The Past Came Hunting by Donnell Ann Bell Page A

and yanked on the flimsy metal door. He lifted his hoodie off the loop, grabbed his English lit and crammed his Geometry text back inside. Technically, he could slack off because he was injured, but he wasn’t about to be late. Luke might not be on the court today, but he planned to own it in the near future.
    Through the double door windows at the end of the hallway, he saw it had started to snow and he groaned. Maneuvering on crutches had turned out to be a royal pain. That and English lit class. Holy snap, Mrs. Carson had it out for him. The woman had to be some kind of evil teacher spy . How else could she know when Luke was caught up in his other courses? And why had she made it her goal in life to load him up with even more? Add basketball to his schedule and he could forget about free time.
    And adults thought they had it rough.
    Something tickled the back of his neck and he swatted at it. When it happened again, he knew it wasn’t something, but some body . Expecting one of his teammates, Luke pivoted to tackle the freak, and whoa! He caught his breath.
    The body behind Luke wasn’t a freak. She was a girl―a very cute girl.
    She wore a heavy coat, but there was no missing the curves in her legs. Luke swallowed hard. Nice long legs.
    “Nice to meet you, Luke Norris,” she said, eyeing his crutches and tossing her straight blond hair over her shoulder. “I’m Jen. I’ve seen you practicing. Just wanted to stop by and tell you it sucks about your ankle.”
    Luke managed to say thanks without his voice cracking.
    “Mind if I ask you a question?”
    Too tongue-tied to answer, he simply stared at her and nodded.
    Her brows drew together and her mouth twisted into a frown. “Did you get held back? I mean, you’re kind of big for a sophomore.”
    Nice of her to stop by and call me a loser . Luke slammed his locker and reached for his sticks. “No, I’m just... Look, I gotta get to practice.”
    “I know. I’m on the cheerleading squad, and we’re practicing in the auxiliary gym.” She wrinkled her nose. “Sorry if I embarrassed you. But by the way you play, my friends and I thought you were older.”
    Luke didn’t need a mirror to know that his face had turned beet red, one of the side effects of being so pale. Way to stress to impress, when his complexion gave him away faster than a road flare.
    “So,” she said, “want to walk over to the gym with me?”
    She wanted to walk with him ? Luke wanted to say, who wouldn’t? But it was as if when he’d slammed his locker, he’d forgotten his tongue inside. When he didn’t answer, it was Jen’s turn to turn red. She stepped back. “Oh, I get it. You’re going out with someone.”
    Luke all but choked. Going out with someone ? “No! I mean, I’m not . I mean, sure, I’ll walk with you.”
    “Sweet,” she said. “Let’s do it.”
    Luke slid his arms through the straps of his backpack, then with Jen walking beside him, he hobbled ahead of her to get the door. Now might be a great time to show her he could complete a sentence. “So, uh, is this your first year cheerleading?”
    As they stepped outside, fresh, powdery snow stuck to everything, including her pretty face. Sheesh, stop gawking, Norris .
    Wiping snowflakes away, Jen laughed and smiled back at him. “No, I’ve been at it for a while. This is my senior year.”
    Mel swung her Corolla into a parking space, switched off the radio and took her anger out on the unseen broadcaster. The wisecracking jerk had been right about one thing. The blizzard meteorologists had predicted would miss El Paso County had settled in like an uninvited guest with no plans to leave. As temperatures dropped and the streets turned to ice, Mel endured a storm of her own. She entered the lobby of the Police Operations Center, brushed off her coat, stomped her feet and shoved the wet hair out of her eyes.
    With cars drifting into snow banks, she had no business being anywhere but at home. Unfortunately, Lt.