Page 76 of Silent Heart

Cami turned, put her hands on her hips, and raised her voice to be heard over the distance. “Har? Aren’t you coming?”

I waved her off, scanning the crowd just one more time. No, no one was outright watching me. That tingle at the base of my neck was definitely a lack of caffeine.

Trust your instincts, farm girl.I pushed that thought away. If city life taught me anything, it was that humans weren’t nearlyas awesome as animals. Our sixth senses, which were faulty to begin with, were only suppressed by technology, gridlock, and a disconnect from nature.

Taking fast steps, I fell beside my companion. “You said you had something to talk about?” I prompted.

“I think you and I should be suitemates,” Cami Joe said in that no nonsense business tone that made her seem far more grown up than she was.

“As if we don’t see enough of one another?” I laughed. Since classes started, we’d been practically inseparable these last eight weeks.

“Joke all you want, I’m sharing a suite with three girls, and they’re partying more than just the weekends. You might only have one suitemate, but she doesn’t clean. It’s a win-win,” she said matter-of-factly.

“We can’t just ask my suitemate to move,” I protested.

“I can be very persuasive.”

A chill ran down my spine. There were moments like these where I felt the shadows surrounding this young girl’s life slip out of the closet where she kept them locked tight. This one had secrets—lots and lots of secrets.

“Well?” Cami Joe stopped abruptly, brow arched and exasperation written on her features.

“I’ll think about it,” I evaded. While what she said about her and my assigned suitemates was true, it was almost scary how she simply decided something and had not only the resources but the will and strength to move mountains.

“Well hurry, I want to arrange it all this weekend if possible, so we can start fresh on Tuesday.” Cami hiked her duffel bag over her shoulder, and we continued to walk towards the student parking ramp.

“How did you do on the Scholffield’s midterm?” I asked about the one class we didn’t share.

“Likely aced it.” There were brown spots under her eyes. She hadn’t put on makeup this morning, and the poor kid looked even younger this tired.

“You need to sleep this weekend,” I insisted. “Don’t stay up cramming to get ahead just because it’s fall break.”

“Same to you,” she grinned.

Oh, I would! A four-day weekend back home with only me and my grandparents. It would be heaven, quiet and peaceful. There were books to be read, but most importantly, there were animals to play with. I was taking Lilac on a ride first thing tonight. In the parking lot, a blacked out pickup truck pulled to a stop. A nagging feeling washed through me. It wasn’thistruck. But damn if it didn’t look similar enough to bring up the memory of my summer romance.

The woman who jumped from the driver’s seat was not who I was expecting. She was gorgeous. While we were probably the same height, she carried herself like royalty. Not that I had experience with aristocracy. But this woman was effortlessly expensive, nailing that chic, vintage look. Her blazing red hair was tamed to fall in a waterfall of vibrant hues to her curvy waist. Even with that fiery hair, her smile was the warmest thing about her.

“Laurel! I didn’t expect you,” Cami Joe squealed—actually squealed—and ran forward to embrace the woman.

I stopped short, gaping at the pair.

“We wanted to take our little scholar out for lunch! To celebrate your glowing success on the midterms,” the woman beamed.

“I haven’t got the grades back.” Cami rolled her eyes but grinned broadly at her. “Where’s Dan-dan? I thought she was coming.”

Laurel’s smiling features tightened. It was the smallest shift, but if I hadn’t been staring at the women in disbelief, I wouldn’t have noticed.

“She’ll be there!”

“Laurel?”

“Nothing’s wrong, we’ll explain,” Laurel insisted.

Cami gave her a flat look.

“Dani is waiting for us,” Laurel said. “Now! Who is your friend that we are so rudely ignoring?”

I shook myself, but it did little to come out of the stupor I was in at seeing my too serious, incredibly driven classmate—and probably soon-to-be suitemate—become a real person. “Hi! I’m Harley. Cami and I are in a lot of the same classes.”

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