why the library is closing." I was almost shouting, but I tried to control it.

"Okay," he said, pausing and staring before he continued. "I need you to keep an open mind," he started again, waiting for my response.

I took a deep breath. "Fine."

"My dad works with AI, and I can tell you one thing he believes. This new technology is here to stay, and those who don't evolve with it are going to be replaced by it," he explained.

"But that's what it's already doing," I argued. "It's replacing creatives. It's replacing books."

"Hang on. I'm not done yet," he said, stopping me before I could say more. "I didn't use AI to generate the graphics. Those are my art. I have a stock of digitally hand-drawn character art. I've been practicing to figure out my style. I only used AI to enhance them. I could do it myself, but it'll take me days because it's time-consuming. AI didn't replace me, it helped me get those graphics to you in a more timely manner. You need this now, don't you?"

I swallowed, thinking. Of course, I need it now. I wasn't an artist, so I couldn't create anything like this. I wouldn't even get close to how good and convincing this resulted to if I tried. And if I used the internet to search for images, I'd likely encounter AI-generated or copyrighted ones. So, what choice did I have?

How could he create a compelling argument I couldn't contradict?

"Watson?" he said when I didn't answer for a long time.

"Why don't you just use the raw drawings?" I asked.

"Because they're not cohesive when put together. The styles are different. The shadings don't even match the color palette you like," he explained. "It's style transferring. Everything is still my art."

I was trying to keep an open mind, and maybe just this once, AI could do something good. This is for the library, I held that thought in my head.

"Okay. I understand," I said.

"You don't sound so happy about it." He scratched the back of his head. "You know, I could use the raw images and enhance the details myself. I could get them to you by next week."

"No, Finn." I tried to smile. I didn't want to appear demanding, and I was truthfully grateful for his help. "This is good. I like it."

He smiled back and his dimple appeared. "I'm glad. I like it too. Do you mind if I give you feedback about the title?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Sure," I said.

"Well, it's like people not going to the library. There's no reason for them to go, right? And it'll be the same with our infographics. Even if we put it in their hands, there would be no reason for them to read it," he said, waving a finger in the air.

For some reason, his ideas, when not finished, made me feel like he was always shooting things down. "Go on."

"We need better titles. My dad taught me about this because he works in marketing. To make catchy headlines, it should answer three questions. What is the reader going to gain? How long will it take for them to achieve the gains? And what activities do they need to do for the gain?"

"Huh," I said, internalizing his input.

"For example," he said. "How to lose weight in thirty days by diet alone, no exercise needed."

"That is catchy," I admitted. "I'll think of something."

"You can try using ChatGPT to—"

"Nope!" I stopped him right there. "One AI tool for this is enough. You can trust that I can generate a great headline."

Finn grinned. "Okay. I trust you," he said, and there was something in his voice I couldn't quite read like he meant something deeper by it.

I pressed my lips together, looking back at the infographic designs he sent me and thinking they turned out great. "Thanks, Johnson."

"I'm not going to get used to that." He shook his head, chuckling. "You can call me Finn."

"Only if you call me Elsy." I crossed my arms over my front, wondering why he liked to call me by my last name.

"And what if I don't?" he asked. His smile stayed on his face.

"I'll just keep calling you Johnson."

"I have a reason why I call you by your last name," he told me.

Curiosity made me lean forward and grab my phone from its stand. "What's the reason?"

I heard a faint voice on the phone—not Finn's—and he turned his head sideways. "That would be my mom calling me to dinner. How about I tell you next time?" His smile faded into a coy smirk.

"Sure." My voice turned softer than usual. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem. See you at school."

"Good night, Finn." I hovered my thumb over the red phone icon, waiting for him to drop the call first.

He reached for his phone on its stand. "Good night, Alice."

The call ended.

Alice. Finn called me by my first name—my actual first name.

I swallowed, disappointed that he ended the call first, but the sound of my name was so sweet it overpowered the dismay.

So, Finn Johnson knew my name after all.

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Author's Note:

The infographics in this chapter are made using Canva with free graphics from the tool, not generative AI. 

Happy Reading!

Hi_D

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