Polymath

Prologue: Two Years Earlier

Prologue: Two Years Earlier

It was a regular case of the heebie-jeebies. The rain beat against the roof of my car as I sat on the side of interstate twenty-seven. My engine had cut off unexpectedly, and I was stuck. My boyfriend was a douche, and told me to wait it out. Of course, he meant the rain, but how was that going to help me?

A car pulled up behind me and honked. I threw my hands up and flipped on my hazard lights. They honked again, and then pulled around me, splashing muddy water on my windows. Great, another thing I had to clean.

The traffic picked up and the ugly roar of puttered engines zoomed by me, and I made an attempt to start my battered old Volkswagen again. It groaned and made a noise I didn't know a car could make, and completely died.

The rain sounded like millions of tiny drummer boys on my roof, and I swear I saw dents appear on the inside. It was a mere thirty degrees outside, and I saw the rain start to freeze, as did my fingers.

I grabbed the blanket I kept in the back seat for emergencies such as this, and pulled it to the front seat. Pulling the blanket around me, my legs and arms into my oversized sweatshirt, I decided to sit this one out.

It was midnight when I woke up, not knowing I had fallen asleep. My phone on the passenger seat was awake and from it poured a sappy tune I only knew to be Hancock. Positioning my hand through my sleeve, I grabbed my phone and brought my hand into my shirt and back out through the neck hole.

"Hello?" I asked, even though I knew who it was.

Hancock's scratchy voice drifted from the speaker. "Where are you?"

"I'm on the side of interstate twenty-seven. My engine died and my windows are frozen."

"Alright, I'll be there in thirty minutes."

"Thank you."

Hancock and I had known each other since kindergarten, when he dropped the largest stack of books I had ever seen- to this day- and just stood there. I felt bad for him, being the little sap I was, and I gathered all forty-six books from the hallway floor. He was so grateful, which made me giddy. No one ever even took the time to look at me. I was the geeky kid with the oversized, thick-framed glasses and untamable curly blonde hair. Only half of that was true today.

Hancock's car pulled up next to mine, and he hastily got out, yanking my ratty door open with his gloved hands. I didn't say anything to him, but quickly grabbed my phone and wrapped my blanket around my shoulders before hopping into his super duty truck. It was nice and warm, so I ditched the blanket on the floorboard and curled up in the seat.

"Are you okay?" Hancock asked as he quickly got into the driver's seat. The chilly air swarmed around the cab for a minute, making me shiver.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Killian told me to wait it out, but I wasn't about to have that."

Hancock clucked his tongue and turned his truck around, driving almost ten miles under the speed limit. He had always driven below the limit since he was sixteen, and I believed him never to speed. "I don't know why you date that jerk."

"Killian understands me," I said. That was a lie. I was just unlucky, and I didn't know how to get out of it.

"Sure, okay. Like I don't."

"Han, you know where I'm coming from."

Hancock frowned and turned on his windshield wipers to fill the void of silence. He didn't believe in radios. My phone started to ring again. It was Killian. I hit decline and turned it off, placing it in the console.

Hi. My name is Redford Grainer Hollcup, and I have the worst luck in the entire world.

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Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far! I'm excited to start this new book, and I hope you will enjoy it.

    Abby :-)