Cress scowled as the car in front of her swerved off the interstate and through the exit, nearly crashing into her. She pressed her hand into the steering wheel, but the driver of the car was too far away to hear the bellow.
Cress sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her face. The interstate was always so busy this time of day, when everyone was rushing from work to their homes. Not that Cress was in a rush, though. All she had was her small apartment, and even it wasn't much: sparsely furnished, dimly lit. Maybe her neighbors were nice, but they were either eighteen or seventy, and neither one of those ages mixes well with an overworking, single twenty-five year old. Single. How Cress hated that word, especially when applied to her.
She had seen attractive men, sure, but why should she be of interest to them? Cress was barely over five feet tall with a slight, straight figure. She wasn't what you'd call pretty, with sharp blue eyes and childish freckles. But Cress was who she was, and she (sort of) liked herself. Even if she was just a nerdy girl with an unnatural knack for computers. And hacking.
Cress pulled into the parking lot next to the apartment and twisted the key. The car shut off, but Cress just sat in her seat, rubbing her temples and trying to relieve the growing headache in her skull. After many minutes of this, she looked up and realized dark was fast approaching. Cress gathered her purse and opened the car door. The sharp Minnesota wind bit at her nose and ears. Cress gathered her scarf tightly around her face as she ran into the building and into the elevator. She jabbed floor 3 and watched the doors slide shut. Cress's eyes slipped shut and she sagged against the wall, tired as she was, until the elevator dinged and she jerked back to the waking world. She pulled out her key and walked to her door.
"Hey! Hey, are you Cress?"
Cress turned quickly as the person called out.
A man was walking quickly over to her. She didn't recognize him, but maybe he was the new groundskeeper. As the man got closer, she blinked in surprise. He was quite handsome, with ocean-blue eyes and tousled blond hair. She caught herself staring and looked away.
"Um, yeah, I'm Cress."
The man took a couple of long strides and was right in front of her in an instant. He stuck out his hand and Cress took it, feeling jolts of electricity run up her arm. "Hi, I'm Carswell Thorne. I just moved into this building and I was meeting all the neighbors. The Lancets told me about you and I figured I should meet you, too."
Oh, stars. His mouth was quirked into a half smile that made Cress have to swallow her heart back down to her chest. "I-I'm Cress. But I guess you already know that, uh, Carswell." Cress could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. She bit the inside of her cheek to try to stop it.
"Call me Thorne." Thorne winked and Cress could have sworn her heart stopped, just for a second. She really needed to calm down.
Cress nodded, opting not to say anything, lest she say something stupid.
"Well, it was nice meeting you," Thorne said, seemingly not put off by Cress's silence.
"Ni-nice meeting you, too, Thorne," Cress stuttered.
Thorne smiled again and turned away. Cress kicked her door open. She turned back just in time to see him glance over his shoulder and wave. Cress squeaked and jumped into the apartment. She slammed the door closed behind her, locked it, and sank down against the wall.
Stars above, what had she gotten herself into?