would be decent to head over to meet James at the library, I looked at myself in the mirror. Blech! It wasn’t looking good. My dark, wavy brown hair was sticking up from being in and out of the wind all day, I had circles under my eyes from not sleeping well last night and my clothes were rumpled from being sat in. There was no way I was going to be taken seriously by anyone looking like this.
My closet was not stocked with much for me to work with. Clearly I was not a Cosmo girl, nor did my lifestyle have much call for party attire. While I was washing my hair in the bathroom down the hall, I was clicking through fashion ideas. I finally settled on my favorite jeans and a cream v-neck sweater that accentuated my dark French features and lighter brown eyes. The clothes fit my petite athletic build well, but having heard that my eyes were my best feature, I decided to draw attention to them and throw a touch of dark eyeliner on. My hair was proving difficult, so I gave up and pulled my shoulder length hair back into a loose ponytail. Functional and hopefully reasonably attractive, that was the best it was going to get tonight.
Five thirty. I could leave now and be justifiably early without appearing eager. It would only take about ten minutes to get to the front of the library. But he might be early so that would be reasonable, I justified to myself as I shrugged into my light green down coat. It was dark early now and with the wind up it was downright chilly. Winter was already bearing down on us. Every Minnesotan has at least three coats for all of the different flavors of fall and winter. This one was my favorite. I almost looked forward to colder weather so that I could add my fluffy cream scarf, hat and gloves that looked so good with it. I sighed, only here in the frozen north.
Zipping up, locking my door, and putting my keys in my pocket had never felt so final. What if things went wrong and I died tonight? How long would it be before someone knew I was missing? Stephen would probably be the only one who would even notice my absence here on campus. My stomach gave a turn. Stephen wouldn’t let me go if I was in danger, he’d told me as much as had Troy when he’d offered clan protection. That extended to their allies, right? That was where the undeniably strong draw to James kicked in. I had to see him again. The idea of he and I together, alone, was both terrifying and irresistible all at once. Maybe I was one of those girls drawn to “bad boys.” No, there had been plenty of bad kids at my high school that did nothing for me. It was just this one. The sane part of my brain hoped for my safety that his allure would wear off as I spent more time with him. It looked like I would find out very soon.
He was early. As I walked up to the library’s front doors from my side of campus, I looked to the curb just beyond and saw a sleek black car under the streetlight. Silhouetted in the foreground against the bushes across the road behind it, the car caught my attention, but that wasn’t what held it. There he stood, arms crossed and leaning against his car. He wore a light blue sweater, a glimpse of white undershirt visible at the open neck and dark blue trousers. How did he do that with his hair? He was pale, but not as pale as last night. Curious. Upon seeing me, he stepped forward a few feet and spoke to me without a readable expression on his face.
“Claire, are you ready to come with me?” His voice sounded even better than I remembered. It was husky, as if he had lowered it for privacy; not that he needed to, this edge of campus was deserted this time of night. Everyone was either at dinner or evening classes.
All of my breath left my body. Heart racing, stomach flipping, I nodded a “yes” as I stepped forward to meet him. James uncrossed his arms and turned gracefully to open the
My closet was not stocked with much for me to work with. Clearly I was not a Cosmo girl, nor did my lifestyle have much call for party attire. While I was washing my hair in the bathroom down the hall, I was clicking through fashion ideas. I finally settled on my favorite jeans and a cream v-neck sweater that accentuated my dark French features and lighter brown eyes. The clothes fit my petite athletic build well, but having heard that my eyes were my best feature, I decided to draw attention to them and throw a touch of dark eyeliner on. My hair was proving difficult, so I gave up and pulled my shoulder length hair back into a loose ponytail. Functional and hopefully reasonably attractive, that was the best it was going to get tonight.
Five thirty. I could leave now and be justifiably early without appearing eager. It would only take about ten minutes to get to the front of the library. But he might be early so that would be reasonable, I justified to myself as I shrugged into my light green down coat. It was dark early now and with the wind up it was downright chilly. Winter was already bearing down on us. Every Minnesotan has at least three coats for all of the different flavors of fall and winter. This one was my favorite. I almost looked forward to colder weather so that I could add my fluffy cream scarf, hat and gloves that looked so good with it. I sighed, only here in the frozen north.
Zipping up, locking my door, and putting my keys in my pocket had never felt so final. What if things went wrong and I died tonight? How long would it be before someone knew I was missing? Stephen would probably be the only one who would even notice my absence here on campus. My stomach gave a turn. Stephen wouldn’t let me go if I was in danger, he’d told me as much as had Troy when he’d offered clan protection. That extended to their allies, right? That was where the undeniably strong draw to James kicked in. I had to see him again. The idea of he and I together, alone, was both terrifying and irresistible all at once. Maybe I was one of those girls drawn to “bad boys.” No, there had been plenty of bad kids at my high school that did nothing for me. It was just this one. The sane part of my brain hoped for my safety that his allure would wear off as I spent more time with him. It looked like I would find out very soon.
He was early. As I walked up to the library’s front doors from my side of campus, I looked to the curb just beyond and saw a sleek black car under the streetlight. Silhouetted in the foreground against the bushes across the road behind it, the car caught my attention, but that wasn’t what held it. There he stood, arms crossed and leaning against his car. He wore a light blue sweater, a glimpse of white undershirt visible at the open neck and dark blue trousers. How did he do that with his hair? He was pale, but not as pale as last night. Curious. Upon seeing me, he stepped forward a few feet and spoke to me without a readable expression on his face.
“Claire, are you ready to come with me?” His voice sounded even better than I remembered. It was husky, as if he had lowered it for privacy; not that he needed to, this edge of campus was deserted this time of night. Everyone was either at dinner or evening classes.
All of my breath left my body. Heart racing, stomach flipping, I nodded a “yes” as I stepped forward to meet him. James uncrossed his arms and turned gracefully to open the
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