Ignite (Midnight Fire #1)

Chapter One

As Kira waited in line for a parking spot, she studied the sprawling two-story building that took up her entire line of vision. A stone engraving read "Charleston County High School" and Kira sighed at the daunting brick walls before her. Already she could tell it had a layout much different from the private school she had attended in New York, with numerous buildings sandwiched between corporate skyscrapers and spread out over a few city blocks. The students wandered here at a pace much different from the bustle she had grown used to during the past five years spent at the boarding school that she had begged her parents to attend. But last year her father had been laid off, and Kira knew she would be back home for her senior year.

Her family had lived in Charleston for about four years, but Kira had never met anyone during her summers home. This would be new for her—a huge school that she would definitely get lost in and tons of people who had probably never even heard of The Met.

A car honked behind her, and Kira continued moving at a slow pace down the parking lot as students took turns swinging trucks into super-sized, yellow-lined spaces. As she took her turn pulling the eco-friendly car her parents loved into a spot, she knew she wouldn’t quite fit in here. Kira looked to her left at the person sitting in the passenger seat of a pickup truck, a full two feet above her, and felt as tiny and invisible as she probably seemed to him.

But enough, she thought, straightening her shoulders.

Kira hated self-pity more than anything, so she grabbed her shoulder bag and made for the front door with the rest of the crowd. She did give Charleston one thing, the smell of marsh and pine was a heck of a lot better than that of car exhaust and garbage.

"Name?" the secretary asked as Kira entered the main office for her schedule.

"Kira Dawson."

"Year?"

"Senior." Kira ran her hands down the sides of her royal blue sundress, smoothing out the wrinkles to make a good impression on her new classmates.

"Here you go, honey."

She took the folder and pulled out a schedule. Advanced Calculus, room 253C. Kira walked out to the hallway and looked around for a sign, anything to point her in the right direction, but saw only bare brick walls. After a few minutes, someone finally took pity on her.

"Are you new?" A handsome blond guy with a lanky build stood behind her looking over her shoulder at the paper. "Oh, 253C, not an easy walk from here. Come on, I’m next door to you." She followed, having no real other choice. "So you are new, right, or have my great looks made you speechless?"

Damn, Kira thought, hating to be called out. Time to prove she wasn't a wallflower. "Yeah I’m new, and what good looks? You’re so tall I can’t even see your face."

"Touché." He studied her for a moment, and Kira finally got a good look at his face, which she had to admit wasn’t too shabby. He had wispy hair the color of summer corn, a slightly crooked nose spotted with light-brown freckles, and a wide, friendly smile full of perfectly white teeth. There was something about his eyes, green with flecks of yellow, which she found familiar and almost comforting.

"I’m Luke Bowrey." He extended his hand, naturally tanned from a summer in the South, and she shook it.

"Kira Dawson. Nice to meet you, and thanks for the help."

"Not a problem. When I see a damsel in distress I just can’t help but act the knight in shining armor."

She laughed despite herself. Kira knew he was cocky, but she also instantly knew they could be friends.