NEWBORN: Book One of the Newborn Trilogy Read Online Free PDF Page A

three months, anyway. Despite my wanting them to leave, my
heart twists at the thought. Three months. My stomach twists at
exactly the same time and luckily the pain distracts me from my
feelings.
    I wince as I open the door to my room.
    “Hi,” says a voice.
    Walking inside, I see a thin girl with bobbed
hair and glasses sitting on the bed opposite mine. A MacBook Air is
open on her crossed legs. “Hi,” I say in return, smiling happily at
my new roommate. I’m glad to have a real, solid distraction from
thoughts of Gabriel for at least a few minutes.

Chapter Two
    “I’m Kiri,” says
Kiri, stretching out a hand. “Nice to meet you roomie.”
    I shake her hand. It’s warm. “I’m Nora.”
    I know we’ll get along great. We’re just past
introductions and I already know it. It’s my intuition, and my
intuition is usually right. Hopefully it’ll help me with Gabriel. Shit! I’m supposed to be taking a break from thinking about
him. So much for that…
    “I was so relieved when I saw this,” Kiri
remarks, gesturing to my crate full of books. “A reader is my kind
of person, and you’ve got some good stuff here. Er – I only peeked,
I swear! Books say so much about their readers.”
    “I know what you mean,” I respond. “You can
borrow any of them whenever you like. God knows I’ll be too busy
reading textbooks to get into any of them, but still. Had to bring
them. It was…” I trail off, looking for the right phrase.
    “Wishful thinking,” Kiri chimes in, smiling
under her glasses.
    “Yes,” I say, beaming back.
    Geez, we’re already finishing each other’s
sentences.
    Putting her MacBook Air aside, Kiri stands
before digging through the crate. “I saw you had…” Boy, she must
have really dug deep. But I don’t mind. I’m delighted with my new
friend. “Here it is!” she says. She pulls forth Dinner at the
Homesick Restaurant . “I’ve wanted to read this forever!”
    “Take it,” I tell her. “It’s a really good
book. I’ve already read it, but I was thinking about reading it
again. You know, instead of studying.”
    She points to the shelf above her desk where
a row of books is neatly organized. “Feel free to take any of mine.
I’m in the same boat, I’ve already read about half of them. But – I
don’t know – couldn’t be without them I guess.” She shrugs
disarmingly at me, her eyes twinkling behind glasses.
    * * *
    I awake the next morning to rain. I hear it
pattering lightly on the window. Blinking my sticky eyes, I turn
over in bed to face the room. Kiri is already gone, dispatched into
the new day. Panic striking me, I glance at my alarm clock before
realizing it’s not set up yet. I jump out of bed and grab my
phone
    Phew! It’s only 8:07. My first class isn’t
until 10:00. Close one – well, not really. I have plenty of time.
But not enough to go back to sleep. Staring around, I realize how
little unpacking I’ve done so far.
    Besides my mother making the bed and my
father setting up everything involving a plug, nothing is unpacked.
I meant to unpack last night after dinner with Gabriel, but Kiri
and I got lost in conversation until the day was done. She’s such a
cool person. We’re going to be great friends. I just know it.
    Grabbing my toiletries bag, I go to the
bathroom. Once there, I can’t help but sigh into the mirror. A
train wreck is more appealing. My hair is a mess and my eyes are
too bright, looking fevered.
    Gently, I put in my contacts. This is a
routine I keep every night and morning – take them out, put them
in, respectively. Keeps my eyes fresh. My contacts in, the
brightness of my eyes dimmed, I take a shower.
    The hot water feels so good against my skin,
doing more to wash away the emotional mess of yesterday than
anything yet. I shampoo liberally and focus my eyes on the faucet,
letting the water fill them and clean them. For a moment my
contacts blur in the rush of water, but then resume their place so
my vision is