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

Luke Denton, male, 20 years old, and damnit, Blayne was right—very attractive! His dark hair was cut just enough not to cover his edgy eyes. I continued to scroll through his timeline.

January 1
^st
at 10:00 pm. Woke up late this morning which sucks because I missed the test I studied so hard for.

January 2
^nd
at 3:30 pm. I saw her again today. How can a girl affect me like this?

Comments:

Lizzy Smith: *inserts finger in mouth to create a gag reflex* Luke, you are so pitiful! Get off Facebook and go introduce yourself! Who is this girl anyway? Didn’t you just break up with Laura?

Brody Matthews: Luke, you seriously need a night out. Text me later.

Laura Nelson: Yes, Lizzy, we did break up. It was mutual though, no hard feelings.

Luke Denton: Brody, yes. Yes I do.

Wow
. Is he talking about
me
? Not that I care… Wait, how did he get
my
number? Did I mention he is
really
attractive? Oh my god, Blayne is rubbing off on me. I slam my laptop shut and groan as I leaned back against the wall.

Me: You really should set your profile to private. Hasn’t anyone told you it’s not safe to put your info out there?

Luke: I thought you were going to bed.

Me: I was. But this really strange person started texting me and has me really freaked out. Now I can’t fall asleep. So thanks…

Luke: Yes, that was stupid of me. How about I find you on your way to class tomorrow so I can properly introduce myself?

Me: You don‘t even know me.

Luke: But I want to know you.

I stare at my phone. I don’t know what to say back. But for some reason I want him to find me. I want to meet him even though I know it’s stupid. I peek out my window one last time before closing my blinds. He isn’t there anymore, and I feel disturbed by the whole situation and slightly disappointed, which annoys the hell out of me.

I WAKE UP
before my alarm normally goes off at 6:00 am. It’s earlier than my typical start of the day and really cold. I forgot to turn on the small space heater, and apparently so did Blayne. She doesn’t get up until after I leave to run, get coffee and breakfast. I swing my legs over until my feet hit the floor and stand to stretch. I check my phone and see that I have a new text.

Luke: I look forward to meeting you today.

Me: Has anyone told you that you’re weird? And, it’s early.

Luke: Possibly, and I’m well aware of the time.

Who does this guy think he is? I don’t know what’s so special about me that makes this guy so eager to meet me.

I go to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Looking in the mirror reminds me of how ordinary I really am. I’m not ugly, but I’m nothing special either. I brush my wet, dark brown hair that’s shoulder length and straight as an ironing board. Even if I wanted to curl my hair, it’d be pointless. I smudge foundation over my olive colored skin and work extra hard to cover my freckles.

As I finish getting ready, I replay the text messages from Luke in my mind.

I walk into the room and see Blayne still sound asleep. “Blayne,” I say quietly while lightly tapping her on the shoulder.

She doesn’t move. “Blayne,” I say louder. This time she moves, but only enough to throw the covers over her head. “Whatever, be late,” I say while sitting down on my bed.

I put on some socks, and my vans. These poor shoes are so worn out, but I love them dearly. A new pair just wouldn’t be the same. I start blow drying my hair, and Blayne finally rolls out of bed, giving me the evil eye for waking her up. I smile sweetly and keep drying my hair.

It doesn’t take me long to finish getting ready. I grab my things and headed out the door.

“Holly Nather,” I heard from behind me.

I turn, and when I do my hair sticks to my lip gloss. I tuck it securely behind my ears and Luke laughs. I smile a little and hold tightly to my backpack straps. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

I look up at him and scrunch my eyebrows. “So. . .”

He smiles. “Can I walk you to class?”

“Um…” I wasn’t use to this kind of attention. I was the safe girl guys stayed away from. Never the type of girl who guys offer to walk to class. “Sure,” I say more as a question than a statement.

“You don’t sound sure.”

“Because I’m not.”

“Do you want me to walk you to class?”

I loosen the grip on my straps so blood can flow to my fingers. “Do
you
want to walk me to class?”

“I offered, didn’t I?” He laughs.

“Yeah…” We start walking. “How did you get my number?”

“I can’t tell you. You would think I’m even scarier than you already do,” he says as he takes my backpack from me to carry.
That was sweet.

“Well, seeing that I already think you’re borderline lunatic, it can’t possibly hurt to tell me.”

He bites his lip to keep from laughing. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But, only if you promise you will still talk to me and not be freaked out.”

“I make no promises.”

He laughs and smiles slightly. “I help out in admissions, and I know where they keep student files on the computer. So, I looked you up.” It annoys me that he looked proud of himself for pulling a stalker move.

Not hiding my sarcasm, I say, “Okay, that’s not scary at all.” Even though I’m freaked out by this guy, I’m also a little flattered that he went to great lengths to meet me.

“So you broke into the student files to find me?”

He nods.

“Weird.” I mumble.

“Well, we are here. Here is your backpack. Do you want to meet me after all of your classes today? About 1:30 at the park on campus?” He places his hands in his pockets.

How does he know I’m done with class by then?
Oh yeah, my file. Again, I don’t get it. This attractive guy went through all of this trouble to meet a boring, safe girl with dirty vans.

“I guess that sounds okay.” I feel the urge to grab my calendar and pencil him in, but that’d be tacky. I knew I would as soon as I was out of his presence. The fact that this was not on my calendar and planned out did a number on my OCD.

He smiles widely. “Meet me at the bench under that huge weeping willow.”

I turn to walk into the building where psychology class is awaiting me.
How am I supposed to concentrate after that?
He seemed less strange, a little charming actually. I pull out my planner as soon as I sat down.
Oh! Shit! I forgot to put my phone on silent!
I hit the silent button, trying to remain incognito, in hopes the professor didn’t hear it go off as the text came in.

Luke: 1:30. Don’t forget.

I laugh. How could I? I had penciled him in as soon as I sat down.

I MAKE MY
way to the campus park, but stop when I realize I forgot to get my backpack from my last class. As I pull out my phone to text Luke to let him know I was going to be running late, I notice there is already a new text from him.

Luke: You forgot your things in your last class. I got them for you.

Just as I’m about to text back, I look up and see him standing in front of me with my things.
How did he do that? How did he know?

With confusion all over my face, I ask, “How did y—”

“Don’t ask questions. Just say ‘thank you,’” he cut me off, smiling as he hands me my backpack. But, I’m not satisfied.

“No, you have to explain that! I just left class. There is no way possible y—”

He cut me off again. “I decided to wait for you after your last class. I saw you walk out, and I happened to notice that you didn’t have your things with you. So, I went in and got them for you. I tried to catch up with you, but you were apparently in a hurry to see someone.” His smile is so mysterious and cocky, making him even more attractive and somewhat distracting me from his odd behavior.

I stare at him while shaking my head in disbelief. How did I not see him when I left class? I decide not to push the topic anymore. I continued walking to the weeping willow. I sit down and placed my things on the ground. Luke follows suit. For a while, there is a long awkward silence.

I break the silence. “So, tell me about yourself. You seem to know so much about me, but I know nothing about you.”

“My name is Luke. I’m 20 years old. I’m from… Florida… I’m studying at Stanthum University to get my degree in Science. Eventually, I want to become a doctor.” He runs his hands through his perfectly messed up hair and leans back against the tree. His arms folded across his chest. “I really don’t know that much about you. I only looked in your file to get your number and figure out what classes you were taking so that I could try to meet you on your way to or from one of your classes. So, tell me about you.”

“Before I do, tell me why you’re so damn interested in getting to know me?”

“I have my reasons.”

I glare at him. “You have your reasons? And you think I’m supposed to accept that as a logical answer?”

He laughs. “I never said it was logical. And yes, I have my reasons.”

I cross my arms. “Which are?”

“We’ll get to that later. Right now I want you to tell me about you.”

I wanted to argue and make him tell me what the hell he meant by having reasons, but I was worn out by his weirdness. I start picking at the polish on my nails. “There’s really nothing to tell you. I’m ordinary and boring. I’m a freshman and taking basic classes right now.” I shrug and survey how dingy my shoes are.