Awakening (Covenant College #1) Read Online Free PDF

corner when he smiled and it made him all the more appealing. Cripes, I must be in heat or something.
    “I’m Aric , with an A,” he said, pushing his hand out to me in greeting.
    What is it with people shaking hands? That whole process annoyed me. Still, I didn’t want to offend him. I placed my hand – which seemed dainty – into it and couldn’t help but smile back. I felt a little goofy for some reason.
    “I’m Zoe.”
    “Nice to meet you, Zoe. Where are you from?”
    Now, here’s the thing, I’m not a shut-in or anything. I don’t go around volunteering personal information about myself either, though.
    “Oh, a small town up north. About an hour from Traverse City.” I was purposely vague.
    Aric narrowed his eyes. I sensed he wanted to ask more but wisely took a step back.
    “I’m from Alpena.”
    I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t unleash the sentence that had come to mind when he mentioned Alpena. “That’s nice.” What I really wanted to say amounted to “who cares,” but I fought the urge to be mean. It was a hard battle.
    “Are you a freshman?”
    “Umm, yeah.”
    “I’m a sophomore.”
    “Really? You look older.”
    “Is that a compliment?”
    I shrugged. It was really just a statement.
    “I’m 22. I took some time off before coming to school,” he explained. This guy was a major over-sharer. For all he knew I could be some crazy stalker – yet here he was telling me his life story.
    “Good for you.” Really, what else do you say to that?
    “Are you here alone?” I noticed his dark eyes dart around the store. I could tell he was trying to get a look at what kind of people I hung out with. It made me sort of nervous.
    “I’m here with my roommates.”
    “Oh, have you known them a long time?”
    Now why did that matter? Luckily I was saved from answering. Paris had picked that moment to come up and join us.
    “ Brittany is buying out the school spirit supplies.” She didn’t sound happy.
    “She’s not decorating with that stuff,” I warned. Covenant’s colors were red and gold. I hated both colors.
    “You tell her that.”
    Paris finally noticed I wasn’t alone. She wasn’t very observant. She smiled at Aric , though. It was hard not to.
    “I’m Paris.”
    Aric introduced himself, greeting Paris warmly. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was a little disappointed we’d been interrupted. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on my part.
    “So, did you guys go to high school together?” More questions. I tried to give Paris a silent signal not to answer him, but she was oblivious.
    “No, we just met two days ago,” she answered.
    “It’s good that you like each other.”
    “Yeah, it would suck if I was stuck in a room with three Brittany s .”
    Well, that mental image was going to give me nightmares. I shuddered as I shook it off.
    “So, what dorm do you live in?”
    I mentally sent Paris the universal “don’t answer that” vibe. She didn’t get it. She happily told Aric where we lived. I wanted to strangle her.
    “Good to know,” Aric smiled. The smile wasn’t directed at Paris, though. It was directed at me. Great. How was I going to explain to Will about the new guy following me everywhere?
    “Is it just the two of you?” Aric asked. He really had no end to his questions.
    “No, our other two roommates are here, too,” Paris said. She pointed silently to Brittany . Aric followed her finger and I could tell he was fighting the urge to laugh out loud at the pile of sweatshirts in front of her.
    “Who else?”
    Paris looked around quizzically. “I don’t know where Tara went.”
    I found myself looking around for Tara, too. It was like she had just disappeared. “She wouldn’t have left without us . . . “ I broke off. Actually, I had no idea what Tara would do. I didn’t really know her at all.
    Paris looked dubious, too. “No, she would have at least said something.”
    Aric looked at us. “Bonded a lot have you?”
    “Just with