Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Almost everyone here is rich. Save for the couple of people who have a scholarship like I do. And most of them form a clique together to study and work their asses off so they don’t lose it.
I just want to blend in. Fake it ’til I make it.
I clear my throat and look around the college grounds when I notice a particular lanky brown-haired boy with a knife earring slowly walking toward me.
And then turning around the second our eyes connect.
Max
Two minutes ago
I’m jogging outside on campus terrain, enjoying the warm sun after a long day of classes. I pause for a moment to take a deep breath, but when I spot a familiar dark-brown-haired girl from the corner of my eye, I have to blink twice to make sure I’m not dreaming.
The girl Silas chased into the bathroom is sitting on the grass with a bunch of her friends. What a coincidence.
I tilt my head and watch her tuck away her bag while some people in the group eat. She smiles, awkwardly clutching her belly while chatting with them, and when they offer her a bite, she politely declines with more smiles.
I wonder what they’re talking about or if they even know what kind of guys she’s got chasing her. But I wonder most of all what she’s thinking about, if she’s worried about Heath and Silas, or if she’s too busy trying to survive to even care about them.
My phone buzzes, and I check who it is.
Heath: You’ve got a free hour, right?
Me: Yeah…
Heath: Go talk to her.
Me: I can’t lie.
Heath: Try. For me. Please.
I rub my lips together and sigh. It’s so, so fucking hard to say no when he asks me like that.
Not that I’d be able to resist talking to a girl like her. It’s just that first step that makes me want to run in the opposite direction. She’s too beautiful. Too … mysterious.
I swallow away the nerves and approach while she hasn’t seen me yet, but the second I get closer, she looks me right in the eyes.
I freeze, turn around, and walk off.
What the fuck are you even doing, Max?
You pathetic, nervous motherfucker. Get your shit together.
I run another lap around the Skull and Serpent House, but when I get back to the grass, she’s gone, along with her friends.
Fuck. I missed my chance.
Goddammit. If you only just gathered the courage to—
“Hey.”
I squeal and drop my bottle of water. “Fuck!”
But when I turn to see who spoke, I forget all about the bottle. And my open jaw.
It’s her. She’s right here in front of me. And even more beautiful up close than I could ever imagine with that silky-smooth hair, olive skin, and plump lips that would make anyone want to kiss them.
And she’s talking … to me.
“Hi?” she repeats, making an odd face.
But I still don’t know what to say. All I can do is stare. Stare at that gorgeous face, those dark, smoldering eyes I could just … drown in. Good God.
“Hello? Do you speak English?” she asks again, making signals with her hands, and I realize she’s trying to use sign language.
“Oh yeah,” I say, blushing like crazy. “Sorry.”
“Wow. Okay. Confusing.” Her face is all scrunched up because I’m being weird, and I know I am, but my God, even her face like that is nothing short of perfection.
“This might be a weird question,” she says, “but are you following me?”
My eyes widen. “No, I—”
“I saw you walking straight at me and then turning around while I was still sitting in the grass, and now you’re here again.”
Well fuck. Caught red-handed.
“What do you want?”
I don’t know what to say. My mind is broken. Completely and utterly broken just from talking to someone like her.
She snorts. “You always sneak up on girls and then pretend you can’t talk?”
“No. Not girls—”
She tilts her head and folds her arms. “Boys too?”
“Well, I mean, sure, I don’t mind boys.” I close my eyes and mentally slap myself. “No. What I meant was that I’m awkward. Not that I sneak up on anyone. I didn’t mean to. It just … happened.” I laugh it off as I scratch the back of my head, but at this point, I just sound dumb. “This is not at all what I wanted to say to you.”
She frowns, and the way all the hairs in her eyebrows curl and draw together is rather cute. “Then what did you want to say to me?”
Every second feels as though all the beats in my heart are musical notes written in the wind, hoping to flutter into her ears.
She rolls her eyes and bends over to pick up my water bottle at the same time I am, and our hands collide midair. The electricity is instant, and I retract my hand as she grabs the bottle and attempts to give it back.