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Disclaimer: All characters belong to Kelley Armstrong

Chapter 3

Chloe's P.O.V.

"Saunders, Chloe." The substitute called out.

Reaching for my book bag, I fled to the front of the enormous classroom from my now-vacant desk. Slugging the bag over my left shoulder, I plucked the paper holding my schedule for the next semester from the perky redhead.

"Thanks. I'm free to go?" I asked her politely, she couldn't have been move than two years older than me, must be a senior doing this for extra credit.

She nodded. "Yup." She sent me a small grin. "I wish I had a free period."

I smiled back at her and she called another name across the noisy room. Adjusting my ponytail slightly, I walked out the doors of my Economics class and decided to head straight to the library, hoping to squeeze in some study time so I could prepare for my midterms the following week.

Books surrounded me as I entered the high ceilinged building across campus, searching for an empty place to sit in the crowded room. Spotting a nearly empty table, I surged forward until, suddenly I recognized the long, shaggy black hair and the baggy grey sweatshirt hidden behind a pile of textbooks. Even though I couldn't see his face, I was completely positive that it was indeed Derek. He was alone.

I swallowed; I wasn't about to sit next to him. Biting my lip, I glanced around at all the other tables, swollen with students, until I found one seat barely available, however, it was still fairly close to his table. It was good enough.

Shrugging my bag off my shoulder, I slumped into my chair and unloaded my books from my backpack, every few seconds glancing in his direction. He didn't notice I was there, utterly absorbed in his studies, his dark brows furrowed in concentration as his pencil tapped irritatingly against the pages of the book. Even with his face scrunched up with focus, and his hair sticking up in soft tufts, he was the calmest I've ever seen him. My blonde hair fell in my eyes, impairing my vision of Derek as he lifted his head stiffly and stared in my direction.

My heartbeat increased substantially as I batted the hair away, eyes wide as we both stared at each other. Derek's face was drawn in, gazing blankly at me until after several seconds a sliver of recognition sparked in his gorgeous green orbs.

Dick. My eyes narrowed, he just recognized me? I glared back at him, how dare he not remember who I was after nearly a month of living in the same apartment! I rolled my eyes and let out an audible sigh as I turned away, hoping he would understand how rude he was. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, making sure not to move my head. He wasn't taken aback like I expected, it was as if I was never there and he just continued on with his work, without so much as a glance in my direction.

I sighed, opening up my textbook. Derek was an asshole, what was I supposed to do about it? However, I wanted him to change and be somewhat friendlier towards me, just for my own sake since we shared an apartment. I frowned, he wasn't my little mission, and he was a person who I could manage to avoid just fine. I just have to last a few more months with him, and since we never talked, hopefully, it won't be a problem.

I sighed, deciding to fully concentrate on my studying, I didn't need any distraction from midterms, which were only a few days away. After nearly twenty minutes the chair creaked against the floorboards, causing me to glance up, expecting to see Derek leaving, however, that wasn't the case.

A giggling blonde sat across from him, grinning wildly about her new schedule and wondering if they shared any classes together. Derek groaned slightly, reaching for the flimsy sheet of paper that listed his classes, quickly he listed them in order. Being close enough to hear their conversation, I frantically reached for my schedule, praying that we wouldn't have any of the same classes.

"I got Lit. at 12." I heard Derek grumble and my heart froze, my head snapping towards him as he sat there, eyes focused on his work as the girl frowned but regained her composure. I had a class with Derek. Great.

"We don't have any classes together." The girl pouted and Derek glanced up.

"Huh." He mumbled, course hair sweeping into his face before his head dropped back to his work.

So Derek had a girlfriend. Good for him, I never knew he had it in him to snag the bubbly girl, but she seemed really nice, and I wasn't in any predicament to judge.

Derek shifted in his seat, glancing up at the girl. "I think I'm going to cancel for tonight. Not really up for it." The blonde pounced across the table, snatching the pen from his enormous fist, latching onto his arm.

"No, Derek! We never see you anymore. Come on, you have to come." The girl begged, blue eyes wide and innocent.

Derek gently pulled his arm away and shook his head, causing his course, dark hair to fall in his eyes. "No."

The girl sulked, "Derek, please. You can't always stay at home, besides, your new roommate's probably sick of you."

I snapped my head towards my textbooks, turning redder by the second. I hope he didn't notice my eavesdropping, however, while my eyes seemed to be glued to my studies, I peeked at his through the corner of my eyes.

"Probably." Derek said with a shrug, his face set into a mild frown.

"We're at least coming over tonight! I want to meet her." Liz pleaded.

Derek groaned. "No."

The pretty girl scowled, but brightened as she heard her name being called by someone who pulled her into a hug.

"Simon!" The girl squealed, gripping his shirt and quickly kissing him. So that was Liz, Simon's girlfriend, not Derek's. Pulling away from the Asian man, her frown returned as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Derek doesn't want to go tonight."

"Okay." Simon said with a shrug, taking his seat next to his girlfriend, his arm draped over her shoulder.

Liz's jaw dropped. "No, that is not okay. He has to go, it's going to be a good movie."

Simon sighed. "Come on, Derek. It's just a mov- Chloe?"

I glanced up at them, all of them looking at me. "Oh, h-hi." I flushed under Derek's gaze, but his attention returned to his work within seconds.

Liz smiled brightly, jutting out her hand. "Hey, I'm Liz." She chirped.

"Chloe." I returned the contagious smile and shook her hand. "I-I didn't see you guys." I lied, causing Derek to look up and glance at me momentarily.

"How's the apartment?" Simon asked, rolling up his long sleeves in the warm library.

"I- uh, it's fine, great." I stammered, shoving my hair behind my ears as I stared nervously up at them.

Liz grinned, suddenly realizing who I was. "So, you're the roommate! I'm so sorry you have to share a place with this grouch." She jammed her thumb towards Derek, who didn't even acknowledge her insult.

I laughed lightly, deciding against saying anything.

"Chloe?" I recognized this voice though, turning around to greet my friend.

"Hey, Nate." I smiled at him suggestively, hoping he would get the message and bail me out.

The tall redhead approached us quickly, swinging his backpack over his shoulder as he sent me a questioning gaze.

"This is my friend, Nate." I gestured to him as he pulled up right next to me and flashed them a charming smile.

"Hey, bro." Simon said kindly.

"Hi, I'm Liz."

"Nice to meet you." Nate said, sending them a nod, confused about who these people were.

"This is the guy who used to live in my new apartment and his girlfriend." I motioned towards Liz and Simon.

Simon threw his thumb behind his shoulder and pointed at Derek. "That's Derek, he lives with Chloe."

Nate immediately stiffened at my side, his jaw working as he inspected Derek, who didn't even look up from his work.

I turned to Nate, my eyes begging him to play along. "Did I forget we had plans for coffee today?"

Understanding, Nate nodded. "Actually we did. But I thought you'd be here. Still want to go?"

I smiled at him and he looked down at me gently. "Let me get my stuff."

Liz quickly reached for my arm, tugging on it slightly. "Hold on, would you guys want to come to the movies with us tonight? We're all going, plus Tori and her date."

I shook my head; ready to decline politely, however Nate spoke first. "We would love to. We don't have any plans."

I elbowed him in the stomach lightly, but it did no good. "We can't impose, really." I rushed, eyes darting between Simon and Liz.

"No!" Liz assured us, sending a grateful smile our way. "I've been meaning to get to know the new roommate, and I'm sure you would love to actually talk to Derek and Tori properly."

I tried not to frown. "If you're sure."

"We were going to stop by and invite you either way. It's fine." Simon said, slinking his arm around Liz's waist, who squealed, grinning at us.

"Perfect," Nate began. "We'll be there."

…

Walking next to Derek in the cold winter air was just as unenjoyably as I imagined. Nate was laughing alongside Simon and Liz, both incredibly laid-back and friendly, similar to Nate's behavior. Tori was walking with her boyfriend, Ash, complaining about what a professor said to her as he pretended to listen, leaving me alone with Derek as he walked hastily.

Already in a terrible mood since he was forced to go to the movies, he was even more standoffish that normal, which was unnerving for some peculiar reason. Struggling to keep up with his giant steps, my feet tangled together, causing my body to plummet towards the hard concrete pavement, however, the bone shattering impact never came, as I landed in Derek's arms.

Immediately releasing me, Derek continued walking quickly, as if he hadn't just stopped me from receiving several bruises. I frowned and carefully raced closer to him.

Feeling in his debt, I spoke quietly. "Thanks."

"Would've been a hard fall." Derek said with a grunt, not even bothering to look at me.

I nodded and half-heartedly said, "Yeah."

We were silent for a few minutes as our speed increased. Out of breath, I touched his arm lightly. "Can we slow down?"

Derek eyed my hand on his bicep warily, which I quickly dropped. His green orbs snapped up to my blue ones. "Walk by yourself, then."

Before I knew it, he was several feet ahead of me as my jaw dropped, staring after him before continuing to walk myself. I sighed, wrapping my jacket tighter around my body, trying to shield myself from the chilly air as I continued walking.

I noticed Derek's pace to get sufficiently slower and I tried to hide my growing smile.

Did that work okay? At least they finally talked even though it was two sentences. As you can tell, Chloe seems to think about Derek a lot.

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Thanks, Bridget