Fierce(6)

Then she gazes at me and tips her head, nodding, beckoning me to come.

I hurry to grab my stuff and run down the steps toward her.

“What the hell was that all about?”

“What are you talking about,” I say, as we start walking through the halls.

“You. And that guy sitting next to you. I saw you guys talking, you know.”

“He just asked me for my pen. No biggie.”

She laughs. “Yeah right! You guys were talking. A lot. I could see everything,” she scolds.

“Were you watching us or something?” I say, laughing with my mouth open.

“No. I was waiting for you. Then I noticed who was sitting next to you. Hunter Bane. Jesus.”

“You know him?”

“Brody told me about him,” she says as we head toward our joint class. “Supposedly he’s got a reputation here, and I don’t mean the good kind.”

“Hmm …” I start mulling over what that means. I don’t really know the guy at all, but he doesn’t seem that bad. Besides, having a bad rep could mean loads of things. Actually, now that I think about it, only loads of bad things.

“I wonder why he sat down next to you,” Evie continues. “I mean, he could’ve picked any pretty girl in the room and buttered her up, but he chose to sit next to you instead. What does he want with you?”

“I don’t know,” I say. Now I’m also wondering why the hell he sat down next to me. The more I think about it, the more it creeps me out.

“To peek at my notes is the most likely answer,” I say eventually.

“Well I sure hope so. I also hope that’s the only thing he wants from you.”

Frowning, I bump my shoulder against hers. “Evie! Are you jealous or something?”

“No, I just don’t like it when you hang with bad boys.”

“Hey, don’t worry.” I hook my arm around hers. “I’m not hanging with anyone, and I have no interest in him.”

She smiles, and I smile back, but my stomach churns. What I just said doesn’t ring true. I know it should be, but somehow his presence has two totally different effects on me. One part is freaked out and wants to run, and the other part is curious as hell.

We walk to one of the few classes we share and find two spots in the middle, but before the class can start a loud scream draws my attention. I turn around in my seat and see Hunter.

He’s yelling words into his phone, but I don’t know what. He’s outside, pacing up and down the hallway. I can’t hear anything he’s saying, since there’s a glass wall in between us, but his face predicts thunder.

I wonder what’s going on. He looks pissed, and just seeing him like this scares me.

When the conversation is over, he smashes the phone on the floor.

I spring up from my seat, and a bunch of other students who see it also gasp and point at him. Hunter kicks the wall, and with each thump my body jolts up and down. Then he straightens his jacket and stares at his fists.

Suddenly he turns around and gazes at me.

I freeze in place. With his piercing gray eyes on me I feel like a brick wall. Unmoving, but breakable just from his glare.

His eyes scan my face, and I can see the anger and pain. It’s flowing out of him like a seething, bubbling volcano. He continues to stare at me, and I feel like I’m the only one in this classroom. This moment in time feels like an eternity.

Then he turns around and storms out of the building.





Chapter 3


Bitter Changes

A few days later…



It’s been days since I last saw Hunter. He hasn’t been to class, and I haven’t seen him walking around the dorm either. Something tells me he hasn’t even slept in his own room. I wonder what’s going on with him. I wonder what that phone call was all about. What made him so angry?

I don’t even know why I care so much.

Why do I care?

I barely know him, and yet I can’t stop thinking about what’s wrong. That scene of him kicking the wall, furious as hell, keeps replaying in my mind over and over again. His flaring eyes follow me wherever I go, even when he’s not around.

I’ve never had this before, but it’s almost as if I’m desperate to find out what happened to him that made him so upset. He seemed so aloof and carefree in class before. I didn’t expect him to explode like that. At least, not because of a phone call.

I really wonder what’s going on …

Sighing, I read the same sentence I’ve been reading for the last couple of seconds. I’m trying to study, but it’s really going nowhere like this.

“Hey, Autumn.”

I look up and see Brody enter our room. There’s a girl with wavy blonde hair standing behind him with her hands on her hips, and she’s gazing at us with a smirk on her face. She’s shaped like an hourglass, and her brown skin looks like she tans at least once a week. In her short pink dress she reminds me of the Barbie dolls I used to play with when I was little.