Chapter 10
I woke up with the sun. We’d forgotten to close the curtain last night, and Cress groaned as the soft morning light filtered through our bedroom window. I’d slept surprisingly well considering it was my first night in a new place. But now that I was awake, I had no hope of returning to sleep.
Cress grumbled again and pulled a pillow over her face. She’d come in much later than me last night, and I quickly rose from my bed to close the curtain. We didn’t need to be up for a couple more hours, and I was sure Cress would want to go back to sleep.
By the time I turned back to face the room, her breaths had become slow and deep once more.
I was impressed by how easily she’d drifted off.
There was no way I could go back to sleep once I was up, so I decided to get dressed.
I threw on a pair of shorts, a tank, and my running sneakers.
I was feeling kind of jittery about starting school, and I figured a little fresh air wouldn’t hurt.
The corridor was silent as I made my way outside.
Everyone was still sleeping after the party last night.
I was glad I’d decided to bail early. I’d heard quite a few girls arriving back at the dorm in the middle of the night.
They were crashing around and laughing as they kept trying to shush each other.
I was guessing they’d had too much to drink and probably felt terrible this morning.
Even Cress didn’t make it back until nearly midnight.
She didn’t seem too drunk, but she was definitely tipsy.
She liked to giggle when she’d been drinking and thought putting on her pajamas was hilarious.
The air was crisp as I left the dorm, and the golden morning light showered the school in a beautiful, almost unearthly glow.
I never understood why some people hated early mornings.
They were, without a doubt, the best part of the day.
I loved seeing the sunrise, and I always felt a kind of boundless hope that anything was possible as I watched a new day begin.
I set off at a light jog, heading toward the lake and the forest beyond.
Whenever I went for runs back home, I’d always jogged along the beach.
I loved the gentle sound of the waves lapping against the shore and the warm salty breeze rushing through my hair.
There was nothing more soothing than watching the morning light shimmer over the waves or seeing the water devour footprints in the sand.
While Weybridge was no less beautiful, it was definitely different.
Everything felt so lush and green here, and the smell of tree sap and pine needles permeated the air. The lake was like a mirror this morning, perfectly reflecting the clouds floating above it, and birds chirped as they woke to greet the sun.
I still couldn’t believe this place was to be my life for the next year. I didn’t want to like it here, not when I’d been forced to come here, but it was hard to hate the school. Especially when I’d already started to make some friends.
I followed a path past the lake and into the trees.
The forest was gorgeous under the early morning sun.
Dark shadows still clung to the leafy foliage, but soft shafts of sunlight managed to creep through the canopy above.
As I breathed in, I was hit by the earthy smell of loam and the sharp fragrance of pine.
The ground crunched pleasantly beneath my feet as the cool air brushed against my skin.
For a moment, I didn’t have to worry about the crazy situation I’d been put in.
It was just the forest, my loudly thudding heart, and me.
The path became uneven as I ventured farther into the woods, and the shadows creeping across the ground grew darker as the canopy overhead thickened.
I kept my eyes on the forest floor, making sure I didn’t trip.
I was clumsy at the best of times, and with tree roots poking up through the dirt path all around me, there was a high chance I wouldn’t make it out of the forest safely.
I was so fixated on the ground I didn’t see someone approaching until it was too late.
I heard the scrape of footsteps ahead of me and quickly lifted my gaze.
But I didn’t have a chance to stop. All I saw was the brief flash of a guy’s bare chest before I slammed right into him.
I clenched my eyes shut as his strong arms wrapped around me, caging me to him as we fell.
He grunted as we hit the ground, and the wind rushed from my lungs as I landed on top of him.
I let out a small groan. Damn, that hurt. It could have been a lot worse. If the guy had landed on top of me, I knew I’d be suffering a whole lot more.
“Shit, are you okay?” His voice was deep and rumbly and far too familiar. It only took a few seconds for me to realize who I’d landed on. I closed my eyes a little tighter, hoping that if I kept them shut then perhaps it wouldn’t be true.
“Isobel, are you okay?”
Nope, his voice only confirmed it. I was sprawled across none other than Noah Hastings, and given how closely we were intertwined, I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me so I could disappear.
Slowly, I blinked my eyes open. Noah was staring up at me with a slight frown crinkling his brow and concern flashing in his green eyes. They were almost the color of the trees surrounding us; far too pretty to belong to someone so arrogant.
“I’m fine.” I tried to push myself up, but it was a little hard to do so without touching Noah’s chest. His firm skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat, which only added to his appeal.
It wasn’t hard to see why all the girls at school were so infatuated with him.
Without his shirt on, he looked like a Calvin Klein model.
It really wasn’t fair. No one should look this good.
I realized I’d been staring at his chest a few seconds too long, and I scrambled to get off him.
I was rushing, and as I started to move, I noticed an unpleasant ache in my ankle.
I ignored it, tripping over myself as I hurried to get away from him.
I must have looked like one of those baby fawns trying to take its first steps because just about every movement I made was a little frantic without being particularly successful.
Noah let out an irritated huff. “Here.” He took hold of my arm to help me balance.
His touch made my skin prickle and set off a fluttering sensation in my stomach. The tingles caught me by surprise, and I jerked out of his grasp. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”
I avoided looking him in the eyes. I didn’t want any tingles caused by Noah Hastings, and I could think of nothing worse than letting him know he’d affected me that way.
I’d given into those kinds of feelings once before, and things with my ex hadn’t ended well.
I wasn’t stupid enough to go and get a crush on the one guy at this school I’d been directly warned about.
Definitely not one who was also already entangled with another girl and who appeared to be Levi’s Weybridge equivalent. Nope, I wouldn’t be doing any of that.
I went to put pressure on my aching foot, but the moment it bore any weight, my leg collapsed under me, and I staggered right back into Noah. He caught me easily and helped me stand tall once more.
“You know, most girls just flip their hair or bat their eyelashes,” he said. “I have to admit, you’re the first one to try running into me.”
He was still lightly touching my arm to steady me, and I shook him off. “You think I did that on purpose? It was an accident.”
“You wouldn’t be the first girl to do something crazy to get my attention.”
My mouth dropped open. The nerve of this guy. I’d been right to think Noah’s beauty was only skin-deep, and I was starting to wish he had heard me after the party last night when I’d said as much. “There’s something wrong with you, you know.”
A flicker of uncertainty seemed to flash in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by the look of superiority he seemed so fond of. “I’m not the one falling all over a guy to impress him.”
When I’d met Noah outside the dorms on my first day, he’d been grumpy and indifferent to almost everyone, especially the new girl.
But clearly, that was him on a good day.
I’d never met someone so conceited in my life.
Sure, he was gorgeous, but who could actually stand spending more than two minutes with him?
Perhaps that was why I hadn’t seen him speaking much last night.
No one could actually put up with him once he opened his mouth.
I stepped back from him, making sure to walk lightly on my sore foot. It took a concerted effort not to wince in pain from the small amount of pressure I placed on it. Something was definitely wrong with my ankle, but I didn’t want Noah to know it.
“Well, I can see my planned collision has failed to get you to fall in love with me, so why don’t you run along and we forget this ever happened.
” I turned before he could respond and began to hobble away from him.
I was moving painfully slow and could feel him watching me as I continued to struggle.
Why wouldn’t he just leave? Would this embarrassment never end?
He let out a heavy breath. “I can see you’re in pain. Let me help you back to school.” It must have nearly killed him to make the offer, but I had zero intention of accepting his help.
“I just need to walk it off.” I said the words with hope rather than conviction.
“Walk? You look like you need someone to carry you …”
I ignored his comment. I couldn’t begin to imagine what would happen if the whole school saw me emerging from the trees cradled in Noah’s arms. Every girl here would put a target on my back.
And Noah? Well, playing the hero would probably inflate his big head so much his neck would collapse under the pressure.