I Know Lucy (A Fugitive #1)(2)

She touched Danielle’s forearm, giving her a warm smile like the sweet lady she was.

“Danielle welcome to Sociology, why don’t you tell us something about yourself.”

She didn’t want to. I saw the flicker in her eyes. She forced a grin and turned to the class.

“There’s not much to say really. You can call me Dani and thanks for the welcome.” Her voice had a slight huskiness to it. It wasn’t high and screechy, there was nothing overly girlish about it. I immediately picked tomboy. Her shoulder length hair looked a little scrappy, she wore no make up and only had one small pair of gold studs in her ears. I couldn’t see any other jewelry, not even a watch.

She walked in the direction Miss Berry pointed, taking a seat two rows back from me. She was on the diagonal, so I used the chance to watch her out of the corner of my eye. She wore pale blue jeans and a black fitted T-shirt. Very plain and unobtrusive, except for her bright red Converse. A nice splash of color. I guessed she didn’t like to draw attention to herself, but had enough spunk to want a little flair in her life.

The fitted T-shirt obviously meant she wasn’t afraid of her figure and was more than happy to be seen as a girl. She was pretty slight, but still had a nice curve to her chest. I reverted my gaze, my cheeks flaring with warmth. But it wasn’t long before I was looking at her again, trying to build a story around my tomboy theory.

Miss Berry’s voice pulled me away from my assessment and I spent the rest of class fighting the urge to constantly turn to the side and steal another look.

I took my chance when the assignment sheets were handed out. As soon as Dani had hers, she read over the text, her lips moving in time with the words. She had soft lips. I could tell. I bet when she smiled they stretched wide across her entire face. They were thin, but they were a nice shape.

“Dude, stop staring at her,” Elliot whispered out of the side of his mouth.

“I’m not,” I mumbled back, spinning in my seat so I was facing the front properly.

“Yeah right.”

Jaeda giggled behind Elliot and wriggled her eyebrows at me.

I could feel myself blushing. In spite of this, I turned and stole another glance. Dani tucked her straight, blonde hair behind her ear as she jotted down notes on the assignment sheet. Her brows were bunched in concentration. She was obviously serious about her school work, either that or she loved to study.

I understood. I loved getting stuck into a good assignment. I realized that I hadn’t even looked over the assignment sheet in my hand and dipped my head, skimming the text as Miss Berry kept talking.

“…So make sure you divvy up the tasks equally. You will all be handing in honesty notes about your partner at the end so I know how much work you each contributed. I know I’ve only given you two weeks, but we’re under a little pressure to get through everything by the end of the year. That’s why I’m letting you buddy up.”

The bell trilled.

“If you don’t have a partner, make sure you figure out who you’re going with before you walk out of my classroom. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Everyone started packing up their things, the class erupting with the sound of scuffling papers and chairs scraping across the floor.

“So, Elliot - you and me?” I waved the assignment sheet at him.

“I’m going with Jae.” He flicked his head at her.

“Huh.”

“You were too busy star gazing, babe. Sorry.” Jaeda lightly patted my cheek.

I turned behind me. “Josh, you got a partner yet?”

“Going with Bennett.”

“Emma?” I flicked my sheet at her as she walked towards the door. “I’m in with Dwight. Sorry, Zach.” She gave me a wave as she bailed out the door.

I dropped my arm with a sigh.

“I don’t have a partner yet.”

My body froze before I could turn. Insane, I know. The very opportunity I wanted and I went statue on the situation. But her voice, I mean it was like liquid honey or something.

I fought a grin as my body finally started to behave itself. As I turned, I made sure my cool, nonchalant expression was intact. I no doubt looked like a loser. The grin in her eyes told me I’d taken it a little too far.

Clearing my throat, I scratched the back of my neck then stuck out my hand. “Zach Schultz.”

She wrapped her elegant fingers around mine with a soft smile. “Dani.”

“Good to meet ya.”

I heard Jaeda snort as she made her way out of the room. Dani’s blue gaze followed her and she gave me a quizzical look. With a crinkle in my nose, I waved my hand, silently telling her to ignore my very unsubtle friend.

“Where’s your next class?”

“Um, I’m not sure. One sec.” She dug into her pocket, pulling out a rectangular piece of paper. I took it from her and quickly scanned her subjects. Sweet, we were in AP English together as well. I passed it back and pointed to the door.

“World History’s just down the hall from my Economics class. I’ll drop you on the way.”

“Thanks.” I spotted a flash of straight white teeth in her very brief smile, before leading her towards the door.

We worked our way through the bustling corridors without saying much. We didn’t really have a chance. Dani chalked up a few glances like all new students did. She took each one in her stride, gifting small smiles that weren’t unfriendly, but definitely had a stop looking at me vibe about them.