Tempting Fate by A N Busch Read Free Book Online Page A

singing, "Pick up the phone, Abby!" Her bag hit the ground with a thud as she flopped on her bed and yelled back at Melanie, "Go to work!" Melanie only laughed harder.
    "Hello?"
    "Hey Sugar, how was the first day of classes?"
    They talked for more than a half hour about her classes. She told her about the papers she already got assigned, and her aunt was just as confused as her about the one for Greek Mythology. Abby didn't dare say a thing about her mystery man to her aunt. She would never have gotten her off the phone, besides it's just a stupid little crush. What was she really going to be able to tell her about him anyway?
    When she was done on the phone, she looked at the clock. There was still an hour until the cafeteria opened, so she pulled out her calendar and started marking all her new information onto it. Abby felt calmer about the semester ahead once her calendar was full.
    On her way out to the cafeteria, she ran into Jamal in the lobby, "Hey Abby, where are you heading?"
    "The cafeteria; its waffle night. Yum!"
    "Yeah, you mean carbo-loaded cardboard night. You should eat something else. I was heading over there myself, mind if I join you?"
    "Sure, but please keep your mouth shut about the calories on my plate. I really don't care to know. I just want to eat yummy waffles with lots of syrup."
    "I don't see how you can think they taste good, but okay. I can do that if you will promise to go running with me in the morning. We'll get that metabolism of yours going early."
    Abby opened the door to the cafeteria and let out a groan, "Fine, but not too early, please, I beg you."
    "Is seven-thirty too early? I have a class at nine, so I'll be out there before you even think about getting your butt out of bed. Hey, maybe Melanie would like to come too?"
    Dinner went by slowly, and Abby just smiled when Jamal asked if Melanie had said anything to her about the party. She knew what he really was trying to ask: if she had said anything about him. After they ate, Jamal made Abby promise three different times to meet him at the track at seven-thirty the next morning. When she got back to her room, she pulled out her book and settled on her bed to study. It was just after dark when she fell asleep on her bed with a textbook in her arms.
    It seemed like she had only been asleep for ten minutes when there was a knock at the door. The clock on her table said eight-fifteen. She was late.
    The two miles they ran around the track were deadly, but she did it. As a "reward" for her hard work she bought herself a fruit smoothie with some kind of brain booster in it.
    Melanie was gone when she got back and the bathroom was all hers, so she took a long, hot, uninterrupted shower. Abby opened her curtains and it was such a nice day; the sun was shinning brightly in the sky. Why stay inside? She might as well get out and enjoy it. There were no classes for her today, so studying was a must. Outside in the sun seemed like a great place to do it.
    She gathered a couple of books into her bag and made the three-minute walk to the pond on campus. It was a nice little place; there were some picnic tables nearby and an area that was shaded by trees. The students on campus called it Waders Lake. It was a joke really; it could not have been more than a twenty-five feet by thirty-five feet, and at the deepest part maybe three feet. Abby loved to come out here when the weather was nice to study or just enjoy the sun on her face.
    She picked a spot that was un-shaded and lay in the grass on her stomach; she pulled her things out of her bag and placed them in front of her. It was quiet around there, with no distractions. Abby had written three chapters of notes for History of Architecture before she even realized how long she had been outside.
    Abby rolled onto her back and yawned. Though the weather was cool, the sun felt very warm on her face. She closed her eyes and just listened to the sounds around her: people talking and laughing in the