Writer Wednesday
Excerpt of
Impassioned, by: Molly Bryant
The ride back to the dorms of Boise State University
(BSU) took forever, it seemed. The rain poured down in the darkness,
splattering on the windshield. I pulled into the parking lot to find that the
only parking spots left were the ones all the way at the back, farthest away from
the building.
“Shit, of course,” I said aloud as I sighed. I parked
my car and sat there for a minute while I listened to the hypnotizing
pitter-patter of rain on the roof of my car. I knew the second that I made the
split decision to run to the dorms, I was going to be soaked, remembering the
first day that Rachel and I had arrived here at BSU. It was raining then, too,
soaking our luggage. It seemed to do that often here. It was kind of nice at
first, but what they say is true: rain can be depressing.
“It’s now or never, Jess,” I said angrily to myself as
I grabbed my black Coach purse out of the passenger seat, then hopped out and
slammed the car door behind me and ran toward the big, brick building. I hadn’t
noticed until now that the power must have been out, as not so much as a street
lamp was lit. The parking lot was too dark.
By the time I made it through the grey, heavy double
doors, my hair, jacket, jeans and feet were soaked. I was sure that if I took off
my shoes, I could pour a steady stream of water out of them. I flung the doors
open and stood in the hallway for a minute, shaking off the rain. It was hard
to see in the halls, except for the few college kids going about their evening
routines with their flashlights. I was thankful that Rachel’s and my room was
on the first floor as I turned down a long hallway to the right. It was too
dark to see the room numbers. I stood for a second, squinting, trying to focus.
A12? I grunted. Our room was A5. I didn’t even know how I had wandered this far
down the hallway. Sighing, I turned around and bumped right into someone. My
forehead collided with the person’s chin. “Ouch!” I yelled, chuckling to myself
as I rubbed my forehead, watching as the other person’s flashlight rolled away along
the carpeted hallway. “Oh-my-gosh … I’m so sorry,” I said as I walked over to
pick up the other person’s flashlight, unable to tell who they were.
I went to hand it back to them. “I should really watch
where I …”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” I could hear a
smile in his voice as he took the flashlight from my hands.
It’s a guy, Jess, way to go! I thought
to myself as he shone his
flashlight upward, illuminating his face so I could see who he was. It was
Derek from the diner.
Derek. Why did it have to be Derek? My face now was scorching. I smiled.
He was so gorgeous, like no other guy I’d ever seen before. His brown eyes
glimmered in the light and his smile was warm and enticing. I was curious as to
why this entire time I’ve never seen him, let alone ran into him in this hallway
until now. His face was one you could never forget … why now, why tonight?
“I’m Derek, and you are?” He held his hand out to
shake mine.
“Jessica, but people call me Jessie, Jess … whatever
you prefer to call me,” I said, taking his hand into mine. It was soft and sent
an electric shock through my arm, traveling to my stomach causing all sorts of
butterflies. I was extremely nervous.
“What do you prefer I call you?” The right corner of
his mouth crooked upward, giving me the same half smile he gave me the first
time I saw him.
I stood for a second staring at him. I couldn’t speak,
let alone move. “I, uh …” You look like a complete and total idiot! Say
something! I thought to myself, as
I shook my head. “Oh, sorry … Jessie is fine,” I answered,
blushing, then realized that we were still shaking hands. I giggled, letting my
hand drop.
“Here. Since I have a flashlight, let me walk you to
your room,” he said politely.
“Sure. Thanks,” I stuttered.
He handed me the flashlight, raising an eyebrow. “Here,
why don’t you light the way?”
As I grabbed the flashlight from his hands, his warm
skin touched mine and I shivered. My teeth were chattering, as I was still cold
and soaked from the rain. Oh please, just grab me, squeeze me tight. Warm
me up, Derek Humphry!
“So, you seem pretty close to Rachel,” he said.
“Yeah. We’ve been friends since first grade,” I said,
smiling. For thirteen years, Rachel and I have been inseparable … pretty much
like sisters.
“That girl is crazy! She always has something smart to
say during the professors’ lessons. It makes me think that she may be a bit
smarter than they are,” he replied, laughing.
Hearing this didn’t surprise me at all, she’s known
for saying whatever she wants, whenever she wants. “Yeah, that sounds like my
Rachel!” I laughed.
Great, he was asking about Rachel. I should have known
better. He likes her, not me. Of course he does. I would consider myself
to be good looking and tiny in a pixy kind of way, but Rachel was downright
beautiful. I was quiet for a second as I waited for him to ask me something
else about her, as a sudden pang of jealousy come over me. Why would I be jealous, anyway? I don’t even know this guy!
“Was that your boyfriend back at the diner?” he asked,
looking into my eyes.
“No,” I laughed. “Absolutely not. No way.” Well, maybe
I was wrong. He was interested in what my relationship status was, after all. Interesting…
“I didn’t think so. You left him in despair back
there,” Derek joked.
“I’ve dated him before. There’s just something about
him … he drives me crazy,” I said with a smirk. That was an understatement. He
literally made me want to jump out of my skin.
“Why is that? What’s wrong with him?” he asked, concerned.
Why? He should care less, he knew nothing about me.
“No. Just super annoying,” I said, smiling. The way he
made me feel was indescribable. At the moment, I didn’t feel that it was
necessary to try and explain myself to Derek … not yet anyway.
Derek sighed, coming to a stop. “Well, which room is
it? I think we made our rounds many times over.” I looked around with the
flashlight. We had past the main hallway and were making our way down the
opposite side toward the bathrooms, passing the door to the laundry room. There
was something about him that I felt drawn to; I felt the need to be around him,
wishing that the walk to my room was a lot longer.
“We passed it.” I blushed. We turned around and I
dragged my feet, making the moments with Derek last a few seconds longer. “Well,
thank you for the light,” I said, smiling as I handed the flashlight back to
Derek. The lights in the hallway flickered. We both blinked our eyes several
times until our eyes adjusted to the fluorescent lighting.
“Anytime, Jessie,” he said before his face lit up with
a smile. I stared at his brown eyes for a moment. They gave me a sense of
warmth that flowed through my entire body, a strange sense of calmness.
“Bye,” I said as I
watched him turn and walk away. I had remembered Rachel telling me that he
would sit in the back of the classroom by himself and never said anything. It
was intriguing, making me want to know more about him. He definitely had things
going for him though; for one thing, he was gorgeous.
***
pp. 14-18 of Impassioned, by: Molly Bryant, now available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and Goodreads. Get your copy today!
Synopsis: Jesse meets an intriguing young man with brown eyes,
messy-blonde hair, and dimples that set his smile out of this world. As
their relationship grows stronger, Jessie learns that she is in danger.
Her college life at Boise State University becomes anything but ordinary
in a world she never knew existed.
With college students being
recruited like puppets into the arms of fallen angels, Jessie has the
guardians to keep her safe. In this compelling story of love, loss and
betrayal, will Jesse choose the love of eternal damnation? Or will she
choose the love of eternal harmony?
