Shadowed Strength: Shadowed Series Book One by Wendi Wilson

that quick peck on the lips from David
Heron in ninth grade, but that was the extent of her experience.
    Would Jeremy know I’d never done it if he kissed me? Would he
be disappointed? Probably. I have no clue what I’m doing. She left her last class with a frown pulling at her
lips.
    “Ugh,”
she said aloud and breezed through the double doors into the bright sunshine
outside.
    It
was warm for early April in southern Georgia, so Melanie took off her sweater
before walking through the parking lot to Tara’s car. She tied the arms of the
sweater around her waist, looking down as she walked forward and stepped off
the curb.
    What
happened next was a blur; she heard a loud noise and at the same time felt
steely arms cage around her middle and pull her back. As she was falling, which
felt like a movie in slow motion, it registered that the noise was a car horn
and screeching tires.
    Then
she thought, Oh, crap, I’m falling, and the arms around her rib cage
tightened and slowed her fall.
    Her
eyes were squeezed shut and her breath was held as she waited for an impact
that never came. She released her pent up breath and opened her eyes. Jeremy’s
eyes stared back at her, really close.
    Huh, his eyes are lighter near the pupil, closer to amber
than dark brown, she thought for a
brief second before the position of their bodies dawned on her and she nearly
panicked.  
    She
was leaning back at a forty-five degree angle, wrapped in Jeremy’s strong arms.
He was holding her entire weight off the ground with those arms, and one leg
had slipped between hers to balance the weight of their two bodies. His nose
was nearly touching hers, their faces so close that all she would have to do is
lift her chin to steal a kiss. That gorgeous curl had flopped onto his forehead
again.
    “Uh,
thanks,” she said and tried to disentangle herself from him without falling on
her butt.
    “You’re
welcome,” he replied and pulled her completely upright, but didn’t release his
grip. His eyes grew tense. “You could have been really hurt, Mel. These jerks
drive like idiots through the lot, and you know it. You have to pay attention.”
    Melanie
blushed at being chastised by him. She didn’t know whether to be angry that he
was being so bossy, or flattered that he seemed to care so much.
    “Sorry,”
she mumbled. Why hasn’t he let go of me yet? she thought.
    As
if he heard her thoughts, he released her and took a small step backwards.
“Just be more careful, okay?”
    Melanie
saluted like a good little soldier and said “Yes, sir!”
    That
put a half grin on his face. He shook his head, then said goodbye and turned
around and walked away. Melanie, carefully checking both ways for traffic,
walked through the parking lot to find Tara sitting in her car with a
dumbfounded look on her face.
    “What’s with you?”
Melanie asked as she slid into the passenger seat.
    “What’s with me?
What’s with you and Jeremy, is what I want to know.”
    “What do you
mean?” Melanie asked, pretending ignorance, buckling her seatbelt.
    “Mel, he walked
you to second period and kissed you!”
    “On the forehead,”
Melanie interjected.
    “Pshht. It was a
kiss. Then you too showed up at lunch together practically holding hands…”
    “We were not!”
    Tara continued without
acknowledging the interruption. “and then, he gave you mushy, puppy dog
eyes all through lunch…”
    “What?!?”
    “…and don’t think
I didn’t notice the knee bumps under the table. Then, he races across the
parking lot like Superman or something to rescue you from an oncoming car, and
holds you in the classic damsel-in-distress pose for, like, ever. I thought he
was going to kiss you and carry you off into the sunset or something. Now
spill. Every single detail.”
    “Wait. Wait. What
do you mean he raced across the parking lot? He was close to me when it
happened.”
    “Nope. He was
three rows over and about six spaces down. The only reason I know for sure