Chosen by Sarah Swan Read Free Book Online Page A

technology they put in a few years ago.  Anyway, at the front of every building is a wireless scanner that picks up on the chip in your card, and unlocks the door for you.”
    “Automatically?” I asked.
    “Yeah.  Exactly,” he said cheerfully. “ It’s pretty cool, actually.  You just walk up to a set of doors and they open for you, each time.  That way, you never have to fumble around for a set of keys or anything like that.  Really helpful when we get into storm season over here.”
    “Storm season?  What’s that?” I asked, puzzled.
    Chris’s eyes widened again.  But this time, he made no effort to look away.  In fact, he looked to be completely surprised.  “You mean you don’t know ?”
    “Know what?” I asked again.  “About ‘storm season?’  No, I have no idea.  I’ve never even heard of it.”
    He whistled through his teeth.  “Wow! You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?”
    “It’s not my fault,” I defended stubbornly.  “It’s not like anyone’s given me a tour of the place yet.”
    “A tour!  That’s a great idea.  I’d totally be happy to show you around.”  He gave me that disarming smile.
    “Well, I’ve got to get unpacked first…” I began, but he quickly broke in.
    “Of course!  Here, I’ll help you get your things.”  Running around behind me, he grabbed both of my bags in his hands.  “What floor are you on?”
    “My key says 34…”
    “Third floor.  Got it.  Follow me.”
    Chris went inside the building, and I trailed after him.  As soon as I crossed the doorway, I stared wide-eyed at the lobby.  It was ridiculously extravagant.  Everything I could see was polished marble.  The floor tiles made a crisscross pattern of dark and light colors across the room.  In the middle, a few lounge-like sofas had been arranged, each one of them a rich black leather.  Looking around, I realized I had been right earlier: the actual rooms of the dorm all rimmed the outer wall of the rectangular building.  Which meant that in the middle of the building was a completely open space.  From where I stood, you could look up and see the balusters running along the hallways of each floor, and the doors leading into the individual rooms as well, something like a hotel.  High above me, in the roof of the building, were three spectacular skylights.  They were all made of clear glass, and gave a perfect view into the sky above.
    “Are you coming?” Chris called from across the atrium.  Already, he had started lugging my bags up a flight of stairs.  Quickening my pace, I ran up to him and tried to take one of the bags, but he pulled it away.
    “I got them,” he told me.
    I rolled my eyes.  He was clearly struggling carrying both of them up the stairs at once.  Yet, obviously, he didn’t want me to notice.  “It’ll be faster if I help,” I said.
    “No way,” he grunted.  Each step he took up, the suitcases banged loudly against each other.  “I got it.”
    “No, you don’t,” I interjected, and before he could protest again, pulled one of the bags out of his hand.  Just for good measure, I took a couple steps up, carrying the heavy bag behind me, to show him I was just fine handling one of them.  Glancing back, I saw that he had started moving faster.  I increased my own pace, and raced to the top.  I heard him moving right behind me, trying to match my speed.  But, I had the advantage of a head start.  I got to the top, and flashed a triumphant smile as he came up beside me.
    “Told you,” I said with a wink.  “There’s no point protesting when I’m clearly in the right.”
    “We’ll see about that…” Chris said, trailing off before he could finish the empty threat.  He smiled at me again, though.  “You’re tougher than you look.”
    “You should have seen what I went through to get here,” I said, thinking back to the disaster with Vlad’s small boat. 
    To my surprise, Chris barked a laugh.  “I take it