Chaos Theory by Susan Harris

Author:Susan Harris [Harris, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing, Inc.

13

Krista made it outside the door before she whirled on me with the biggest grin on her face. “Holy hotness, Batman!”

I could only shrug when she asked if I knew any not-so-perfectly gorgeous men, and she laughed like I was teasing her, like we are already the best of friends and she found me hilarious.

Linking her arm through mine, I let her lead the way as she rambled on about her life, filling me in on her boyfriend back home, her parents, and how she wanted all the trappings of the stereotypical American life: the career, the husband, the white picket fence, and the two kids. I listened intently, nodding and smiling at the appropriate times. Suddenly, I felt so nervous; Krista was like a little ray of sunshine in a petite package, and I wanted her to like me.

And I hated myself a little for it.

We crossed the quad, walking across the bridge I’d stood on a few nights ago with the rogue. I glanced around, waiting for him to spring out of the shadows and grab me or Krista. My entire body tensed, and Krista sensed the change in me.

“Oh my,” she said, peering up at me. “I’ve been rambling on and on about myself, but I want to know all about you, Ryan Callan.”

Again, I shrugged, which seemed to be my default action nowadays. “There’s really not much to tell.”

“I very much doubt that. You are this gorgeous woman who appeared on campus with a hunky I-don’t-know-what-the-hell-you-guys-are. No one knows a thing about you. You’re a mystery, Ryan, and I love a good old-fashioned mystery.”

Shoving my hands into the pockets of my jacket, I shook my head. “I’m just an old friend of Nicky’s who decided to hang around and see what college is like. We grew up… different. Our families used to be close, and all of us diplomat kids lived and were schooled with one another. That’s it. No big mystery.”

“Are your families still close? I mean, what happened there?”

“My parents were murdered.”

Krista jerked to a halt, and I had to do the same to stop from colliding with her. The tears in her eyes made me want to bolt, but I just stood there, rooted to the spot.

“Oh Ryan, I’m so sorry that happened to you. How old were you?”

“Seven… I was seven.”

Krista tilted her head, ready to listen, and I was surprised to find myself wanting to burden her with the sad, sad tale that was my life. I wanted to tell someone who could only know half the truth, who didn’t know my parents, who didn’t really know me and could never really know me. I wanted a friend. I wanted… I just wanted.

“It was… there was a terror attack on the embassy we were staying at in Russia. They came in and killed a few of the staff and guards. My parents were attachés to Nickolai’s parents and died protecting them.”

“That is terrible, Ryan. Did they ever catch the people responsible?”

I shook my head, because it was the truth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.