Fever by Melissa Pearl Read Free Book Online

me.
    “Yeah, good. Same old, same old. Nina wants you to come visit. She hasn't seen you all summer and wants to know everything you've been doing.”
    David grinned. “I love that woman.”
    “Heart of gold, right?”
    “For sure.” We turned toward 309.
    “So, you got a full day ahead?”
    “Yeah, a meeting and then two classes before lunch. Oh hey,” David looked back at me as he swung our door open. “Can you meet me for lunch?”
    “I don't see why not.” I shrugged. “I have a break between twelve and three.”
    “Perfect. You can come and meet Ella.”
    “Oh, that's right.” I threw my towel over the back of my desk chair. “Your girlfriend arrived yesterday.”
    I gave him a sly smile and he blushed.
    “Yes she did, and I really want you to meet her.”
    She was the last person I wanted to meet. What I really wanted to do was spend my spare three hours scouring the campus for a girl with the voice of an angel, but how the hell was I supposed to do that? And what the hell was wrong with me that I even wanted to?
    In an attempt to hide my lunacy, I crossed my arms and grinned at my friend. “I can do that for you, man. Where should I meet ya?”
    “I'm meeting her by the library outside the humanities building.”
    “Oh, well, we should go to Shiffon's then. They serve great coffee there.”
    “Yeah, they do. Good idea.”
    “Well, I'll just meet you outside the library and we can walk there together.”
    “Sounds cool,” David threw over his shoulder as he closed his door.
    I did the same, trying to get my head into the right frame of mind. Pulling on my jeans and a white cotton shirt, I pushed the sleeves up to my elbows and reached under the bed for my book bag; I hadn't used the thing in weeks. Banging out the dust, I checked there was no rotting fruit hiding in the bottom and started sorting through my stuff.
    Another day. Another year. Same old. Same old.
    I paused.
    Except it wasn't. UChicago would never be the same for me again, because now I knew that somewhere on this campus walked a perfect songbird.

CHAPTER EIGHT

    ELLA

    I drew a circle on my notepad as I listened to the professor talk through his introduction of philosophy. I had been handed so many sheets of paper this morning, I could barely keep track of them all. Assignment deadlines, course outlines, test dates — it was all shoved in my face, and I was somehow supposed to absorb it. So far, my morning had been overwhelming. Yes, I had experienced it before, but UChicago had an intensity to it that I wasn't used to.
    I kept telling myself this would all be okay and not to get stressed out by the workload, but I’d have to work my ass off to keep up with all this stuff , and unlike my boyfriend, that idea didn’t exactly thrill me. David loved studying; he loved the challenge and the mental stimulation. I, on the other hand, endured study for one reason only...I swore I'd get a degree. It was what my parents wanted me to do. We’d always talked about it and even though they weren’t around anymore, I felt like it was something I had to follow through on. But at the end of the day, it was just going to be a piece of paper with my name on it. I had no intention of doing post-grad courses. All I wanted to do was pass, and pass well. I'd flown through my community college courses, but I had a feeling this would be much tougher.
    My circle grew bigger and I started adding starbursts around the edges. I always doodled when I got bored. It wasn't that philosophy was mind-numbingly dull; I knew I'd learn a lot of cool stuff, but this was my third lecture of the day and my brain was done.
    I wondered if I was taking something else whether I’d be feeling this way. How cool would it be to do something a little more entertaining...like singing, but there's no way in Hades I'd attempt that. Jody and Morgan were the only people to have ever heard me sing...and I guess shower guy.
    My cheeks heated with color. I couldn't help it!
    It