Aftershocks by Monica Alexander Read Free Book Online

with Alexis, and he was fueling my fire.
    “You don’t seem fine. And I care. I just do.” His tone was passive, as if he was trying to calm me down.
    “Connor, in case you didn’t notice, I’m kind of having a bad morning, and you seem to be the catalyst.” I started tick off the list on my fingers. “You rear-ended me, I couldn’t get into the classroom because you felt the doorway was your own personal make-out space, and your girlfriend was a bitch to me. I’m not sure you should be the one asking if I’m okay.”
    Connor let out a long, slow breath. “I guess I deserved that.”
    “I guess,” I said, looking back down at my phone. Wyatt hadn’t texted back, and I wondered if he’d had a late night with Gym Guy.
    When I looked up, Connor was stil standing in front of my desk watching me.
    “Can I help you?” I asked rudely, not able to prevent the bitchiness from flowing out of me.
    “So, I get the distinct feeling that you think I’m a jerk,” Connor said then. “And I’m not realy okay with that, so I’d like to change your mind.” He smiled at me but it was an awkward, trying-too-hard kind of smile.
    “Why? What do you care if I like you?”
    Did you not hear my comment about not wanting to touch you with a ten-foot pole?
    I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Connor and I ran in different circles. He was dating Alexis Blaine. His world didn’t mix with mine. It wasn’t like we were going to be friends. What did he care what I thought of him? Besides, his girlfriend would hate it if she knew he was being nice to me.
    I reached down to dig a pen out of my backpack, hoping the gesture would encourage him to pick a seat across the room. Mr. Winters had walked in and was starting to write on the whiteboard at the front of the room. We stil had a few minutes before class started, but my phone had just vibrated, so I knew Wyatt was texting me back.
    “You weren’t realy watching us kiss, were you?” Connor asked then, and my blood started to boil again. If he thought that was the best way to make nice, he had another thing coming.
    “Ugh, don’t be so ful of yourself,” I said, making a face at him, fuly aware of how nasty my tone was. “It wasn’t by choice. You were blocking the door. There weren’t many other places for my eyes to go.”
    He turned and looked at the door to the classroom, as if trying to remember the scene out front before Alexis and I had started arguing.
    “Oh, sorry,” he said, turning back to face me.
    “Is that al you ever say?” I snapped, glaring up at him.
    “No,” he said, as he adjusted his backpack on his shoulder again. Students were filing into the classroom, taking seats al around us. I wondered why Connor wasn’t folowing their lead. “I’m actualy quite articulate.”
    “Great,” I said, giving him a pointed look to get moving before I opened my new notebook to the first page and wrote the date at the top.
    Before I realized what was happening, Connor was taking the seat next to me.
    “What are you doing?” My confused/bitchy sneer was directed right at him.
    He leaned over to pul out a pencil and notebook from his backpack. “Getting ready for class,” he said, looking at me like I was mentaly unstable.
    Then al of a sudden, his hazel eyes penetrated me in a way that succeeded in melting away my anger. My heartbeat quickened and my adrenaline pumped but in a different way than it had been a few minutes earlier. Suddenly it was like I forgot how to form words. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
    My phone vibrated again, but I didn’t look down at it even though I knew it was Wyatt firing off questions about my altercation with Alexis.
    “Look, I know we haven’t realy gotten off to a great start, and you did tel me to stay away from you,” Connor said, “but I’m realy good at science, so I figure I can be your lab partner. Consider it my way of making amends for everything.”
    “Fine,” I said, turning back to face