Chameleon Soul (Chequered Flag #1) by Mia Hoddell Page A

a surge of protective desire had me wanting to break down the door to get to Raine. Fear for her pumped the blood faster in my veins until I could hear it in my ears. If she was in trouble I wanted to help.
    “You need to go home, Teo.”
    “Like hell am I going home. Tell me what’s happening.”
    Dustin had his hand on the door, and when I lunged forward to try and push past him, he shut it again. Standing in front of it, he kept a hand on the knob and glared at me. “Go. Home. Teo. I’ve got this.”
    Wide with panic, my eyes darted around the hall. I didn’t know what I was expecting to find and finally they locked on Dustin’s gaze once more. “What’s going on?”
    “No. Let me go! Please !” Raine screamed and my blood boiled.
    “Is someone in there with her?” I fumed, my heart rate increasing even more.
    “No. Remember what I said? It’s been a rough year. Now go home and let me deal with this.”
    Stunned by the thoughts careening in my mind, I wasn’t quick enough. Dustin slipped into the flat and I’d only started to lift my foot when the door slammed in my face.
    “Dustin!” I shouted, banging on the wood, but I got no answer. When fifteen minutes had passed and I’d not heard a single sound, I headed down to my car.
    I could see the lights on in Raine’s room, but there was no movement. I hated that Dustin was the one in there with her and always had been. No matter how much time had passed, and all the shit that had gone down, I wanted it to be me. Yet I hadn’t been enough. She’d always chosen Dustin over me, and I had no idea why.
    Even if I wanted to comfort her I couldn’t. I didn’t know the first thing about what was going on, and I swore I was going to find out. She wasn’t going to push me away this time because I wasn’t leaving until I got my answers.
    This time I’d fight for her.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Raine
     
    I didn’t mention the nightmare Dustin had woken me from the next morning and neither did he. We’d gone about our usual routines, granted with much less eye contact, and I avoided the conversation because I was disheartened, not because I was embarrassed. It was hard to be embarrassed around Dustin. He’d already seen it all, numerous times. Finding him in my bed the next morning had stopped becoming awkward long ago. What had me dipping my gaze was shame. I’d thought I’d been improving. When I’d awoken the previous day after having slept the whole night through, I believed it to be the start of the next phase of my recovery. I guessed everything with Teo had just been too much.
    Walking through the university hallways on my way to class, the constant stares didn’t escape my notice. Typically, I could make it from one end of campus to the other without one person taking note of my presence. Today, every so often someone would stare and whisper.
    At first I told myself I was being paranoid and that people weren’t interested in me. It was a ridiculous notion to think they’d be watching me, and I wasn’t self-centred enough to believe it. Nevertheless, when it happened repeatedly on my way to class it became too much to ignore. Self-consciously I ran my hand over my face and hair, figuring something had to be out of place or stuck to me. When I came across nothing, I looked down at my clothes. They were my regular, plain, nondescript items; nothing that should have drawn attention to me. Quickening my steps I lowered my head and kept my gaze on the floor. If I couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see me, right? Well, maybe not, but at least if I didn’t see them I didn’t have a panic attack in the middle of the hallway. The familiar burn was already rising in my chest as a fist closed around my lungs to make each breath shallower.
    I entered my class and found a seat by Nadine. Rather than grin at me like usual, when she looked up the expression she wore was grim.
    “What’s going on? Why do you look like