Free Maverick (Maverick Academy Series) by Tate Layman

up and take a shower, she realized. Mona stuck her head and reminded her that she needed to be ready to leave in two hours, and Whit jumped out of bed. As she showered and got dressed, she thought about how much her life had changed since her parents’ car accident. A few months earlier, she’d lived in California. Now she’d moved to North Carolina, and was enrolling in an isolated boarding school in the mountains. Her life had certainly taken a strange turn. For the hundredth time in the last week, though, she told herself that moving to Maverick was for the best, and tried to believe it.

    Chapter 6
     
    For the entire trip to Maverick, Mona talked about random everyday things, while all Whit could think about was that in a matter of hours she would be all alone. She knew Mona was chattering for her own benefit. Mona sang with the radio and told stories about herself at Maverick. Whit’s brain actually listened to those. Most of Mona’s stories were funny, but lacked the information Whit needed. She still didn’t know anything about Maverick, and thought that asking Mona would just lead to a dead end, so didn’t even attempt it. She finally leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. She wasn’t tired, thank goodness, so she didn’t think she’d fall asleep. A vision would simply be too much to handle at this moment, especially with her stomach feeling the way it was.
    The curves of the road were playing havoc on her stomach, especially with her eyes closed. As she opened them, the gate of Maverick blurred by, and Whit knew they were winding their way up the school’s driveway. Mona turned off the main driveway onto a side road that led to the back of the school, and explained to Whit that Mrs. Audley had called earlier with directions for moving in. The dorms were located toward the back of the school, Whit remembered from the school tour. They were heading directly there, instead of going through the front doors.
    Mona parked in a space directly in front of the girls’ dorms. As Whit got out of the car, she looked around at her new home. It was the middle of a Sunday afternoon, so several students were lounging under trees and around picnic tables. Whit continued to glance from group to group, trying to figure out how each person was special. She just couldn’t believe that these people were vampires, werewolves, and witches when they looked so normal. One girl caught her staring and waved before Whit could look away. Whit’s cheeks blushed, but the girl stood up and approached Mona and Whit with a huge smile on her face. She was tiny, probably not even 5 feet tall. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was obviously very athletic. She was wearing running pants and a t-shirt. She wasn’t beautiful, but there was something about her that drew Whit’s eyes. She almost appeared to glow.
    “You new to Maverick?” she asked.
    “Yeah, moving in today,” Whit replied, pointing toward the packed car. The girl looked Whit over from head to foot and then stuck out her hand.
    “I’m Rory. It’s nice to meet you. Welcome to Maverick,” she said, smiling.
    “Hi and thanks. I’m Whit. Well actually its Whitni, but everyone calls me Whit. This is my Aunt Mona,” Whit babbled.
    “ Need help? I can help with your stuff. Or even better than that, get my friends to help too, and we can do it all in one trip. The elevator doesn’t work, so you have to use the steps. And I’m just guessing here, but you look older, so your room is probably near the top,” Rory said with a giggle.
    “Yeah, I’m a sophomore. My room number is 712, so that means the seventh floor right?”
    “Yep, that would be th e seventh floor alright. I’m a sophomore too, and right down the hall from you in 715. Okay, wait here and I’ll run and get some more muscle to help you lug your stuff upstairs,” Rory said as she raced back to the picnic table she had previously been sitting at. Whit watched as