Breaking Free: A Living Again Novella Read Online Free

said quietly, looking away. He wondered why she seemed sad about that. But he wasn’t good at reading feelings, so he couldn’t be sure. She looked back at him, her eyes lingering on his face. Greer wondered if it was about to come; her realizing that she was partnered with a weirdo. “I think we’re going to make good partners,” she said finally. “Usually I hate partnering because I end up doing all the work. But I can tell that you’re dedicated to school and you love science, too. I think it’s all going to work out great.”
    Greer looked at her, his heart racing. Alexis was… happy to be partners with him? She thought it would work out well? This was a first.
    “Can you meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays for lab? I don’t have classes then. That would be best for me.”
    Alexis pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and Greer found himself transfixed, watching the motion. Understanding people had never been a strong suit of his, but there was something about Alexis that made him feel safe. He knew that particular feeling could sometimes be very wrong, as he had learned that the hard way many times.
    “That would be great, Greer. I don’t have classes either so we can meet whenever you are free. I have cheer practice but not until evening.”
    He stood up, realizing it was 11:50. He was late. He had to leave here at 11:45. “I have to go. I leave here at 11:45. It’s 11:50.”
    “Okay,” Alexis smiled, standing up also. “It was nice to meet you, Greer. I’ll see you tomorrow then? Text me or email me a time that’s good for you and I’ll be there.”
    Greer watched as she turned and walked away, her ponytail bouncing. He had just had a normal conversation with a beautiful girl that just so happened to be his lab partner. And she had made him lose track of time. Grabbing his bag and his trash, he hurried across campus, wondering if this was going to backfire on him like always.

 
     
     
    “How was your second day of classes?” Hailey asked Alexis. “Any less overwhelming than the first?” They were both flopped on their beds after a long day. Hailey was an education major, though she was still only taking prerequisite classes right now. They had about an hour before practice, and that was a grueling several hours that they needed to be prepared for.
    “I was actually glad to get past the syllabus explanation and do something,” Alexis admitted. “I met my Bio lab partner today, too.”
    “Yeah?” Hailey sat up and eyed Alexis. “It’s a guy, right? It he hot?”
    Alexis lay back, not sure she could vocalize the thoughts she had about meeting Greer. In two days of college, she had met two guys that had both affected her in completely different ways. Luke, who was a classic college guy, good-looking and charming, and Greer, who was magazine handsome but nothing about him was ‘usual’.
    “Alexis Nichols,” Hailey said, now sitting completely up. “He’s hot, isn’t he?” She squealed. “Alexis! You’ve gotten two hot guys in two days. Is this awesome or what? ”
    Alexis laughed. Leave it to Hailey to jump to conclusions before she even said a word. “Hailey, hold up. He’s good-looking…”
    “Hot,” Hailey corrected, ignoring Alexis’ look.
    “He’s very good looking,” Alexis said, trying not to giggle.
    “College heartbreaker on day two,” Hailey teased. Alexis let her think what she wanted to think, because she couldn’t think of a way to talk to Hailey about who Greer was. She knew he was different from other guys. There was something that was interesting about him. In a good way. In a really good way. Even though she had never really had a boyfriend, she had been asked out by many different guys, all of which had one thing in common: they thought they were all that. Greer was probably the most attractive guy she had ever seen, surpassing Chasen and Luke and anyone in between. But he didn’t know it. Not at all. His hesitance to talk to her and say much about