Free Maverick (Maverick Academy Series) by Tate Layman Page A

she explained the situation to her friends. Rory pointed toward Whit, and suddenly Whit found herself being checked out by three tall boys. Rory dashed back to Whit with them and introduced each boy with a grin.
    “G uys, this is Whitni,” she said with a wave of her hand. Before Whit could correct her name, Rory did if for her. “She goes by Whit though, and that’s her Aunt Mona. Whit, this is Tavis, Darian, and Alec. They have graciously volunteered to help you move in,” she said with a laugh and a roll of her eyes.
    As the group surrounded Whit, she was able to examine each boy better. All three boys gave Whit a little nod or wave before glancing toward the car and her pile of stuff. Whit stared at the boy named Tavis for a moment longer than was polite. He was just so tall and muscular. He had black curly hair that was all disheveled and made him look like he’d just woken up from a nap. Darian, on the other hand, was just as tall as Tavis but had a lanky runner’s body. His ball cap covered his hair and hid his face, so Whit really couldn’t get a good look. While Whit was looking at Darian, Alec stepped in front of her.
    “W hat room you going to?” he asked.
    Whit quickly answered with her room number , and stared at Alec. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember why. Maybe from a dream or maybe she had seen him on her visit to Maverick. He was a little taller than her, but not by much. His hair was reddish brown and cut close to his head. His nose and cheeks were covered in freckles, and he had a friendly smile.
    “Y ou want us to grab stuff and head up?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows at her stare.
    “That would be wonderful. We appreciate all of you helping us,” Mona replied cheerfully.
    “Yeah it’ s really nice of you guys. It would’ve taken us at least four trips if we had to carry it all, and that’d be a lot of steps,” Whit said with a laugh. She knew she probably sounded like an idiot, but she was determined to make at least one friend out of this bunch. That way she wouldn’t feel so lonely when Mona left.
    Everyone loaded their arms with boxes and suitcases, and headed toward the front entrance. Rory kept the conversation going with complaints about the weight of the box she was carrying, but soon the boys started ignoring Rory and focused on Whit.
    “D o you know who your roommate is?” Darian asked with a huff as he climbed up the fourth flight of stairs.
    “Yeah, I think her name’ s Nalini or Nalini, something like that.” When the boys heard that, they immediately looked at each other and grimaced. Whit glanced toward Rory to see her reaction, but her face remained blank. They obviously knew who this girl was, so she decided to just go ahead and ask some questions about her new roommate.
    “Do you guys know her ?”
    All four of them nodded , but no one spoke immediately. Alec finally stopped walking and looked at Whit. “Yeah, we all know her,” he said with a frown. Before Whit could ask about the frown, he continued. “Her name is Nalini and … well, to tell you the truth, we don’t know her that well , I guess.”
    Whit knew they were lying , but wasn’t sure she wanted to know what they were thinking. She let the conversation die and the group continued climbing in silence. When they finally reached the seventh floor, the boys moved to the side so Whit could open the door to her room. She knocked loudly so she wouldn’t scare her new roommate by bursting in on her. When no one answered, she unlocked the door and stepped into her new home.
    It was a 12-by-12 square. Whit looked over at Nalini’s side of the room, where a huge Twilight movie poster hung over the bed. Whit thought that was slightly ironic, since there were actually vampires who went to the school. Nalini’s bed was covered in a dark red quilt and her dresser and desk looked like absolute chaos. Whit skimmed her eyes over her empty side of the room and knew that she would feel better once