Lost Wolf (Curse of the Moon Book 1) (5 page)

Chapter 5

Bright light shone on my face.

"Rise and shine, sunshine," came Sasha's annoyingly perky voice.

I rolled over and pulled my covers over my head. "Go away."

"We have lunch and then orientation, remember?"

Every muscle ached. "I don't care."

"Are you going in your pajamas?" She yanked on my comforter.

I grasped it with more force. "Take notes for me."

"I can't. We don't have any of the same classes."

"As long as I can find my way around when they actually start, I'll be fine."

"Come on." She pulled the cover off me.

I glared at her, but then had to cover my eyes from the awful brightness.

"Get in the shower. I'm not going alone."

"Take Landon."

"He's not a freshman." Sasha pulled on my arm. "You're my roommate."

"Technically, everyone who lives in the Waldensian is a roommate."

"You're the only one who shares a
room
with me, girlfriend. Get in the shower before I throw you in."

I moaned. "What time is it?"

"Eleven."

"How can you be so perky at this early hour?" I mumbled.

"Because I didn't come home at six."

Everything from the night before flooded back.

"What did you guys
do
all night?" Sasha teased.

"Danced."

"Seriously?"

"Until it closed. Then we watched the stars fade, parked in his Ferrari. Then he brought me back here."

"Hold up. Did you say Ferrari?" she exclaimed.

"Cherry red."

She sat on the bed. "Girl, seriously?"

"Yes. Do you see why I'm so tired?"

"Hang on to that guy. Does he really own the club?"

I sat up and groaned, trying to force my eyes open. "His dad does."

"Did you get pictures?"

Pain shot through my head. "I forgot."

"You didn't get any?"

"I just woke up. Would you please leave me alone?"

"It went well, right? You'll probably be back. Get pictures next time. Lots of them, okay? Us peasant-folk want to see inside."

"I'm getting in the shower."

"You can tell me what it's like, though. What is the—?"

"Can you start some coffee? I'm going to need a gallon."

Sasha laughed. "I think Landon already started some. Hurry up, I don't want to be late."

I got up and tripped over my pumps.

"You really shouldn't leave those lying around," Sasha teased.

"So helpful." I kicked them under my nightstand and made my way into the bathroom. The light in there was almost as harsh as the sun. I looked in the mirror and immediately regretted it. My hair stuck out in every direction, my unwashed makeup was smeared all over my face, and I had dark circles under my eyes.

I was so sore that even my bones ached.

Sasha pounded on the door. "You didn't fall back to sleep did you?"

"You're the most annoying roomie ever!"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You would." I turned on the shower as hot as it would go, climbed in, and let the stream run over me. It soothed my muscles, but my bones wouldn't be comforted. I turned up the temperature, but it didn't help.

"Hurry up," Sasha called.

"I am!" I lathered up my hair and rushed through the shower.

By the time I was done, I felt like a new person—except for my bones. They continued hurting. I found some painkillers in the cabinet and took a couple. Then I got ready as quickly as I could, making sure to conceal the shadows under my eyes.

I adjusted the towel and went into the bedroom.

Sasha shoved a coffee at me. "Hurry up, or we're going to miss lunch. All the freshman from the Waldensian are eating together, so we at least don't have to worry about reservations."

"Got it." I sniffed the coffee steam and held it in before gulping it down. It was bitter, but I didn't care. The jolt of energy was just what I needed. Then I made my way to my closet and pulled out a gray and white yoga tank.

My roommate stared at me like I was crazy.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you seriously thinking about wearing that to orientation?"

I held it up. "It's cute."

"For the gym." She put her hands to her face. "Thank the stars that you got me as a roomie, girlfriend. Move aside."

Sasha flipped through my closet. "Remind me to take you shopping again this afternoon. Especially if you want to impress that sexy, rich, Ferrari-driving boyfriend of yours."

"Boyfriend? That's a little premature. We just met."

She snapped her attention to me. "You spent the whole night with him last night."

"He didn't even kiss me goodnight."

"Twenty bucks says you'll hear from him before dinner."

I shrugged. He'd told me that I would hear from him soon.

Sasha went to my dresser, rummaged through the drawers, and tossed some jeggings and a lacy purple top at me. "Put those on. I can't believe you were going to wear exercise clothes."

"These?" I exclaimed, holding up the pants. "Did you notice it's summer? I'm going to melt."

She shook her head, muttering to herself. "Your legs are cut up, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Still, I'm going to fry."

"At least you know you'll be smokin' hot."

When we got to the restaurant, everyone was already ordering burgers. After dining at the Jag, it was a bit of a disappointment, but it was fun to hang out with the other freshmen. We were all excited to get the lowdown on our upcoming year.

Once we got onto campus, we had to go to the stadium for the orientation. The sun beat down on us.

Sasha leaned over and whispered, "I thought it was supposed to rain all year around here."

"And the vampires sparkle, too."

She glared at me and then laughed. "We're on the other side of the forest from Forks."

"Maybe that's where it rains."

A microphone squeaked over the loudspeakers. Groans sounded all around us.

Down on the field, several people stood on a platform. A heavy, balding guy was adjusting the microphone. "I'd like to extend a warm welcome to our newest Freshman Class. We have an exciting year planned. You all should have received a link to our handbook. If you haven't read it already, be sure to get it done before tomorrow morning."

"I'll get right on that," Sasha muttered.

I snickered. "I thought you couldn't wait for the orientation."

"To check out the guys." She glanced around. "And it looks like we're in for a good year."

Though after the night I'd just had, I only had interest in one particular guy.

The various staff took their turns filling us in on tedious details about our upcoming education while we roasted in the sun. Finally, the first guy returned to the podium and told us to break into groups with our staff advisers.

Sasha turned to me. "Who's your adviser?"

"Foley, I think. He's my stats teacher."

"I got some intern. Maybe he's young and hot."

I shook my head. "Do you think about anything else?"

"No, not really. See you back at the house."

"Bye." I adjusted my purse over my shoulder and made my way to a courtyard with a pretty fountain. At least it was shaded. A group already sat next to a little garden under some maple trees.

I sat near the edge of the group, as close to the fountain as possible, hoping for a little spray to cool me.

The instructor stood with his back to us, shuffling through some papers.

I yawned, the coffee already losing its hold on me.

A pretty redhead who didn't look old enough to drive turned to me. "Bored already?" She giggled.

"Late night."

"Gotcha. Yeah, I know how that goes. I hear this guy is new. Hopefully he knows more than we do, right?"

I nodded. "Let's hope."

"My name's Grace. What's yours?" She held her hand out.

"Victoria." We shook hands.

She fiddled with a book bag. "I'm so nervous. Aren't you?"

"Should I be?" I had enough to worry about without getting anxious about school.

Grace leaned closer to me and whispered. "I'm only fifteen. Maybe that's why my nerves are on fire. You think anyone will care about my age?"

My brows came together. "Fifteen? Are you a genius or something?"

She giggled. "Hardly. I'm homeschooled and blew through my studies. If I keep doing well, I could graduate college at nineteen. Cool, huh?"

"I can't imagine hitting the real world now."

"Oh, I'm not going to work after that. Grad school. I'm going to study—"

"Attention, please," Professor Foley said and turned around.

Grace snapped her attention toward the front. I followed suit.

"Welcome," he continued.

I studied his profile. There was something familiar about him.

My heart raced at the thought.

He continued speaking, focused on the other side of the group. I couldn't understand a word he said. The longer I stared at him, the more convinced I became that somehow I knew him. Or at least had seen him somewhere.

His hair was dark and thick, his skin tanned to perfection. He had stunning features and a gorgeous profile. It was hard to believe he was old enough to be a professor. He was younger by far than all the others I'd seen. A magazine cover would have been a more fitting place for him.

Professor Foley turned toward my side of the group. "And be sure to ask questions. That's what we're here…" His voice trailed off as our gazes met. His face paled and his eyes widened. His expression held something. Horror? Shock? Whatever it was, he continued staring at me.

I was frozen in place. My heart thundered in my chest, threatening to break through my ribcage. I knew him. Without a doubt, we had spent time together. I just couldn't remember any of it. My palms had grazed that stubble and my eyes had stared into those deep blue eyes. Even with the distance, I recalled that he often smelled of woodsy aftershave and soap.

Those around me whispered, bringing me back to the present.

Professor Foley cleared his throat and glanced around at the other students. "Excuse me. As I was saying, the faculty is here to help you. Just don't wait until the final hour."

"What was that?" Grace whispered.

My mouth gaped and I shook my head.

"You know him or something?"

"Shh," I snapped.

"Sorry." She scooted away.

My hands shook. I sat on them to get them to stop.

Foley stopped talking, and everyone paired off. Grace glanced at me, her expression pensive.

I nodded and tried to push the instructor out of my mind. But how could I? He was my only clue to my past. Part of me longed to run around the other students and throw my arms around him.

Grace came over. "I wasn't trying to bother you before."

"I know. Sorry. What are we supposed to do?"

"We're supposed to discuss…"

My gaze wandered back over to Professor Foley. He was speaking to a couple students and smiling. My chest constricted. Oh, that smile. It had taken my breath away countless times, though I couldn't remember a single one of them.

"Did you hear what I said?" Grace asked.

I shook my head.

"How are you going to pass this class if you're going gaga over the teacher?"

My face heated and I pulled my attention back to her. "What are we supposed to do?"

She shrugged. "Basically just go over the map and find all the important places. The cafeteria, clinic, our classes. That sort of stuff."

I pulled out my phone and found the campus map. "There's our stats building. Let's see… there's my geography building—all the way across campus. Great." I looked at her. "How are you getting around?"

"My mom's dropping me off in the mornings, then I'm going to walk." She shrugged.

"Where are your classes?"

"My other two are kinda by your geography building."

"I can give you a ride."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Yeah, my car fits two, but no more. It's a Jaguar."

Her eyes widened. "I'll have to ask my mom, but that would be so cool." She leaned closer and whispered, "Cute professor, three o'clock."

I spun around, and sure enough, he was headed our way. My stomach squeezed tight, and I fought to breathe normally.

My voice caught. What would I say to him without looking like a fool?

Chapter 6