Free Strange and Lovely (Part 1) by Rachel Redd Page B

sat in the trunk of my car. I wished Declan could have come with me, so at least I could use him for his biceps.
    I stepped back out and locked the door.
    “Hey, freshman.”
    A guy stepped up to me. He had short blonde hair, and he wasn’t exactly tall. He pointed to a sticker on his chest that read Adam . “I’m Adam. Your R.A. Do you need help with anything?”
    “No, I’m good,” I said. “I just have two more boxes to get.”
    “Oh, Sam and I can help you with that,” Adam said. He looked over to his shoulder where a guy and girl were talking. “Ay! Sam ! Be useful!”
    Sam turned around. He had light blonde hair that was spiked up with gel. He was tall and lithe. He wore a button up shirt with khakis. Pure prep. Sam strolled over to Adam and I. His swagger oozed the comfort of wealth. When he smiled at me, there was something strange about his teeth, like a jagged snagatooth. The guy had no tan, exactly the opposite. Pale. He stuck his hand out.
    “Samuel Larousse, Head Chair of Omega Zeta, at your service,” he purred. Adam rolled his eyes.
    “She needs helps carrying her boxes, not finding a way to your bed,” Adam said.
    “It can’t be both?” Sam asked. I walked past them to the stairway. They both followed me. We all flattened against a wall as a student carried up a flat screen.
    “So, you never told me your name,” Sam said as we started walking again.
    “I know,” I said. He laughed.
    “Okay, I get it. Smart freshman. Ivy League. Which means that you didn’t buy your way into the school,” he said. “You know about stranger danger. So, let’s talk and I’ll no longer be a stranger.”
    I stepped down to the first floor and walked through the door. I parked my Suzuki hatchback near the entrance, so it only took me a few long strides to reach it. I popped open the trunk. Curiously, Sam remained indoors, perhaps to avoid the summer heat, as Adam looked over my car.
    “She’s definitely not from money,” Sam said.
    “Are you mocking my poor hatchback?” I asked.
    “It’s a red car with a blue door,” he said.
    “Junkyards are cheap,” I shrugged. “But you don’t look like you know what cheap is.”
    “It’s the sound a chicken makes,” he said, picking up one of my boxes when Adam approached the door. I laughed. Adam carried the other box. Sam grinned. “See, I can be fun.”
    I shook my head, closing the trunk. “My name is Rory.”
    “Rory?” he asked.
    “Short for...Aurora,” I admitted. He smirked. “It’s not that funny.”
    I opened the door for them, and they walked back into the dormitory.
    “I wasn’t smiling because I thought it was funny,” he said. “I was smiling because...it’s adorable.”
    I groaned, walking behind Adam as they lumbered back on the steps. “Don’t say that.”
    “Adorable,” he repeated. When we reached the third floor, and walked toward my room, I found that my door was open. I walk into the room and found a girl. She wore so much pink I barely saw her standing there. She had a spiral of pink bracelets slipping up and down her arms. There was something peculiar about the way her skin glistened like crystals and the rosy pinch in her cheeks.
    “Hi!” she exclaimed, bouncing over to me. She wrapped her arms around me and then stepped back. “My name is Kaylee Barstow.”
    “Hi, Kathy,” Sam said deliberately.
    “It’s Kaylee,” she replied with her fists dug in her sides. I heard the sound of bracelets clapping against each other as she folded her arms. “K-a-y-l-e-e.”
    “Hey, Kaylee,” I said. “I’m Rory.”
    “Aurora,” Sam whispered behind me. I jabbed him with my elbow. Instead, it hit my box, and I winced. He laughed and then set the box inside the room. Adam set the other box on top of it. Sam nodded at Kaylee’s side of the room. “Let me guess...you like the color black.”
    She laughed. It sounded like tiny bells ringing.
    “You sure pegged me,” she chuckled. “I am just chock full of angst,