Take My Hand by Nicola Haken Read Free Book Online

gonna drop your books on the floor and give out your best damsel in
distress look. He’ll bend down to help you pick them up, then you’ll bump into
each other on the way back up and when he looks into those big blue eyes of
yours he won’t be able to stop himself planning the wedding, babies, the lot.”
    “Um, Ialready have a boyfriend
remember?”
    “He’s not your boyfriend. You haven’t even
fucked him yet.” You can always count on Rachel to lower the tone. “Besides, if
last night hasn’t proved what a total loser he is I don’t know what will. What
kind of guy gets off his tits to the point he can’t piss straight when he’s
supposed to be romancing his girl?” She had a point. I was more than a little
disappointed with Jared last night. I’ve only known him a few days but the more
time I spend with him the more apparent it becomes just how little we have in
common. He’s a nice enough guy, but drinking and talking football and sci-fi
just isn’t my thing.
    “Either way, I’m not looking for anyone new.
I need to concentrate on my studies.”
    “I think you’ll find being a boring old
spinster is not on the New Life list,” Rachel said with a disapproving
raised eyebrow. I shook my head, dismissing her. Then I threw my bag over my
shoulder and took hold of the handles to her wheelchair.
    “Come on. We’ve got classes to find.”

 
    Rachel and I went our separate ways after I
eventually found a parking space big enough to lift her chair from my silver
Ford Fiesta. More than half of the bays reserved for disabled parking held cars
without disabled permits – some people were so selfish. And lazy.
    Armed with a map, a fresh coffee from
Starbucks and a stomach full of killer butterflies, I set off to find my first class.
Let’s just say the experience did wonders for my social skills practice. It
took me over half an hour of walking in circles, climbing staircases and asking
every other person I came across for directions before I found the Psychology
building. This caused me to be twelve minutes late and by the time I reached
the door to my class I was a nervous, clammy and completely breathless wreck.
    It’s not like school of course. There wasn’t
a big scene, I didn’t have to get a note from my mum or fear a week’s
detention. I just slipped in mostly unnoticed and scanned the room for the
first available seat.
    No bloody way…
    If Rachel hadn’t devised her ingenious
‘dropping the books’ trick to find me a hot guy, this would have definitely
been option two. I had literally just walked into any one of the books on my
Kindle. They nearly all started with either book dropping, or this…
    Sliding into my seat, Jared’s friend Mr
Nameless didn’t even look up from his paper.
    “Hey.” I nudged his shoulder. His head turned
and his dark-blue eyes met mine.
    “Um, hey.” His eyes widened, appearing almost
startled as he acknowledged my presence.
    “This is a coincidence if ever there was
one,” I whispered. He simply nodded and a let out a sort of huffing sound
before turning his attention back to the tutor. I figured I should do the same
if I wanted to make a good impression.
    I listened intently as our tutor guided us
through what was expected of us, what we could expect from him, and handed us a
never-ending pile of notes and textbooks. There was no way they were all going
to fit in my bag and I could suddenly see myself actually dropping them
in front of some cute guy – only it would be a genuine accident.
    Psychology sounded way harder than I was
anticipating. And more boring. I never planned to go to university you see and
it was the only pathway that really jumped out at me. I’ve spent my life
wishing I could be different – more confident, more social… be whatever
it takes to make my mum happy. Maybe I thought with psychology I would learn
about how my own mind works –
my own personal therapy so to speak.
    Mr Nameless remained quiet and rigid
throughout and I