Page 3 of All the Ways You Save Me
Adam clears his throat. “I’ll look for him after class.”
The guy shrugs and wanders off. I glance at Adam. Was he about to ask me to a party?
We’re at the door to the building now, so instead of finishing whatever it was he was about to say, he pulls it open and holds it for me. Inside, hundreds of students’ voices echo in the halls and I’m jostled by kids weaving around me in search of classes and friends. My school on Sandy Harbor was small, less than a hundred kids per class, and the student body at Maple Ridge High is huge in comparison. Suddenly, I’m overwhelmed again.
And then Adam does that thing where he gently takes me by the elbow, this time guiding me off to one side, out of the fray. “It’s a lot at first, but once you’ve been here for a few days, you’ll get used to it.”
I stare up at him. How did he know what I was feeling? “Do you think so?”
“Absolutely.” He nods. “What room is your first class? I’ll help you find it.”
I pull my schedule from my bag and hand it over.
He waves a hand down a hallway. “Okay, it’s this way. Most of the senior core classes are down one hallway. I’ll show you.”
This time when he takes me by the elbow, I lean in under the guise of avoiding hitting kids walking toward me in theopposite direction. A few minutes later, we’re standing in front of the classroom door.
“Thank you,” I say, looking up into those piercing blue eyes again.
“You’re welcome.” He hesitates as if he doesn’t want to leave, but the bell rings, and the apples of his cheeks take on that pink hue again. “Well, I should go.”
I glance into the classroom. “I’d hate for you to be late,” I say, wishing he was in this class with me, and not just so I’d have someone to sit next to. In a school this big, it might be a month before I run into him again.
He turns to head down the hall and then quickly spins back around toward me. “Any plans for lunch?”
I shake my head. Lunch is the period I’ve been dreading the most. At least in class, I can put my head down and pretend I’m not totally alone at a new school. But it’s going to be obvious I have no friends when I have to sit all by myself in the cafeteria. “My only hope is to find the lunchroom at all,” I joke to hide my nerves. “If I manage that, it will be a success.”
Adam’s eyes focus on mine, and I get that feeling again like he’s really seeing me. “Come and sit with me and my friend. We’re always at the table in the back on the left side of the cafeteria. Just go past the drink station, and we’re right there.”
A huge weight lifts. “I’d love that. Thanks. I’ll look for you.”
This time when he turns around, he really does leave. But I catch a glimpse of him looking back at me before I head into the classroom, a smile tugging at his lips.
Maybe starting at a new school my senior year won’t be so bad after all.
My first class is AP English. I slide into a seat in the back of the room next to a blond guy in another swim team T-shirt, and he glances in my direction. His gaze goes back to the front of theroom, and then almost as if he’s realized he’s never seen me before, he turns back again. From the corner of my eye, I watch him look me up and down. I shift in my seat uncomfortably.
“Hey,” he murmurs under his breath, drawing the vowel in the word into two syllables.
“Hey,” I whisper back, keeping my gaze to the front of the room as the teacher introduces herself as Ms. Maddox and starts scribbling on the whiteboard.
“I’m Jason.”
I don’t want to get in trouble talking in my very first class, but I also don’t want to seem stuck up on my first day. It’s not exactly the best way to make friends. I remember Adam, and my face heats. I press my hands to my cheeks, and Jason’s eyebrows shoot up. Maybe he thinks I’m blushing becausehe’stalking to me.
I steal a glance in his direction, and I’m immediately struck by his muscular arms and broad shoulders. He has the solid neck of a swimmer, which would explain the T-shirt, and his short blond hair looks like it’s still damp from practice this morning. As his lips curve into a wide smile that shows off straight, white teeth, his hazel eyes crinkle at the corners.
This is the second really good-looking guy that’s talked to me in the last five minutes, which was not a regular occurrence back on Sandy Harbor. It’s also the second time in the last five minutes I wish I had a friend I could analyze it with. Unlike Adam from the parking lot, something about Jason gives me the feeling that he knows he’s attractive. He reminds me of the wealthy private school kids on Sandy Harbor who sailed at the country club where Josie worked as a server.
“I’m Madeline,” I whisper back and then sit up straight in my chair and try to look like I’m concentrating on what the teacher is saying. But at this moment, she’s instructing us to pair up with a partner and tell each other about a book we read overthe summer. The girl to my right turns toward the person on the other side of her, so I spin in my chair and face Jason.
“Hi, Madeline,” he says, his grin widening. “Looks like we’re partners.”
“I guess so.” I blink at the gleam of his white teeth against golden skin. Those private school boys on Sandy Harbor didn’t pay much attention to me and my friends, and Jason’s scrutiny is leaving me flustered. I look down at my notebook. “Why don’t you tell me about the last book you read?”
“Why don’t you start?” He stretches his arms back, tilting his head back and forth on his thick neck like he’s sore from working out. “I’m on the baseball team and swim team, so I don’t have a lot of time for reading over the summer.”
Is he trying to impress me? I can’t help comparing his energy to Adam’s. I get the feeling Jason won’t be able to laugh at himself if I call him out on his cheesy line.
