A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) Page 2

  “What is it?”

  I shake my head. “I’m not sure. You…” I shake my head again. “I have homework.”

  “What is it, Holly?” He asked again. He reached out to touch my arm but I moved back.

  I try to walk past him, but he blocks me. I look up at him. “Please get out of my way.”

  “Not until you tell me what you just saw.”

  “You look familiar. That’s all. Now, please move.” I start to walk around him, but he blocks me again. I sigh in frustration. Tears start filling my eyes, and I can’t make sense of the surge of fear and emotions that suddenly come over me. I feel like I need air and the only way to get it was to get away from him.

  “We go to the same college, I’m sure you’ve seen me before.”

  I nod, but it wasn’t that. Deep down I know I’ve seen him long before college ever started. “Homework, Luke. Please, I need to go.” I am freaking out inside and don’t know why. That’s what is so scary, I have no idea why, but I know I’m supposed to be afraid.

  He finally moves out of my way, and I hurry back to my dorm. I walk in and lock the door behind me. I put my back against the door as my things slip from my hands. My whole body shaking. I don’t understand it. I kneel down to get my cell out of my bag and dial my mom’s number.

  “How’s it going?” Mom asked.

  I run my trembling hands through my hair as I sit on the floor. “Mom, something weird just happened.”

  “Oh yeah? What is it, honey?”

  I tell her about the random texts and everything leading up to the moment I recognized Luke. Like really recognized him.

  “Luke Denton? I’m sorry, love, but that name doesn’t sound familiar at all.”

  Tears fall down my cheeks, and I don’t like how out of control I feel. “Alright,” I say, my voice sounding braver than I felt.

  “Why don’t you come home this weekend? We’ll have a girl’s day. I think school is stressing you out.”

  I agree then hang up. The door knob turns and I jump.

  “Holly?” Blayne calls from outside the door.

  I scramble to my feet and wipe my eyes. I open the door. “Hey, sorry.”

  “You alright?” She asks hesitantly as she walks past me.

  “Just a bad day in class.”

  “Me too. My professor for Lit is such a douche canoe.” She plops down on her bed. “Let’s go out tonight. My treat.”

  “I have homework.”

  “Homework—shmo work. I’m taking you out and you’re gonna have fun.”

  “Let me check my planner and—”

  She cut her eyes at me. “Lame-o.”

  I laughed and thought about it. “Fine. I’ll go.”

  She smiled. “Yeah?”

  I nod as I start getting ready. I need to get out and have fun. I need to clear my head of this Luke guy. Most of all, I need to shake this fear that has suddenly taken over every part of me. I can feel it all the way to my bones, something is wrong and even more so, and I need to stay the hell away from Luke Denton.

  I END UP finishing my homework while Blayne is napping. I get ready and begin to re-read my texts from Luke when I hear her start to move around. I set my phone down.

  “You’re not wearing that,” she says as she sits up and rubs her eyes.

  I look down at my university hoodie and jeans. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”

  She jumps up and starts digging through her drawers. She hands me a low cut, tight fitting, long sleeved shirt. “At least put that on. I don’t even care if you wear those smelly shoes of yours.”

  I set the shirt down. “It’s below freezing outside. I’m not wearing that.” She glares at me. “Okay, okay. I’ll put the damn shirt on.”

  I pull off my hoodie and slip the shirt on. I pull my hoodie over the shirt and smirk. “There, it’s on.”

  “You are impossible, Nather.”

  I’m bored. I watch Blayne flirt with the guys sitting at our booth. I take a drink and about spit it out when I see Luke walk in with two guys. I slouch down in the seat and try my best to hide behind Mark, who’s sitting beside me. He laughs.

  “You alright?”

  I cover my face with my hand and shake my head. “Just block me.”

  Mark looks around. “From who?” He chuckles.

  “Holly?” I hear Luke’s voice and cringe. What is it about this guy that makes my hair stand on end in a familiar way?

  I peek through my fingers and groan as I let my hand fall back to my lap and sit up. “Hi.” I say through my teeth.

  “Can we talk?”

  “Did I not make it clear enough earlier today that I’m not interested in talking to you.” Maybe if I’m a bitch he’ll leave. Everyone at the table falls silent and looks at Luke.

  “I guess, but you’re not even giving me a chance.”

  Mark looks at me, and can tell I’m afraid. He turns to Luke. “Obviously, she doesn’t want to.”

  Luke smirks. “Obviously.” He looks at me and walks off with his friends.

  “Whoa, what the hell?” Blayne asks as she grabs a slice of pizza.

  I put my head in my hands and groan. “Just drop it, okay?”

  Everyone at the table goes back to their conversations about football and parties. I however, watch Luke and the two guys with him on the other side of the restaurant. I look away quickly when he catches me looking at him. I look at him again as soon as I feel his eyes turn from me. I am determined to figure out exactly who he is.

  I sit in the passenger seat of Blayne’s car, my feet propped up on the dash, and my fists inside the sleeves of my hoodie. I look out the window, trying to push Luke Denton from my mind. It’s eerie that he is so familiar, yet a stranger. And why am I craving to be near him? I sigh as I wipe the fog from the window.

  We drive around for a while just listening to music and talking. Even though Blayne drives me crazy most of the time, she is the closest I have to a friend here.

  She looks in her rearview mirror and frowns. “That car has been following us for the past thirty minutes.”

  I turn to look out the back window. “Weird. Let’s just go back to the dorm.”

  When we get to the dorm parking lot, the black Camaro drives past us. Blayne and I wait until it’s gone before we get out.

  “That was creepy,” she says as we walk in. “Maybe they thought they knew who we were, then realized we were the wrong people.”

  She shrugs.

  When we get in, she gets the box she keeps a stash of alcohol in from under her bed. The bottle is a shiny blue. “Cotton candy vodka. Want some?” She asks as she waves the bottle in my face.

  I’ve never drank before. Ever. But tonight it is tempting after the day I had. “Just a little.”

  She opens the bottle and hands it to me. I take a drink and pucker my lips as I swallow the bitter liquid. It burns my throat forcing me to cough. I hand it back to her as I wipe my mouth on my sleeve. “That tastes nothing like Cotton Candy!”

  She shrugs and downs some. She passes it back to me again. “The more you drink the less you’ll taste it.”

  I almost decline, but I take another drink. After several more drinks, I discover that Blayne was right. I’m tickled to the point of laughing at nothing, and it doesn’t taste bad anymore.

  “See, isn’t this fun? Look what you’ve been missin’! Such an uptight bitch all the time. You need to embrace the college life. Live or something…” She smiles at me.

  I laugh. Even though I feel good, I still don’t see the thrill in drinknig. “I just might do that. Live… I’m not getting rid of my planner, though. And alcohol isn’t really my thing.”

  “If you die I swear I’ll burry you with it.” She winks and takes another sip. “I just might like you, Holly.”

  I laugh. “What, you didn’t like me before I took a drink of your blue bottle?”

  “Not really to be honest. You are stuffy as hell, girl.” Her voice slurs a little. She turns on some
music on her phone and lays back in her bed, tapping her feet on her sheets. “I feel sorry for you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because. If you don’t get out of your funk, you’ll look back when you’re all old and regret being the way you are.”

  I laugh. “Maybe. But at least I know I won’t have to worry about STD’s, passing out drunk and getting raped, or something else crazy. I’m okay with safe, but I promise I’ll get out more and have fun.”

  “Baby steps.” She smirks.

  I wake up and almost jump out of the bed when I see Luke sitting at my computer desk, staring at me. I pull my covers up to my neck, remembering I don’t have a bra on, and look over at Blayne sleeping.

  “Wha—…What…You?!”

  He smiles. “Morning.”

  “Who the hell do you think you are?!” I yell.

  Blayne wakes up, covers her head with her blanket and groans. “What is the werido doing here?”

  “Good question,” I say as I cling to my sheets.

  Luke has a bag in his hands. “I brought you breakfast.” He looks at a coffee cup on my desk. “And coffee.”

  His sly grin is so damn adorable it makes it hard to be freaked out. But I can’t shake the eerie feeling that I know him in a very disturbing way.

  “And you thought you could just come into my dorm, univited, to bring it to me?”

  “I’m persistent.”

  I scrunch my eyes. “So I’ve noticed.” I take one of my hands off my sheets and smooth out my hair. I rub my eyes as I think about how to handle this situation . “After I eat and get a shower, I’ll call you.”

  “Promise?”

  I nod. “Yes. Now please leave.”

  He stands, handing me the bag of food and cup of coffee. He leaves the room and Blayne comes out from hiding.

  “Why does he have to be so attractive?!” She comes over and starts raiding my McDonald’s bag.

  I hand her the coffee too. I lay back down in my bed and stare at the ceiling. How did my life get so weird? I’d call him alright. I’d rid my life of Luke Denton once and for all.

  I make my way to the library to study for my big test in a week. I call Luke on my way.

  “Hey,” I say as I hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder. I stick a dollar in the vending machine to get a bag of M&Ms.

  “Wow, you really called.”

  “I promised, didn’t I?”

  “I thought you made no promises?” I can tell by the tone of his voice he’s smiling.

  The M&Ms drop, and I grab them. “I don’t make a habit of it.” I sit on a bench outside of the library. “I called to tell you to please leave me alone. I really need to focus on school right now.”

  “But I can’t leave you alone.”

  I scoff. “Let me guess, you have your reasons why you can’t?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Are you trying to be mysterious because you think I’ll find it attractive or are you really this annoying?”

  He laugh. “Where are you?”

  “I’m surprised you don’t know.” I mumble stalker under my breath, but loud enough for him to hear.

  “Tell me where you are, and I’ll come explain things.”

  I rubed my forehead. This is giving me a headache. “The library.” I hang up and stare at my phone. I should call him back and tell him nevermind, but I can’t. I want him to explain things so I can move on with my life.

  I’ve been studying and reading the same sentence over and over, for the past 45 minutes when Luke sits down across from me at the table for two. I’m chewing on the earaser of my pencil as I look up from my book at him.

  “It’ll be hard to talk here,” he whispers.

  I tap the pencil against my chin, and tear a piece of notebook paper out and hand it to him. He laughs and takes the pencil from my hand.

  My handwriting sucks. Let’s go somewhere.

  He scoots the paper to me with the pencil.

  I’m not going anywhere alone with you.

  I actually went to high school with you. That’s probably how you know me.

  Maybe. But explain to me why I feel like I should be afraid of you.

  He looks at me intensely.

  Maybe it’s because you’re afraid of something happening you don’t expect. But I’m not someone you should fear. There are plenty of things to be afraid of, but I can assure you, I’m not one of them.

  Why me? What’s so special about me that you’re going to great lengths to get to know me?

  Because, I’ve watched you for a long time. You stand out compared to other girls. You’ve had my attention for a while now it just took me this long to work up the nerve to talk to you.

  I tap the pencil on the table.

  Damn. You could’ve fooled me. It seems like you’re cocky enough to have plenty of “nerve” to approach a girl. You showed up in my dorm, uninvited. You commited some sort of fraud by snooping in my personal file in admissions. I could have you arrested.

  I like you, Holly. Plain and simple. I’m just a persistant guy trying to date a beautiful girl who caught his attention.

  I smile at him. Maybe he’s right. Maybe my fear is just the unknown, a kink in my perfectly planned life. And I probably did recognize him if he went to my school and from seeing him around campus, without realizing it. He deserves a chance after all the trouble he’s gone through to meet me.

  “Okay,” I whisper. “One date and if it sucks, you leave me alone. Alright?”

  “Pick you up at seven?”

  I nod.

  He stands. “See you then.”

  I WAKE UP and moan in pain as I hold my head. I look around for my alarm clock to see what time it was. I didn’t see my alarm clock anywhere. Holy shit, where am I? I sit up and have no idea how I got on this couch, or how I got this blanket on me. I look down and see my phone. It’s been smashed into a million miniscule pieces. The only way I recognize it is by the color of my case. I see Luke in the kitchen, fixing a bowl of cereal.

  “Ummm, Luke?!” I start to panic. The last thing I remember is Luke taking me home after the movie.

  He sets the box of cereal down and hurries over to me. He touches my forehead and I cringe. “It’s bleeding again.”

  I touch the spot and feel a large knot and blood. Luke goes back to the kitchen and comes back with ice and paper towels. “What happened?” I blink my eyes; they’re sensitive to the light.

  “You don’t remember?”

  I cut my eyes at him.

  “That’s not good.”

  “Just tell me!” I yell and quickly regret it.

  “You were going up your stairs and you missed a step. You fell and Blayne found you passed out. She called an ambulance and told them to find a way to get in touch with me. She stayed here last night after you came home from the ER, and she left not too long ago to go to class. You broke your phone when you fell, that’s why it’s all smashed up. Are you sure you don’t remember? Because last night you were talking with the medics, nurses and doctor just fine. They said you’d have a goose egg on your head but other than that, you seemed fine.”

  “I don’t remember a thing except you dropping me off.”

  “Maybe I should take you back to the ER. They said—"

  “Yeah, that’d be a no. I’m sure my bill is already outrageous. I’ll be fine.”

  He furrows his eyebrows as he moves my hand with the ice in it up to my wound. He holds his hand on top of mine so I can’t move it. The ice makes it hurt worse.

  “That hurts,” I whisper.

  “Like hell, I know. But you need to leave it on there to help the swelling. Maybe the pain medicine they gave you is what has your memory so messed up.”

  “Pain medicine? That sounds nice.” I lay back down and he moves his hand so I can hold the ice myself.

  He chuckles. “They sent you home with some. I’ll go get some for you but you have to eat with it.”

  “I like Lucky Charms.”

/>   “Then Lucky Charms it is.” He smiles at me and leans down to kiss my hand. I’m in too much pain to over analyze the kiss.

  “Did Blayne call my parents?” I ask loud enough for him to hear, which a bad idea is. My head hurts so badly.

  Luke comes back with cereal, medicine and a drink. “Yes, she called them. You talked to them and told them you were fine.”

  “Weird. I don’t remember that at all.” I set the ice pack aside and put the pill on my tongue. I take a drink of water and hand the cup back to Luke. “Thanks,” I say as he hands me the bowl of cereal.

  I eat slowly. Luke turns on the TV, keeping the volume low. I look around at the small studio apartment. “You don’t live on campus?”

  He mutes the TV. “No. Dorms aren’t for me.”

  “Yeah, they suck.” I set the bowl down on the floor and lay back down. “Thanks for letting me stay here.”

  “No problem.” He starts texting on his phone and looks at me. “Blayne says hi.”

  “You’re texting my roommate?” I feel a little pinch in my gut. I was starting to like Luke a little, but it won’t be long and he’ll be all over Blayne.

  “Yeah, she told me to keep her updated about you.”

  I close my eyes. “K.”

  “Do you need anything?”

  “Sleep.”

  “Can I sit with you?”

  I open my eyes to look at him. “Do you want to?”

  “Badly.”

  I smile a little. “Okay.” I move my feet so he can sit.

  He pulls my feet onto his lap and rubs them as I fall asleep.

  I wake up, and realize that being at Luke’s apartment wasn’t a dream. I still don’t remember falling down the stairs, but the goose egg the size of a softball on my head proves it. I look down at the end of the couch and see Luke asleep with one of his hands resting on my leg. I nudge him gently with my foot.

  He opens his eyes and smiles at me. “How are you feeling?”

  “Still have a headache, but it’s not near as bad as it was. I’ll live. What time is it?”