She did not have the patience for this, her nerves barely hanging on by a thread. She would probably snap at someone just for bumping into her.
Maddy wandered inside the large school entrance and couldn’t help but take it all in again after so many years having gone by since she had last set foot here. As high schools went, this was a decent one, with its combination of terracotta hues and whites, surrounded by plenty of greenery. She’d walked these grounds thousands of times so her steps traced the building she knew so well, taking her to where she remembered her classroom to be.
She wasn’t one of those people who looked back on their school days with an air of fondness and nostalgia. The weather was pretty much always gloomy this time of year, with frequent drizzles and an ever-present overcast sky, casting the whole building in a somber mood. Those off-white, almost yellowish walls used to haunt her dreams, so roaming these corridors sure made it fun.
When you were the bookish, quiet, type that didn’t want to be involved in a lot of things or stir trouble, like she was, popularity would be so far away it could as well be on a different planet.
But she would take everything in stride, Maddy decided, straightening her spine. Firstly, because she wasn’t a teenager, even if she looked like one. And secondly, because what she really wanted was to find a way out of this mess while she tried to understand how she had landed herself in this situation.
As she was checking her bag, making sure she had all her books, her skin prickled at the bottom of her nape and a shiver went through her, the kind of shiver someone might get when they’re being watched. She turned and immediately tried to scan the area, chasing the source of that feeling, but it was practically impossible with dozens of students scattering around trying to get to their classes.
That strange sense, though, never dissipated. It followed Maddy all through her first torturous hours of maths, history and English, up until the first big break that signaled lunch. She’d been going through the motions all morning and she was looking forward to some uninterrupted time with food, away from rowdy and very loud teenagers.
As she was trying to locate a place to eat with moderately less people, a strong hand gripped her arm out of nowhere and shoved her unceremoniously into what appeared to be a deserted chemistry lab.
Okay, ouch. That certainly hadn’t been very nice. She opened her mouth to say exactly that when she was suddenly whirled around.
A pair of chocolate-brown eyes met hers, a hand still holding her firmly in its tight grip.
Nathaniel Keaton was looming over her, as he practically growled his words right into her face.
“What did you do?”
She inhaled sharply as it all came rushing back.
three
It had been one of those days from hell, where everything seemed to be working against her.
Maddy had been rushing to get to work, having slept in for the first time in forever, exhausted by the load of projects in her editing job. She had decided to walk a small distance until she could get into a cab since the subway would be absolutely packed at that time of day, and she had not been in the mood to be shoved around and pushed to the limits of her barely there sanity so early in the morning.
Making her way down the busy street, loud honks and abstract pieces of conversation floated towards her from the commuters milling around her. The absurd levels of tiredness must have made her somewhat unfocused, her attention severely compromised, because next thing she knew, she was bumping into a man’s chest so hard that she was flung right off the edge of the pavement, the curb making her trip and stumble into ongoing traffic, her ankle almost turning. She’d never felt more disoriented and out of place, the buzz of voices around her getting louder and louder.
She’d barely had time to realize what was happening when a pair of strong arms came around her and a familiar face filled her vision.
A frantic honking sound reached her ears and they both turned to see a car gunning towards them, no sign of stopping in sight. It was as if time had slowed down, or maybe it was just her perception of it. She’d never felt more torn between freezing in place and letting terror hold her captive, and desperately trying to spring into action.
Instinctively, she tried to push the man off her and onto the safety of the sidewalk but his arms wouldn’t budge. Instead, he tightened his embrace even further, turning her towards the warmth of his chest, cupping her head protectively and averting her eyes from what was about to happen.
Her breathing turned shallow and she could feel the loud thumping of the man’s heart against her ear, so fast that it matched her own. She braced for the impact but when she raised her head and looked into the man’s eyes, the spark of recognition was so sudden that she gasped out loud.
“Nate?” she whispered.
And then darkness enveloped her.
four
The sudden recollection of that fateful day, the events that had led up to that incident, the fear she had felt, caused Maddy such a violent whiplash that she felt the urgent need to sit down or risk crumbling on the questionably clean floor.
The only problem was that there was a very angry and very young Nate still holding her arm, with a scowl on his very pretty face, so sitting or crumbling would probably have to wait.
Had he asked her a question?
“What did you do?” Nate pressed again.
Oh yes, that was the question.
“What did I do?” Maddy quipped back at him tentatively, trying to gauge the chances of this guy popping a blood vessel right in front of her eyes.
