Authors: B. Kristin McMichael
“I’m sure by the end of the week he will be coming back to me. He always does. You know he can’t find anyone better than me,” the brunette told her friend.
Poor guy, I wanted to add. I had grown up with girls like the one in front of me. Everything about her was fake, from her eyelashes to her boobs. Private school at St. Maria’s had prepared me for two things at the same time: fake girls and dealing with the people you never really want to be associated with. This girl was exactly that.
I coughed to get their attention. I didn’t need to learn more about the poor guy that the girl had her sights set on. The brunette looked up, surprised that I was there.
“Marcella Navina,” I told the girl, pointing to my name on the list.
“Oh, a new freshman,” the brunette said as she held out her hand to the girl next to her. The second girl was digging through a box looking for the correct key. Finally, she found it and handed it to the brunette. “Welcome to Morton Carole. If you need any help, feel free to ask. We’re all happy to help new freshman.” From the tone in her voice I somehow doubted that. “You are in Murdley, which is on the opposite side of the dorms here.” She said Murdley with disgust, as if she couldn’t imagine who would want to be stuck in the studious dorm. She held out her hand and her minion placed a map in it. “You can either go through the courtyard, through the connecting hallways, or around the outside to get there. Room 215. Good luck, and welcome to college.” A smile was plastered across her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I gave her my best fake smile back as I took her keys and map. I didn’t really need the map. I had already memorized it weeks ago.
Still within hearing distance while walking away, I heard as the brunette added, “I hate freshman. They always think they’re better than the rest of us. Did you see how she talked down to us?” I had no choice but to talk downward because they were seated. She wasn’t the brightest, I guessed.
“I hate fake people,” I added under my breath as I found my way back to my car.
I opened the trunk and looked at my few belongings. I had packed only two suitcases and two boxes. Good thing the dorms came furnished. I stared at my sparse possessions and sighed. The fact that I was on my own for the first time was starting to sink in. I looked over my things, picked the lightest box first, and took a deep breath. Time to walk the gauntlet.
It’s strange how you can pack your life into just a few boxes. It took me a total of three whole trips to my car to bring my life into my new room. It also didn’t take long to unpack it. In less time than it took to drive to my college, I was moved in and officially home. As strange as it was, this ten-foot-by-ten-foot space with two beds, two dressers, and two closets was where I’d be spending most of my time for the next four years.
I sat on my bed and stared at the empty bed across the room. My roommate, Sim, would arrive later today. She had been gone all summer in India and would be arriving later than me. I was excited to meet her, but being alone didn’t bother me. My mother and grandfather often left for short weekend trips while I was growing up, always under the direct care of our maid. Adding to it, the dorm website said that Murdley was the quiet dorm, for those that wanted a bit of solitude in college. I didn’t mind this in the least. In fact, I didn’t get stuck in Murdley like most of the students. I chose this dorm. I didn’t want to live in the party dorm, Mordoch, which was on the opposite side of the square from Murdley. The dorms at Morton Carole were actually four buildings that were connected to form a square with an inner courtyard; Murdley was one wall of the square with Mordoch on the opposite side. I was completely happy to find my room didn’t even face the inner courtyard. I would get all the peace I wanted in my room, and maybe a little bit more.
Outside my window, which faced the campus’ winding paths that meandered between large, ancient trees, Morton Carole students were wandering around. Most probably arrived yesterday and were already making friends. I didn’t know a single person attending Morton; I was miles away from home and all my high school friends. It was a bit scary to start over, but it was for the best. I was really only going to miss a few of my friends, and they wouldn’t ditch me just because I went off to some small school in the middle of nowhere.
As I puttered around my room, trying to find something to do, a massive maple tree outside my window caught my attention. It looked like the perfect reading tree. I could sit outside and feel the breeze instead of being stuck in my stuffy new home. I wandered down to the tree with my book under my arm. A reading tree was exactly what I needed. I could find time to make new friends and fit in later, after I got through my latest novel.
I opened the book to where I left off. It was new and the pages crisp. Most of my books were a bit tattered from multiple readings, but not this one. It was the third in the latest series I was hooked on. I bought it new when it came out two days ago, and I was already almost finished with it.
I began reading just where I left off. Marie, the protagonist, was just finding out her best friend was a demon. It was sad. Marie’s family had descended from angels that were hunting demons. I felt bad for her. It was easy to slip back into the story and forget about the world around me. I continued to read and ignored the person who sat down next to me at my new reading tree. No one could pull me out of my little world. I needed to find out what Marie was going to do. Would she hunt her best friend? I could hear imaginary music playing as I got more absorbed into the story. If I could write music, I’d have a soundtrack to each book I read. The real world was completely gone as I read with the tune playing on in my head. I turned page after page and didn’t even know how long I had sat there. The last page came too quickly and the book was done. As with the rest of the books in the series, I would have to read it again.
I closed my book and looked up from under the maple canopy to the blue sky above. I had a normal life, but girls in books always went on adventures. I guess that was what going far off to college was to me, an adventure. My future was already planned, but I’d give anything to be one of those heroines. I wanted to live the life I found in these books. I was still lost in thought over the ending when there was a thump on my lap. College students were walking all around and a few tossing a football between them. I looked down expecting to see a football.
It wasn’t a football. The head of a perfectly cute guy was lying across my lap. He had tipped over from sleeping next to me and stayed fast asleep, even after his fall. I looked at him and waited for him to wake. I mean, his fall startled me out of my daydreaming. He didn’t wake. He kept sleeping peacefully.
He was gorgeous—underwear model material. His dark hair had a glint of red in it and was splayed across his forehead. He had high cheekbones and perfectly-shaped lips. Stubble ran across his cheeks, and it seemed like it had been days since he had shaved. I looked at his fluttering, sleeping eyes and wondered what color they were. Mystery man just kept sleeping, like he had often found himself on unknown girls’ laps, and it didn’t bother him. I needed to move soon, but I was stuck, and I couldn’t help but admire him. He had his shirt off. It was draped partially over his shoulder now, but mostly on the ground beneath him. My eyes wandered down him to find he was very fit. All of the muscles around his shoulders and arms were perfectly defined, along with his washboard abs. His athletic shorts were low on his hips, showing off more than I had been close to in a long while since I’d attended an all-girls high school. I turned my head away before my eyes drifted any further. I had to stop checking out this guy. I mean, yes he literally fell into my lap, but I was beginning to feel like a creeper. How could he still be sleeping?
He murmured a few words in his sleep. “Maat mitra.” I didn’t know what that meant, and I was sure they were another language. Beautiful boy spoke another language, at least in his dreams. A language I had never heard. He continued to talk softly enough that only I could hear him, but none of it was in English, or any language I knew, for that matter. He was foreign, beautiful, and laying across my lap half naked. If I were a bit bolder in my ways, I’d say I hit the lottery. This was going to go down as the oddest start to my school year, but an embarrassing one once he woke up and found me drooling over him.
I looked around at the other college kids wandering about. No one seemed to even notice underwear model guy sleeping on my lap. Or maybe no one cared. Didn’t this guy have a girlfriend following him around devotedly? Someone out there had to be pissed at me right now. I glanced back down at him. Yes, he was probably the cutest guy I had ever seen in person, but that didn’t make it any less weird. I needed to move now, before he woke up and it got even more awkward.
Gently my hand moved under his head. His hair was soft, softer than I expected, distracting me again. The dark auburn color was different. It was almost a chocolate brown, but the red gleaming through it made it otherwise. He was a guy, but the color was just actually pretty. The red was subtler than my own hair, which was a very noticeable bright red. I would have given anything to grow up with hair as dark as his.
Back on task, I lifted his head gently so I wouldn’t wake him. He was a bit heavier than I expected, but I kept going, needing to get away soon. The longer I stayed, the more likely he would wake, probably with my drool on him. Slowly, I slid my legs out from beneath him, and I moved his head to the ground with my hand still beneath it. With my other hand I grabbed my book and pushed myself up to a squatting position. I inched my hand out from beneath his head and quickly made a run for it back to my room. I dodged students as I ran around the corner of the building to the stairs. He was already sitting up, awake, and looking around.
I didn’t notice the two students in front of me until it was too late. I bounced off the larger of the two. He was gigantic—probably the largest college student I had seen yet. His shoulders alone had to be at least three feet wide. He smiled at me and quickly grabbed my arms to keep me from falling down. He didn’t move an inch. He was as solid as he was massive, and I was just a measly fly.
“Sorry about that,” I mumbled. I needed to get away. It looked like underwear model was looking around for me as I turned the corner.
“Watch where you’re going,” the tall, skinny guy next to the guy I bounced off of replied. He was as abnormally tall as the other was wide.
“Not a problem,” the guy I ran into said. His voice was low and there was a slight chuckle in it. “I don’t mind when beautiful women run into me. You can run into me anytime, sugar.” He winked at me as I blushed.
I quickly stepped around the two guys and hurried back to my room. An embarrassing start to college, for sure. I flopped down on my bed… I might not survive after all. Morton Carole was a small college with only a few hundred people in each graduating class. I was sure to see “underwear model” guy, “tall ornery” guy, and “big, run-into” guy on campus. And, as most of the students lived in the dorms, I’d probably see them more than I wanted in the one cafeteria. Ugh. College was just beginning, and now it sucked. I threw my pillow over my head. Maybe I could just climb into bed, go to sleep, and start this day all over.
If you want to know more of what happens to Mari- pick up the first book in the series for only 99 cents
Carnelian
. Books 2/3
Chrysoprase
and
Aventurine
are currently out and the final book
Chrysocolla
will be out this fall.
As with any work of fiction, there are many people to thank along the way.
To you
, the reader.
Thank you
for taking the time to read this story and go on the journey with me. If you liked it, please leave a review on your favorite online bookseller (or all of them!) and connect with me on
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Also I would like to thank my editors and cover designers. A good editor is essential to getting the story correct (and in my case- two editors). Thank you so much, Kathie at Kat’s Eye Editing and Melissa at There for You Editing. They made the book just that much stronger and such a better story that you all got to read. It would not be the same book without them. Also a thanks to my proofer Ashton Brammer for going over the novel with a fine tooth comb to catch little errors that bug people. A thank-you to my
AMAZING
cover artist Ravven for such a pretty cover. She puts so much detail into every cover-I can’t say how lucky I am to work with her! A great cover helps get people interested. They may say
never judge a book by its cover
, but everyone does! I greatly appreciate all those that can do what I cannot, like editors and cover designers. I’m grateful I was able to find great professionals to work with on this book.
I’d also like to thank my hubby for continuing to push me further down the writing road. He gives me time when I need it to work on my stories. He encourages me to keep going each and every day on this adventure. And he does all the behind-the-scenes effort to make this work (have you seen my trailers- he is awesome!). This would be so much harder without his help. So thank you, B. for pushing me off the deep end (or the cliff as I see it sometimes). And a great big thanks to my little munchkins who keep me going from before the sun comes up ‘til long after it sets. Love you AK, KB, and EM.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my novel!!