NORTHERN DOWNPOUR [JASON SCOTT; BOOK ONE]

0; PROLOGUE

[PROLOGUE; REED]

SHE NEVER MEANT to burn the gym down, honest.

She couldn't even remember what happened that night, apart from a few hazy details. She remembered being in the Angel Grove High gymnasium, laying on the floor along the half-court line with the old lighter her brother had used for months in her hand. She stared up at it, thumb rolling against the sides.

She could recall those moments in perfect, sharp clarity, but after that, after she had flicked the lighter on several times, she was lost in a blurred blackness of muted noises and dull colors.

The next thing she remembered with absolute certainty was the gym on fire, a blaze of reds and oranges. She heard muffled sirens and a voice yelling, "Scott, don't go in there! Jason!" Then there was the sound of one of the heavy gym doors being opened and slammed closed again.

Her head was reeling, smoke from the flames making her dizzy, but she could still make out the face of Jason Scott, star quarterback of the varsity football team, when it swam into her vision. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern and slight confusion, and her eyes focused on his ocean blue ones as he snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"Hey! Are you okay? Come on, you need to get out of here!" He shouted to her over the roar of the flames. His hand, calloused and startling but warm and strong nonetheless, wrapped around her forearm. He pulled her to her feet and began to lead her toward the door he had just come from, only for her to stumble and fall, nearly taking him down with her.

Jason didn't hesitate, not even for a moment, before he bent down and looped one arm around her back, the other under her knees, and picked her up easily, as if she weighed next to nothing. He carried her to the exit, kicking the door open; the frigid night air was icy against her skin, and she coughed hoarsely from the smoke in her lungs.

The boy's face was dusted in ash and soot, as hers probably was. His frightened face and bright blue eyes were the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.