Maverick (Maverick Academy Series) (11 page)

Whit awoke with a gasp.
She pushed herself into a sitting position before cradling her head in her hands. Her hair and clothes were wet with sweat. She ran her fingers through her hair.

It
was the strangest dream she’d ever had. It was like something was stalking her, but at the same time she had a purpose or a job that needed to be accomplished. Feeling dazed and sluggish, Whit glanced at her watch, which glowed 3:49. Good grief, she’d slept most of the night away in the television room on her first night at Maverick.

She
gingerly got up from the couch, feeling sore and bruised, and walked silently down the hall to her room. She cracked the door open and found the room dark, but not pitch black. She crept into the room and saw Nalini peacefully sleeping in her bed. Whit quickly changed into her pajamas and slipped into bed. She set her alarm clock for 7:00, so she could shower and at least feel human before her first day.

She didn’t want to think about
Nolan or acknowledge that he was one of the reasons she wanted to look good. According to Ellie and Rory, he flirted with everyone, which meant she wasn’t special. Plus, he had a girlfriend. Whit knew the last thing she could handle at this point was getting her heart broken by someone who was already taken or switched girls every other day. Whit decided right then that she wouldn’t let Nolan get to her. She would be nice, but not flirty. She wouldn’t be one of his many conquests. As she tried to go to sleep and put Nolan out of her mind, several of the visions from her dreams replayed behind her eyelids. Why would she have been in a dark room wandering around? And worse who had grabbed her? Had they meant to hurt her? She felt the fear starting to take hold and knew she needed to stop thinking about it. As if that was possible. Putting the dreams out of her mind, she concentrated on Nalini’s deep breaths until she finally fell asleep.

Chapter 10

By the time Whit’s alarm sounded, she felt like she’d been through a war. She hadn’t had any more dreams, but had tossed and turned after waking up in the television room. She felt more exhausted now than she did before she went to bed. The dream had never entirely left her mind, either, and she still remembered every part of it. It didn’t make any sense to her. Was it going to happen to her? Was someone going to chase her into a hallway with torches, and why would that even occur? What about the part where she became invisible – could she actually do that? The questions continued to crowd her mind.

Whit leaned her head back against the bed’s headboard and glimpsed the clock
: 7:20. Good grief, she’d been laying here for twenty minutes. She looked over at Nalini’s bed and wasn’t surprised to find it empty. Nalini seemed like the type of girl that needed plenty of time to perfect her makeup and hair. Whit sighed and rolled out of bed. After grabbing her bathroom bag and towel, she hurried to the hall bathroom. She wasn’t surprised to find several girls crowded around the mirrors. At least that was normal. Whit wanted things to be as normal as possible.

Each hall of the dorm had its own bathroom
, she knew, so there would only be a limited number of girls in here. The bathroom was made up of five shower stalls and toilets, and also an area with several sinks and mirrors. Whit was thankful that one of the shower stalls was empty. The water felt heavenly to her tired body and overwhelmed mind. As she stood under the warm water, she tried to focus on positive thoughts. This school was going to be a good thing. She would learn to control her dreams, and everything was going to be okay.

After wrapping her towel around her body, she rushed back to her room and pulled on jeans and a black t-shirt.
Whit had been surprised by the lack of uniforms. She had assumed that all boarding schools required uniforms, but not Maverick. Students had to adhere to a dress code, but it was similar to the one at her old high school. The dress code was easy to follow, and the only pieces of clothing she couldn’t wear in her closet were her jeans with holes in the knees and her tank tops. She felt relieved not to be required to wear the little schoolgirl skirt and blouse. That would’ve sucked. But Whit found clothing was easy compared to her hair.

Whit ran back to the bathroom to try to
tame her hair. After several minutes attacking her chin-length brown hair with a round brush and a hair dryer, she smiled. At least her hair was behaving today. She brushed mascara over her lashes and dabbed a little lip gloss on her lips. With a glance at her wrist, Whit swore and dashed to her room to grab her backpack. She threw a notebook, pen, wallet, and a book she’d started reading inside, then snatched a hoodie from the closet. She didn’t really know what she would need, but she wanted to be prepared.

As she
walked out of the building, she saw Nolan sitting on a low wall in front of the dorms. When he saw her, he stood and grinned. Whit felt an unwanted tingle in her chest and reminded herself that he had a girlfriend and was a terrible flirt. He grinned at all girls, and she wasn’t going to be affected. He really was too good looking for her peace of mind, though. Today he wore a dark green American Eagle shirt with a pair of jeans. His shirt couldn’t hide the muscles beneath, and Whit sighed a little against her will.

“Hey,”
Nolan greeted in a gruff voice, rubbing his eyes.

“Hey,” Whit re
plied. “You okay? You look a little tired.”

“Yeah, I d
idn’t sleep very well. Mark, my roommate, decided to snore a little louder than usual. It doesn’t normally keep me up, but shit, last night it was like a freight train was in the room with me.” He laughed tiredly. “I tried to cover my head with a pillow and I even threw the damn pillow at him, but nothing worked. I finally had to put my earphones on.” He shook his head.

Whit knew she needed to focus on something els
e before she developed a crush and became just like every other girl at Maverick. Besides, she had places she needed to be. “Well, I better head on to breakfast since I’m running behind. I’ll need all the help I can get to make it through this day.”

“Don’t sweat it
. I bet we’ll even have a class or two together. I hope so at least.” He winked.

Whit
settled for a casual wave, and turned toward the cafeteria. The walk was peaceful, but inside Whit felt frantic and nervous. When she got to the cafeteria, she tried to focus on the various food lines and what they were serving, but did a double take when she saw Nolan and his girlfriend arrive hand in hand and head off toward the cereal area. She wandered over to a pastry and muffin stand and selected a banana nut muffin, being careful not to look in Nolan’s direction. He had a girlfriend and that made him off limits. Whit would never mess around with another girl’s boyfriend. She just couldn’t do that to someone, especially not after she’d seen what cheating had done to her best friend in California.

Her name was Melanie and she’d been dating this guy Brent, for almost a year.
Whit remembered that Brent had been a big flirt, like Nolan. She’d even warned Melanie that she’d seen Brent flirting outrageously with several girls, but Melanie had been blinded by love. That was until Melanie caught Brent at a party with another girl. She’d been heartbroken for months after that and Whit had worried about depression at one point. Melanie had finally gotten over it, but never trusted guys the same again. The experience had also made Whit realize that she needed to be careful who she got involved with and not to give her heart too easily.  

Not wanting to sit alone, s
he glanced around for Ellie or Rory, but didn’t see either. After she grabbed a cup of orange juice, she walked toward a table in the corner. Accepting that she would be alone, she pulled out
The Stand
by Stephen King. Whit loved reading his books, and knew that if anything could take her mind off her upcoming day, it’d be one of his stories. She started reading it, but the noise from the surrounding tables kept intruding. Her nerves weren’t helping, either.

After reading the same page three times,
she finally gave up on reading and glanced around. She saw Nolan sitting at a table close by, surrounded by attractive girls, and wondered how his girlfriend felt about competing for his attention. She knew that she would never be happy with someone like that. Whit forced her attention back to her breakfast and started to pick at her muffin when someone walked over and put their tray on her table. It was so unexpected that Whit jumped and immediately looked up into Nolan’s eyes.

“Why’
d you sit over here by yourself? You could’ve sat with us,” he explained with a grin as he pulled out the chair next to her out and flopped into it. Before she could say anything, he continued, “So let me get this straight, you wanted to sit alone instead of with me?”

“Yeah, that was it,” Whit joked with a roll of her eyes.

“I know
my table was full, but you could’ve pulled up a chair beside me. Hell, if I’d realized you were that shy, I would’ve grabbed a chair for you myself or saved you a seat.” He grinned.

“Well, I was
really okay here,” Whit responded, but Nolan kept on.

“I guess I should’ve remembered that you’
re new and therefore skittish,” he said with a deep laugh and a nudge to her shoulder. “So after you finish destroying that muffin, how about I take you to the main office to get your schedule? You know, give you a tour?”

Before Whit could respond
, Nolan’s girlfriend, the pretty blond from last night, came over and put a hand on his shoulder. He peeked up at her and smiled. They whispered for a minute, and then she turned and walked away. However, before she walked too far, she threw a nasty glare over her shoulder directly at Whit.

“What was that about?” Whit asked
as she watched the girl stomping away. She’d already realized it was because Nolan was sitting with another girl, and actually sympathized with the girl. She would’ve gotten angry too, if he were her boyfriend. Plus, did he think it was okay to flirt and lead her on when he had a girlfriend? What a jerk!

Nolan shrugged and rolled his eyes
. “She was just upset because I said you needed help finding your way to the main office. I explained I was trying to be nice to you since you didn’t know anyone. She wasn’t too happy about it, I guess. It doesn’t really matter, though,” he finished with another shrug of his shoulders, like he didn’t care what she thought or felt.

“Okay
first off, I can find the main office by myself. I don’t need any help. Secondly, I don’t remember asking you for assistance. Lastly, wasn’t that your girlfriend?”

“That was Caroline, she and I are
… friends,” Nolan explained with a smile.

“Yeah right
. I saw you two making out pretty heavy last night in front of the dorm. If that’s what you expect from your friends, then don’t expect us to be friends. I don’t get involved with flirts or players, if you prefer that title,” Whit said. She felt annoyed with Nolan’s attitude over the girl, and knew that if she didn’t get away from him soon, she would start ranting about respect and what a jerk he was. She needed to get away before she embarrassed herself.

Whit
got up with a small fake smile and wrapped the remainder of her muffin in a napkin before peeking at Nolan. He was watching her with a slight curve of his lips like he found her reaction entertaining.

“I think I’
ll find my own way to the main office, but thanks for the offer,” she said sarcastically. She quickly walked away. As she exited the cafeteria, she glanced back and saw that Nolan stood watching her with what she thought was a very amused smile.

When Whit entered the main office
, she introduced herself and inquired about her schedule. The secretary searched through a filing cabinet until finally withdrawing a folder and flipping to a page at the back. After making a copy of the paper, she handed it to Whit, who looked over her list of classes. A moment later, she heard the office door open and shut behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and there stood Nolan. She grimaced.

“I just can’t get away from you, can I?”
she asked in exasperation, turning back to the secretary. Nolan only responded by hovering over her shoulder so he could look at her schedule. Whit felt irritated by his attitude and the way he treated girls. She hated that he continued to pursue her even though he had a girlfriend, it just wasn’t right. If she was his girlfriend, she’d dump his ass.

“Hey, we have advanced biology and
PE together,” he whispered in her ear as his hand squeezed her shoulder. “You still have to take the placement tests, so you’re not enrolled in a specific English or math yet. You also need to pick another elective. I’d advise either tech or home economics. Those are two of the best electives. They’re both pretty fun. I mean in home ec you basically cook and eat the whole time. It’s great. That’s my elective.”

Whit sent a fleeting snarl
toward his hand on her shoulder. Nolan immediately removed his hand and took a step back, and she felt a little guilty. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure how to treat him. She was annoyed at his flirtatious ways, but had to admit to herself that Nolan touching her made her heart pound. It was just his looks. Any girl would react to a gorgeous guy touching her. She just needed to remember that he was a jerk and womanizer underneath all that beauty.

Before Whit could respond about the elective class, the first bell rang.
Nolan grabbed Whit’s hand and pulled her out of the office and down the hall. As they neared a classroom, Nolan squeezed her fingers and let go. Whit missed the warmth of his hand immediately. No, she could not develop a crush on him, he would break her. Her heart was already broken by everything that had happened with her parents. If anything else happened to it, she would be destroyed. Besides, he probably just liked the idea of a new challenge. She couldn’t afford to take him seriously.