Begin Again (Again #1)(17)

His sonorous voice triggered my goose bumps again; it had nothing to do with feeling cold. I swallowed hard. He was so close now that I could see every wrinkle around his eyes and the turn of his lips as he smiled.

“Is that what you always do up here? Give girls proof?” I asked and looked away. Damn Kaden, with his damn presence and his damn confusing comments.

“I’ve only ever been here with Ethan and Spencer. This was just your entrance exam,” he explained, sinking back on his elbows. He tipped his head back and turned his face toward the sun.

“And?” I asked, wrapping my arms around my knees.

He raised his chin a little. “And what?”

“Did I pass the test?”

Kaden’s expression was impenetrable. “I don’t know yet.”

We sat in silence for a while, and I let the beautiful view over the valley sink into me. I was proud of myself. Not just because I’d made it up the mountain, but in general. Because I’d made it to where I’d wanted to be for so long. This outing represented everything that had happened since I left home.

“Thank you,” I murmured. My eyes were burning again, but this time I could blink the tears back in time.





Chapter 6


The night before my first college class, I was so nervous that normally I would not have gotten any sleep—but I’d just climbed a mountain. My deep sleep must have been thanks to the exercise and fresh air.

But the excitement returned when I opened my eyes that morning, and when Dawn and I sat together in our first literature class, we were euphoric with anticipation.

But reality hit quickly, bringing us back to earth.

We were sitting in the middle of a huge, overfilled lecture hall. I could barely follow what the professor was saying because the noise level was so high.

“How are things with the asshole?” Dawn whispered. Over coffee that morning I’d already told her about the party on Saturday night and had to submit to her interrogation. Apparently this was the next question on her list.

“He’s grumpy, but I think we’ll manage,” I said after a pause. “Yesterday he took me on a hike.”

“Is that a code word for something perverse?” asked Dawn, her eyes bright.

I tried to suppress a laugh, but a gurgle escaped.

A girl sitting in front of us turned and glared at me.

I covered my mouth with my hand. “No,” I muttered. “We really went on a hike.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to see the landscape, and he loves to hike,” I said, shrugging.

Dawn giggled. “Oh, that I believe—that Kaden really likes hiking.” Now the girl in front of us was throwing us a furious look.

“Shhh, Dawn,” I scolded her with mock seriousness.

Before our afternoon lectures—Dawn was taking creative writing, and I was taking a class on Film and TV—we headed for the dining hall.

After waiting in the long line, Dawn took a portion of mac ‘n’ cheese, and I chose the tortellini with vegetables.

“I wouldn’t take that if I were you,” someone whispered right behind me, just as I was about to order the dish.

I jerked back and nearly dropped my tray.

“Ah, the strange roommate,” Dawn said.

Only now did I turn to look at Kaden. He wrinkled his nose and ran a hand over his short hair.

“Why not?” I asked.

“The filling is awful. Sometimes there’s gristle in it.”

I nodded and pointed to the next dish. This time, too, Kaden shook his head and made a strangling noise.

“What’s wrong with the fried vegetables?” I asked. Now his eyes lit up, and I ordered, with a shrug.

As the lady handed me my plate, Kaden grabbed it away and put it on his own tray. “That’s because you didn’t leave any coffee for me today,” he said and headed to the cashier.

My mouth hung open in indignation.

That jerk! I turned back to the lady but she was already helping the next student in line.

“We can share,” Dawn said, indicating the yellow mush on her plate. I sighed and agreed because I didn’t feel like waiting in line all over again.

Kaden would get his due when I saw him at home later.

Dawn and I sat at a table with some other freshmen we’d met during orientation. We ate and shared impressions of our lecturers and classes so far, and we talked about where we were living. It turned out a few of us had toured the same apartments when looking for digs.

“The first thing one guy told me was that he wouldn’t fool around with me if I moved in,” said a boy who said his name was Scott.

“Would you have wanted to?” I asked.

“Oh, 100 percent, yes!” he moaned, rolling his eyes. “He was a real dreamboat, I’m telling you. Tattoos, muscles and a very erotic voice … I would’ve moved in just to hear him read me a bedtime story.”

We burst into laughter.

“Allie knows about that fooling around rule all too well,” Dawn teased.

Now it was my turn to moan and roll my eyes. But unlike Scott, I was annoyed.

“Wait. Are you talking about the same guy?” asked the girl diagonally across from me, sitting up straight.

“Oh, you must mean Kaden White,” another girl said, dreamily. I choked on a noodle. “He’s at the top of my list.”