Paper Walls (Excerpt)

Chapter One

Leighton hung on every word the psychology professor spoke. She striped her syllabus with highlighter and etched notes in its margins, ready to take on the semester with strict determination.

A sudden loud cough broke Leighton's concentration, and she turned her head toward the sound. That's when she saw him. He stood out in a way no one else ever had. She certainly didn't believe in love at first sight, but a curiosity settled in, prompting stolen glances as her scholastic focus faltered. Finally, Leighton's wandering eyes connected directly with his—a shock of silver-blue, blank and unnerving. She quickly looked away, slinking low in her seat. She didn't dare lift her gaze again.

When class ended, the other students began filtering out of the room, but Leighton hesitated at her seat. She watched him pass by, his tall frame sagging as if he bore the weight of hell on his broad shoulders.

Leighton hated that she wondered about him.

"How boring was that?" Quinn fell into step beside Leighton on the sidewalk.

"What do you expect college to be?" Wesley asked, hooking his thumbs around the backpack straps at his chest.

Quinn shrugged. "I just don't care about any of this stuff."

Wesley snickered. "Ah, that's right. You're just here for your M-R-S degree."

Leighton furrowed her eyebrows. "A what degree?"

"M-R-S. Like missus. She's just here to find a husband."

Quinn reached across Leighton to swat at her twin. "Shut up, Wes! I am not."

Leighton tried to chuckle.

Wesley cocked his head and looked at her. "Everything okay?"

Leighton nodded. But she knew it wouldn't convince him. It had always seemed that Wesley shared more of that so-called 'twin-tuition' with Leighton than he did with his actual twin.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Go make some real friends, Wes, and stop bothering mine." She locked her arm through Leighton's and dragged her toward the women's restroom.

Leighton shot Wesley an apologetic glance over her shoulder as they left him behind.

Leighton lay on her stomach on the top bunk in her dorm room, her algebra homework spread out in front of her. With a sigh, she dropped her pencil onto her notebook, the haze of summer freedom still clouding her brain.

The door to the small room opened and Quinn barreled in, tossing her bag to the floor. She flopped down on the bottom bunk and let out a groan.

"Lemme guess," Leighton said with a smirk Quinn couldn't see. "You hate your theater class too?"

"No, actually, I like it a lot."

"Then what is it?"

Quinn let out a long breath. "I just...wish my brother wasn't everywhere I go."

Leighton bit her lip. "Why are you so mean to Wesley lately?"

"I'm not mean to Wesley."

"Quinn. You have two out of five classes together. He's not everywhere."

Quinn huffed. "I keep running into him around campus even when we're not in class together. Ew, and earlier, someone asked me if he was my boyfriend. So, yeah. He is everywhere."

"Well, he's your brother. He's going to be around you from time to time."

"That's the problem."