Rush by Tori Minard

a runaway. Was that why Max had
chosen that song to sing?
    Or maybe he was only referring to the
name of the town—Avery’s Crossing.
    We crowded into the dining room and
chose our seats, Paige and I taking chairs next to each other. Tiffani, the
chapter president, was her usual glossy brunette self, complete with cat-eye
makeup and nails lacquered in navy blue. I could smell her perfume from my seat
halfway down the table from her. She presided over all our house meals as if
she were queen instead of a sorority house president.
    “You’re awfully quiet tonight,” Paige
said.
    I nodded. “I’ve got some things on my
mind.”
    She leaned closer to me. “Would one of
those things start with the letter M?” she said in an undertone.
    “You know I can’t talk about that.”
    Her eyes sparkled as she smiled at me.
She loved having secrets, even if she couldn’t keep one worth a damn. I
wondered how many people she’d told so far. Maybe I’d gotten lucky and she hadn’t
spilled the beans yet.
    “Have you dealt with the big M lately?”
she said, continuing the stage whisper.
    “No.” Yes. Was I blushing? I hoped not.
    “What are you two whispering about over
there?” Tiffani leaned over the table. “Don’t keep secrets.”
    “Oh, Paige is just teasing me about my
class load,” I said.
    Tiffani wrinkled her nose. “I know we
say our education is the most important thing, but let’s not talk about classes
tonight. ‘Kay?”
    “Sure, Tiffani.”
    Paige kicked me under the table. She was
probably planning to corner me as soon as possible and wring every bit of intel
regarding Max out of me. Since I didn’t want word getting out, I’d just have to
slip out of the house and sneak back to the dorms before she could get me
alone.
    ***
     
    On Monday, the first class I had was in
essay-writing. I didn’t actually need the class to graduate with a French
degree, but it seemed like the kind of thing that might come in useful later. I
took a seat in the middle of the room, just out of the reach of a broad bar of
early morning sunlight streaming through the old double-hung windows.
    A big male body slid into the desk next
to mine. I glanced over as I set my laptop on the desk and did a double-take.
Max. Max?
    “What are you doing here?” I whispered.
    “I’m in this class.” He smiled smugly at
me as he stretched his long legs to the side of his desk.
    “No, you’re not.” I returned his smile
with the fiercest glare I could muster. “You’re following me.”
    “That’s so not true. I’m really in this
class. Ask the prof.”
    I glanced at the man standing by the
lectern. “But I thought this was your first year. This is an upper division
class.”
    He smirked. “I’m just that good.”
    I still didn’t believe him. Shaking my
head, I turned back to my laptop and started setting up a file for my notes. I
would not look at him or notice the utter fineness of his body, nor would I think
about the way his black hair slipped forward over his eyes in that irresistible
way that made me want to touch it.
    “How are you?” he said in a low tone
that seemed to get inside me and make my whole body vibrate.
    “Fine,” I said, still not looking at him.
    “No delayed reaction from that fall?”
    I glanced at him sideways. “You’re the
one who took the most damage. Are you okay?”
    “Never better.”
    I ran out of busywork. My file was set
up and the lecture hadn’t begun yet. I could continue avoiding his gaze, but
what would be the point? The longer I refused to look at him, the ruder my
behavior would be. Still, I couldn’t encourage him. Trent might hurt him if he
found out Max was flirting with me.
    I turned to Max. “You’d better be
careful. Trent sometimes meets me after this class.”
    “He does, huh? That’s too bad.”
    His lingering gaze seemed to imply he
wanted to be more than friends. That was hard to believe, given my
shortcomings, but the long looks continued and I didn’t know