Spirit Legacy by E. E. Holmes Read Free Book Online Page B

out in cowlicks above his lightly freckled face. A Polaroid camera hung around his neck. He was wearing one of the bright orange moving day t-shirts. The other was dark-haired and tan, dressed in jeans and a sleeveless tee. I recognized him as one of the guys who’d been carting Gabby’s stuff around.
    “There’s always a poster sale in the student center the first week of term,” the sandy-haired boy continued, bending down and scooping up a neon pink flyer that had been lying half-hidden under one of our empty boxes. He reached out to hand it to me.
    “Thanks,” I replied, taking the flyer.
    “I’m Sam Lang. I’m the guys’ RA on this floor.”
    Tia and I both introduced ourselves. Sam shook both of our hands with a very firm grip.
    “And I’m Anthony, Sam’s much more attractive and likable friend,” the dark-haired boy added. He held his own hand out, seeming to flex his muscles as he did so.
    “Hey,” I said, shaking his hand quickly.
    “Have any heavy lifting left to do?” Anthony asked. “I’m offering my services.”
    “No, we’re good, thanks,” I said. My smile was slipping off my face.
    “Ignore him, he’s obsessed with himself,” Sam cut in, rolling his eyes. “Seriously though, can I help you with anything? Have any questions or anything like that?”
    “Yeah, can we find out why some of our sizable tuition costs can’t go to some air conditioning?” I asked, moving toward the window in hopes of catching a breeze. The air was stubbornly motionless.
    Anthony laughed far longer than the comment warranted, but Sam just nodded with a grin. “Not the first person to ask me that today, you know. It’s brutal now, but the heat’s really good in the winter, and believe me, we’re gonna need it.” He seemed to get a shiver just thinking about it.
    “Well, that’s good at least,” Tia said, though she sounded like she was having a hard time sounding excited about blasting heaters when our whole room felt like a sauna.
    “You girls want a personal tour of the campus?” Anthony asked.
    “No, I think we helpless females will find our way around eventually,” I said.
    “Are you sure? I’d be happy to ….”
    “Down boy!” Sam ordered, shoving Anthony away from the door. “Head back across the hall, that blonde girl seemed to be enjoying your company, although I can’t imagine why.”
    Anthony threw Sam a dirty look, but complied. “Goodbye, ladies. Don’t miss me too much, now.”
    “Yeah, we’ll try not to die of broken hearts in your absence,” I said with a sugary smile.
    Anthony winked and swaggered toward Gabby’s room.
    Sam looked mortified. “Sorry about him. I can’t take him anywhere. He can’t be held responsible for his actions; he’s from New Jersey. Now ladies, I have been delegated the thrilling task of Polaroid duty.” He grimaced and lifted the camera from his shirtfront. “This task has endeared me to some, but unfortunately lots of other people run screaming in the other direction when they see me coming.”
    Tia and I both laughed.
    “Now, would you do me a favor and just let me take one picture of each of you? The res life staff wants to put them up on everyone’s bulletin boards next to their names. Something about helping everyone with matching names to faces. It’ll be quick and painless, I promise.”
    Picture taking was not my favorite thing in the world, but Sam seemed properly penitent about asking us to pose, so I pasted on a smile and let Sam take my picture.
    “Wow, so it looks like the move in is almost done!” Sam said as he shook out the pictures, waiting for them to develop.
    “Yeah, it took a while, but I think we’re about done,” Tia agreed.
    “I think I’ve still got boxes from last year that I never unpacked.”
    “So you’re not a freshman then?” I asked.
    “Nope, junior. You have to be at least a junior to be an R. A. Well, if you’re done with unpacking, you should head over to the carnival.”
    “There’s a