Chapter One
CHAPTER ONE
FALL, FIFTEEN YEARS AGO
Anna took a shaky breath to calm the jackhammer in her chest as her professor rattled off a list of names from the podium. The guy seated to her right shot a pointed look at her worn-out sneaker, and she pressed a hand to her leg to still the nervous tapping.
The person whose name her professor was about to call had no idea that Anna’s future was riding on them. As one of only a handful of high school kids who qualified for this free college program, this project was her shot at a scholarship, at a life where she wasn’t always looking over her shoulder.
The sharp crinkle of paper in Dr. McGovern’s hand echoed through the lecture hall as her finger slid down the list and then stopped.
Anna clutched the hem of her hand-me-down T-shirt as she waited for her new project partner’s name.
“Gabriel Weatherall.”
Her gaze flew across the room to the tall, dark-haired guy slouching in his chair, idly rolling his pen between his fingers.
He hitched his chin to acknowledge her and then looked away. Less than a second later, his head whipped back, and his mouth dropped open in an almost comical enactment of a double take.
Well, it would’ve been comical if her whole life wasn’t at stake.
She forced herself to flash him a friendly smile.
As his eyebrows rose and his lip curled in disdain, Anna felt her scholarship slipping from her grasp.
Dr. McGovern paired off the remaining students on her list and then started her lecture, but Anna didn’t hear a word of it. She perched an elbow on the desk and pulled her brown hair in front of her face as if she cared about things like split ends. Gazing past her long bangs, she took in Gabe’s thick black hair, fraternity T-shirt, and arms folded across his broad chest in a posture of complete self-confidence. Half the girls in the class would kill to work with Gabe for the next two semesters, but, oh my God, she wished she’d gotten almost anyone else.
This was her second class with him, not that he ever noticed her in the back of the room. But she knew who he was. Gabe was the poster boy for having it easy. He moved and spoke too confidently to have ever experienced hardship, and he was the kind of guy whose parents had told him he was smart and special from the day he was born. Everything he did reflected this, from how he jumped right into arguing a theory with a professor, to the way the sorority girls flocked to him, and he paid them just enough attention to keep them coming back—but never enough to limit his options.
Okay, so Gabe was smart, and more than once, she silently agreed with him when he was making a point in class. But he was too attractive, too arrogant, and too unrestrained. She needed a partner who would put his head down, not draw any attention, and work like crazy. Or better yet, back off and let her take over. Gabe Weatherall wasn’t going to do either of those things.
After class, Gabe headed for the door surrounded by the group that he always sat with, not bothering to spare Anna a glance. She took her time as she carefully put her books in her backpack. Hopefully, Gabe would be too distracted to remember to wait for her, and maybe she could sneak away and contact him later about the project. If she did some research first, she could plan out what she wanted to say when they actually met up in person.
But when she stepped from the room, Gabe was leaning against the wall, alone, and watching the door. His eyes met hers, and her stomach did a slow roll. They were the palest blue, bordering on silver. Eyes like that didn’t belong on a person with hair that dark, and yet, there they were. Staring back at her like storm clouds with the sun peeking through. How had she never noticed them before?
She gave herself a mental shove.
Storm clouds? Stop it.
Gabe flashed his palm in a half-assed wave, and she slowed her steps.
“Hi.” She stopped in front of him and forced her lips to curve upward. “I guess we’re partners on this project.”
Gabe didn’t bother to return her smile. Instead, he looked her up and down. “How old are you?”
She clutched her notebook to her chest to hide her oversized hardware store T-shirt. One of her mom’s boyfriends had left it behind after her mom kicked him out. He was a plumber, and she’d been sorry to see him go. He was one of the few nice ones, and it was the only time the radiator had worked without having to bang on it with a can of peas. The T-shirt was too big, but that’s what she liked about it. It was easier to hide behind.
But why hadn’t she remembered that today was the day they’d be getting their partners and tried a little harder? Now she was conscious of swimming in that enormous T-shirt, especially since she was pretty sure she’d lost some more weight recently. And being over five foot nine didn’t help either. Most of the time her height only highlighted her awkwardness. A boy in her high school once told her she reminded him of Bambi, all knobby knees and giant brown eyes. He’d thought he was giving her a compliment.
Well, the best thing to do was act confident. Luckily, she’d gotten pretty good at acting lately. She cleared her throat. “Nice to meet you. I’m Anna Campbell.”
Gabe blinked. “Are you a freshman?”
“And… what was your name again?” Anna pulled her shoulders back and stood up to her full height. That always worked at her job at the grocery store when she was dealing with an angry customer. But damn it. Gabe was still six inches taller and didn’t look the least bit intimidated. Though he did look amused.
“Gabriel Weatherall. My friends call me Gabe.”
“Well, Gabriel. It looks like we’ll be working together for the next two semesters. So maybe we should swap emails and make a plan to meet.”
Gabe hesitated for long enough to make her squirm. Was he considering how he could get out of this? Finally, he plucked her notebook from her hand and opened it to a blank page. Scribbling his name, email address, and phone number, he murmured, “Best way to reach me is to text.”
He handed her notebook back, and she slowly wrote down her phone number and email address. He held out his hand to take it, but she hesitated.
Anna couldn’t text him. She didn’t have a cell phone, just a crappy cordless landline that had been in the apartment when they moved in. She curled her toes inside her sneakers and forgot she was supposed to be acting confident. “I, um... Email is really better for me, if that’s okay…” She didn’t have a computer either. Or Wi-Fi. But she practically lived in the library and could use the computer lab there.
He took the paper with her information and studied it as if it contained some clue to who she was. “Sure, whatever. So, when can you meet?”
She pressed her lips together. He wasn’t going to like this. “Well, I can’t really meet during the week. I’m only on campus on Tuesdays for classes.”
Gabe ran his hand through his hair, making it stick out sideways. At least he wasn’t the kind of guy who used fifty pounds of gel in his hair. “Okay. I have a car,” he said. “Where do you live? I can meet in your neighborhood, or we could work at your place.”
Her breath caught at the idea of this attractive, confident, clearly wealthy college guy coming to her apartment to work on their project. He’d think… Her cheeks burned. She couldn’t even imagine what he’d think. It didn’t matter because it was never going to happen. But they were going to be spending a lot of time together over the next two semesters. So, she had to tell him at least a little bit about herself, as much as it pained her. “Look, I can’t meet during the week. I’m in school all day. And after school, I work.”
She watched the confusion spread across his face. “You’re in school all day. School, like…”
“School, like, high school.”
“ High school? ” His head jerked back like she’d taken a swing at him. “What are you doing in global economics? Usually seniors take this class.” Gabe laughed, but his face was grim. “ College seniors.”
“I’m in a free program for promising high school students.” Anna didn’t mention the part of the program aimed at “low-income” or “at-risk” students. She hated the phrase “at risk.” She didn’t need a reminder of all the risks involved in her situation right now. “It’s really competitive. I’ve been taking classes since I was a sophomore. When I graduate from high school, I’ll be able to use the credits toward my bachelor’s degree.”
Not to mention if she aced this project, she’d be on every professor’s radar when she applied for honors scholarships.
Guys like Gabe didn’t have to worry about scholarships.
“Since you were a sophomore,” he repeated. “And now you’re a…?”
She sighed. “I’m a junior. I’m sixteen.” Gabe was a college senior, probably twenty-one already, so Anna could sympathize with his surprise at ending up with a high school student as his partner. But surely he knew Dr. McGovern wouldn’t have let her in the class if she didn’t belong there.
He pushed away from the wall and took a step toward her. “Seriously? Sixteen? The most important project of my college career, and my partner is still waiting to hit puberty?”
Maybe Anna was only sixteen, but suddenly her body ached like an old lady’s. She’d unloaded boxes at the grocery store until ten o’clock the night before and then stayed up past midnight doing homework. Every night that week would be the same. She didn’t need to stand here and listen to this.
Pressing her hands to her hips, she glared at him. Up close, those eyes weren’t so special. Calling them silver had been a stretch. They were nothing but gray. Murky, dishwater gray.
“Look, I can do the work. I’ve gotten As in every class I’ve taken. I work hard. You won’t have to carry my weight. So you’ll still have time for hazing freshmen and getting sorority girls wasted on cheap beer, or whatever it is you Theta Chis do in your spare time.”
She regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth.
Gabe took a step back. “Wow.”
Could this have gone any worse? It wouldn’t surprise her if he went to Dr. McGovern and demanded a different partner. She’d practically had to beg to get in the class, and if Gabe switched to another group, she’d really be screwed.
Gabe’s eyebrows knitted together. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you’ve got it all wrong.” Anna was about to stammer out an apology when his mouth twisted into a smile. “Theta Chis are way too classy to offer girls cheap beer. We usually go with mixed drinks.”
Anna stared at her sneakers to hide her smile.
Gabe sighed. “Look, we’re stuck with each other, so we might as well get to it. Do you work on Sunday?”
She shook her head.
“Let’s meet at the library. Noon?”
She nodded, still half expecting him to try and switch partners.
“I’ll do my best to drag my hungover ass out of bed.” He took off down the hall and, without turning around, called back, “Try not to get grounded between now and Sunday.”
As Anna watched his tall frame round the corner, she slumped back against the wall. How were the two of them going to work together without killing each other?
If the past five minutes were any indication, it was going to be a very long year.
***