Sun Catch Her (Book 1: Three Rivers Deep series) COMPLETE

Chapter Ten

Petroleum Valley Academy was a half-mile walk along a fence-lined road from our new house. Built on the hill overlooking Powerhouse Turn—named for one of the valley's three power stations located down over the hill—P.V.A was a privately run school whose appearance was nothing short of grand. With its narrow access lane winding uphill among ancient oaks and its carefully manicured, golf course-like lawns, the campus grounds visually alluded to its constant upkeep, before giving way to the valley's lush woods.

The main campus consisted of a dozen or so dark stone buildings, the centermost being a bell tower that loomed over the administration building. Ivy wound its way through every mortar line across campus, adorning all things in a dark green. My first class didn't start until eleven, so I walked the grounds, taking it all in.

"Ah, hi...?" I said, looking up from my corner locker to return the greeting of a guy—dark hair, pale complexion—who had stopped dead in his tracks.

He took a step toward me as if he wanted to say something, but I let the notebook I was holding slip out of my grasp into the locker and I promptly dove in after it. People avoidance. It was a subtle, yet refined, artistic method, and I was a Renaissance master.

When the bell rang and classroom doors opened to let students stream out, I kept my head ducked, pretending to look for something. Mind you, there isn't much to look preoccupied with when you only have supplies for two classes.

Keep my breathing shallow. Avoid excessive eye contact. The overabundance of emotions will stay at bay. I desperately reasoned with my anxiety. All I needed was to get through today, all easy-peasy- like, and I should be fine from here on out. I hoped.

The locker door to my left swung open, making me jump.

Jeepers, get a grip on yourself, Aurora! I peeked out to catch a glimpse of a pinstriped skirt. It was just my neighbor. Her upper half was hidden as she rummaged around. Despite my guarded demeanor, I found myself curious. A sweet smell, like strawberries and cream, tickled my empathetic senses, a scent that made me feel less anxious, braver. She stooped over to snag something, tossing the item into her book bag before banging the door shut.

Holy cheese and crackers! I bit my tongue—hard—so I wouldn't gasp. The girl wasn't stooped over. She was standing. She was so...tiny.

The twig of a student with her un-tucked kid's dress shirt hanging to her knees over her long skirt spied me watching. She obviously needed to have her uniform tailored to fit her. Perhaps she hadn't gotten around to it yet?

Her short-cropped hair was bronze frosted with platinum and tastefully tipped with baby blue, the color accentuating her big copper eyes, wide with enthusiasm. She turned to face me, her complexion a light cocoa, so delicate looking I feared it might rub off like the powder on a butterfly wing if I dared to touch her. The small girl smiled, and the sweetness of her emotional signature strengthened.

I couldn't help but smile back as I noticed she had to lift her chin to meet my gaze. I inclined my head in greeting, taking notice of the Hello Kitty brand Band-Aids, one stuck to her collarbone, two on her left wrist.

"Hi there," she greeted. "You must be the new girl, Aurora."

She seemed harmless enough, and so, despite my conviction not to get involved with other students, I found myself wanting to be sociable. And yet, before I could respond, I moved with a surprising flash of speed, pushing her out of the way right before a football went whizzing by to smack into her closed locker. The impact and loud bang left a good-sized dent. I pressed her to the adjacent row of lockers as the group of roughhousing boys that came attached to the football went tromping by.

"Wow," the girl exclaimed, poking her head out from under my arm. "You've got the reflexes of a ninja turtle."

"You okay?" I asked. I took my hands off her and proceeded to rub them against my skirt. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Nah!" she replied, giving me a wide grin while she adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "I'm a lot tougher than I appear, really. See." She gestured to the Band-Aids, pointing out three more on her left leg. "I got pushed down the steps between class and I only had to use six

Band-Aids this time."

Pushed. Downstairs. Only six Band-Aids. This time? "That's terrible."

"Not really." She returned my look of dismay with the brightest grin, smiling as if we were chatting about sunshine and kittens. "The time before that, I banged my head off the bottom railing and had to get eleven stitches."

Oh good cheddar, we've got to hire this girl a stunt double. "I'm Reese," she announced cheerfully as she began bouncing

up and down on one foot with enough liveliness to put the Energizer Bunny to shame.

"Aurora," I confirmed. My head bobbed in time with her hops, trying to keep track of her eyes. She had colored contacts in. Oh well, it's not as if I expected the blue tipped hair to be anything but a well- executed dye job.

"I thought so," she said. "My cousin Trevor was so going on and on about the gorgeous, dark-haired hottie he spotted over by the administration office."

I rolled my eyes. Dark-haired hottie? "So, he was talking about me, eh?"

"Yeah. In the middle of trig no less. Mr. Zimmerman nearly threw his stupid butt out in the hallway because he couldn't keep his big mouth shut," she informed with a small snort. "All of the other guys didn't seem to mind hearing about you though, except for the new boy. He didn't like the way my cousin was talking about you."

"Micah?" I said a little too loudly and then cringed, having startled a group of girls who were walking by. I hadn't caught a glimpse of him all morning. I was beginning to give up hope.

"Yep," Reese replied, grinning. "Micah Valhalo. Yeah, he didn't like the way Trevor was going on and on about how you look. Micah never really said anything the whole time, but I swear he was about ten seconds away from stabbing Trevor in the hand with the business end of his No. 2 pencil."

"Sounds like Micah, all right." I smiled, picturing how he almost hurled himself at a remote-controlled car.

"So what class do you have next?"

"Phys-ed." Maybe I should skip it to search for him.

"Yippee, me too! I'll lead the way!" she cheered, then snagged

me by the hand to drag me in a frantic dash down the corridor before I could protest.

I gaped at the wiry-pip of a girl as we ran, doors flashing by between the large columns that lined the academy's hallways. Guess I was going to phys-ed—my fingers flexed—and I was holding hands with someone. Maybe my first day isn't starting out all that bad, I mused, my desire for a connection with another person swimming up through me, mixing with the courage it took to keep holding on. Her hand is warm.

"S-sorry!" I called out as we turned a corner and collided with the dark-haired boy who greeted me earlier. I glanced back to give him an apologetic look as Reese kept us moving. Wow, he had incredible blue eyes.

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I've often thought having my own stunt double would come in super handy.
VOTE if you could occasionally use a stunt double as well!