Forever With You (Silver State Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

 Countless freshmen from across campus mill around holding cookies and cups filled with alcohol free “mocktails.”
    A bubbly girl with blond hair and braces bounds over to us as we approach.  She hands us each a ticket and explains the Residence Hall Association is raffling off door prizes every half hour.  We nod our thanks before beginning a slow lap around the perimeter.  Several games of cornhole are going at the center of the open field.  Nearby a crowd has gathered in a ring around the capoeira club, which has several members performing a demonstration.  We pause to watch as a girl with braided pigtails and a tom-tom in her lap pounds out a rhythm while two guys bow to one another.  I’m impressed by their fluid movements, an intricate cross between martial arts and dancing.
    We move off to the row of nearby booths, one for each undergraduate club.  I stop at the Reno Runners table and pick up a brochure listing the weekly group runs and this fall’s 5K’s and half marathon.  I write my name down on the e-mail list, thinking I might like to get back into running.  I did both track and cross country my junior and senior years of high school, but I’ve grown rusty since graduating, lacking for the sort of structure and team spirit that drove me to excel in school.
    I roll the brochure into a tube as I step away from the booth and begin searching for my roommates.  I spot Harumi at the Women’s Rugby table, chatting up a stocky girl with impressive calves.  I turn my head, continuing to scan for Beatrix, but stop when my eyes land instead on a familiar face a few yards off.  My heart rate accelerates when I see Kyle bent over a refreshment table; I laugh when I notice him stacking several oatmeal raisin cookies on a napkin and laugh harder when he walks away, apparently intent on keeping all of them for himself.  He’s in a fitted green t-shirt and cargo cutoffs, and a professional-looking camera hangs on a thick strap that crosses from his left shoulder under his opposite arm.  I watch as he walks a little ways off and stops beneath a big shade tree and wonder if he came here alone.
    I glance back at Harumi.  Satisfied that she’s still deeply involved in her conversation with the rugby player, I turn and begin walking toward Kyle.  He doesn’t look up until I’m within a few feet of him; when he notices me he pauses, a half-eaten cookie lifted partway to his open mouth.
    “What made you decide to crash this party?” I ask.  “You’re no freshman.”
    He seems to remember then what he was doing and lowers his hand again as he smiles warmly at me.  He brushes a crumb away from the corner of his mouth as he replies.  “I’m here for Les, who’s here for Leila.  Only now I’m not sure where they went off to…”
    “You like those cookies?” I ask, inclining my head toward the significant stack of them in his left hand.
    “They’re okay,” he says.  “The fact they’re free makes them taste better.”
    I laugh.  “I didn’t know you had a thing for photography.”
    He looks down at his camera and nods.  “Yeah, photojournalism.  I’m pre-majoring, but I’ll find out this year whether I made it into the program.  I’m trying to build up my portfolio, so you’ll probably see me chained to this thing for a while.”  He pats the heavy-looking piece of equipment as he adjusts the strap next to his neck.
    “That’s cool,” I tell him.  “I’ve always wished I was more artistic and could get into acting or painting or something.  My sister – you remember Rhiannon?  She sings and plays guitar, but I’m not really gifted in anything.”
    He tilts his head to one side as he looks at me.  “Somehow I doubt that,” he says.  For a moment he simply stares at me, into me, but then he clears his throat and qualifies his statement by saying, “Everybody has something they’re good at.”
    I shrug, and he chuckles a little, rubbing his chin.
    “So Tawny, what do