The Beginning of Never (The Never Trilogy #1) by O. E. Boroni Page A

Yet somehow, I managed to end
up with Nathan beside me as we went through the steaming hot plates of
spaghetti and tomato sauce. Acting for all the world
like the food I had now lost interest in held my complete attention, I tried
not to notice that I literally trembled from my awareness of the unbelievably
attractive boy that stood to my left. His earphones were still plugged into his
ears, so at least he wasn’t able to hear the pounding of my heart, which in my
opinion, should have been loud enough to be heard across the noisy hall.
    I wondered where the rage I’d worked up over the last
two days to pour on him had gone to. Now he was standing right beside me, and I
had all but forgotten my name, including, I realized, the tomato sauce that
would go with my spaghetti.
    Without thinking, I turned to retrace my steps, but
instead stopped when my disconcerted grey eyes met his cold blue ones.
Something cool, yet warm at the same time, slithered down my spine.
    “Do you want something?” he asked, but I had already
spun right back from the embarrassment. It was several moments later before I
realized that I hadn’t even answered him.
    “No it’s fine,” I said without looking back, hoping he would
catch it. Grabbing a piece of bread, I gave up on my dinner altogether and
returned to my seat. I was angrily tearing at it, disappointed in myself, and
intending to eat as fast as I could so that I could get the hell out of there,
when a small bowl of tomato sauce and meatballs was placed in front of me.
Surprised, I looked up, but Nathan had already turned to leave. I watched him
return to the counter to pick up his plate, and continue with his serving.
    What is wrong
with you? I cried to myself, so distraught by my actions that I felt an
almost desperate need to escape, and hide until I managed to regain the lick of
sense that I had somehow lost during the course of the evening.
    Looking down at the bowl of sauce, I considered
ignoring it so that I could save my pride and insist if he asked, that I had actually planned on eating the spaghetti on its own. That, I
realized, would be even more idiotic, so I just took what I needed from it and
started eating.
    The rest of the table soon returned, and we were all
quietly going through our meals when the racket started. It began with
increased tones around the middle of the hall but at first, everyone ignored
it.
    “So,” James started, “I really want to hear the story
of how you two met.”
    I stopped and rolled my eyes. “ James …” I complained but he rushed to explain himself.
    “It’s just that when he mentioned you broke a tray on
his back, I’ve just been so intrigued. And he’s refused to tell me any –”
    “Wait, he said I broke a tray on his back?”
    “Yeah. Isn’t he right?”
    “No! … I mean yes, but he pushed me to the floor.”
    Without thinking, I reached forward and tapped Nathan’s
arm. He looked up at me and took the earphones out of his ears.
    “You told James I broke a tray on your back?”
    He kept his eyes on me, and then moved them to James
before bringing them back to me again, unhurriedly, like he had all the time in
the world. I told myself to bring my temper down a notch.
    “Didn’t you?” he asked, and my mouth fell open.
    “How can you say that? You pushed me to the floor,” I
accused. He straightened, an eyebrow slightly arched.
    “Excuse me?” he said, and my mouth snapped shut.
Embarrassed at how intimidated I felt, I lowered my head in annoyance and
returned to my food.
    To my surprise, he reached across the table and put his
fingers on mine. My eyes widened, both at the contact and at the coldness of
his fingers, but as soon as he pulled them away, my fingers burned with a sweet warmth.
    “I bumped into you,” he said. “And I apologized.”
    The fight had gone out of me, and I wondered why I was
even bothering when my mouth opened to reply to him.
    “You ruined my lunch,” I accused, and I tried to add a
little