Chapter 1

 

 

As Kate got ready for the day, she texted Reed. The practice had become a habit and she relished the addition of him in her morning ritual. She messaged him throughout getting dressed and gathering her books. Classes had started the previous week and she collected her first homework of the semester, adding them to the bag before glancing to the calendar. In the last six months she’d marked every date with Reed, and the next was coming, soon. But he had yet to extend an invitation.

She shouldered her bag and then paused to pick up a picture of her with Reed, a soft smile lighting her face. The picture was from the Island Date, their fifth, and her favorite. Although they now spent a great deal of time together, she lived for the challenge dates.

She stepped into the living room to find two of her roommates lounging on the couches, both on their phones, the remains of a bowl of fruit on the coffee table. Kate sat down and picked up a strawberry.

“Good morning!” she said brightly, popping it into her mouth.

“You’re smiling again,” Ember said.

“Why does her happiness annoy you?” Brittney asked. “We were trying to get them together, remember?”

“It’s been a month,” Ember said. “They should have cooled off by now.”

“You’re the only person I know that could be angry with a puppy,” Brittney said, exasperated.

Ember laughed at the reference to her temper, which now bordered on legendary. Two days ago she’d gotten a speeding ticket, and the officer probably still had burns on his face from Ember’s meltdown. At just over five feet she was the shortest of the group. Her red hair matched her personality, but hid her fire beneath waves of beauty.

Brittney was the opposite. The girl was cute and generous, aspects usually overlooked when guys saw her weight. But in cooking she had no peer, especially when it came to her cookies. If they were any more addictive Kate would have to go into sugar rehab. Brittney was also the youngest of the roommates, and had just started her sophomore year.

Another bedroom door opened and Marta came down the stairs. Yawning, she caught sight of the three of them and sank onto the couch. She picked up a fork and stabbed at the cantaloupe, oblivious to the looks from the other three.

Of Puerto Rican descent, Marta retained the toned skin and dark eyes of her family. But she’d spent her whole life in the United States and spoke English better than Spanish. She was undeniably pretty, but her parents were adamant that she date only guys from Puerto Rico, a boundary that had loosened of late, partly because of Reed’s and Kate’s influence.

“What?” Marta asked, realizing they were staring.

Kate smiled and gestured to Ember. “She’s annoyed at me for smiling too much.”

“What do you expect?” Marta asked. “The girl’s practically in love.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Kate protested, but her smile widened.

Ember stabbed a finger at her. “Why do you get all the romance?”

“Because you helped orchestrate it,” Kate said.

“She’s got you there,” Brittney said with a laugh.

“I love you girls, you know that?” Kate asked. She put an arm around Ember’s shoulders and hugged her.

“Don’t you have a class to get to?” Ember stabbing a strawberry like it was a foe to be vanquished.

“My mechanics lab,” she said, glancing at the clock. “I need to go.”

Brittney gestured to the table of fruit and toast. “Breakfast?”

Kate picked up a piece of toast and then strode to her backpack next to the door. “I lost track of time talking to Reed so I’m running late. Thanks for the toast.”

“Have fun at class!” Brittney said.

Kate came to a halt in the doorway and looked back at her roommates suspiciously. “Is there a surprise waiting for me?”

“How would we know?” Ember said, shooting Brittney a sharp look.

Kate eyed her roommates as they shifted and avoided eye contact. Brittney in particular seemed engrossed in her phone, but her hand was fidgeting. She glanced up and grimaced when their eyes met, and Kate smirked.

“I’ll call you after I find it,” she said.

“Seriously, Brittney?” Ember demanded. “We almost had her.”

Brittney raised her hands defensively. “Hey, with them dating it’s getting a lot harder to surprise them . . .”

Kate shut the door and walked to her car, pleased that she’d managed to discover the plot. As she unlocked the door she pulled out her phone and called Reed. She didn’t want to spoil the surprise, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t tease him a bit.

“Hey,” he said, picking up on the first ring. “I’m about to step into class but I have a minute.”

“I’m excited for class today,” she said.

“Oh?”

“I think it’s going to be especially interesting.”

He groaned. “When did you figure it out?”

“Just a minute ago,” Kate admitted, starting her car. “My roommates were a bit too excited for me to go to class.”

“Don’t forget I figured out the invitation for the Falling Date,” he said. “So I guess we’re even.”

“I’ll just have to be more clever next time,” she said.

“I look forward to it.” There was a door swinging open and then shutting. “Enjoy the invite.”

“I’m sure I will. Meet after class for lunch?”

“Always.”

She said goodbye and then drove to campus. She kept her eyes peeled. With Reed, the invite could be anywhere, in the parking garage, in a sign along the road. But there was nothing, and her anticipation mounted the closer she came to class.

Arriving at the engineering building, she made her way to the third floor lab and peeked through the window, but everything appeared normal. The classroom was almost full and Dr. Freeman was writing on the board.

She frowned, wondering if she’d somehow missed Reed’s invitation. He had been spending a lot of time with Jackson. Had he been setting up something special? Then she entered the classroom and took a seat at one of the eight tables. Like all the mechanical labs, the room was filled with cabinets containing parts and electrical equipment. Buttons, switches, and tubing would be used throughout the semester for a variety of projects.

She greeted her group as she sat down. “Kent, Mike,” she said, “how was your weekend?”

“Busy,” they said in unison. “We had a big project to finish.”

“But it’s the second week of classes,” she said with a frown, pausing in retrieving her notebook and pen. “What did you have to finish?”

They exchanged a look but were saved from answering when Dr. Freeman called the class to attention. “Before we begin today, a group would like to present an extra credit assignment to the class. Will those who participated please come forward?”

Kate turned to Kent and Mike, and asked. “What assignment . . .?”

But they were standing and walking to the front—as was every other student in the room. Confused, Kate stared as her entire class walked to the front, leaving her the only person remaining in her seat.

“We’ll need a volunteer from the class,” Mike said, smirking like Kate wasn’t the only one still in her seat.

“What’s going on?” Kate asked, rising to her feet.

She suddenly noticed all the smiles and realized exactly what was happening. Reed had gotten to her classmates. She looked to Dr. Freeman, who stood with his arms folded, a smile of satisfaction on his face.

“Don’t look at me,” he said. “Your boyfriend can be quite persuasive. I just agreed to give extra credit to those who participated.”

“Participated in what?” she asked cautiously.

“Come and find out,” Kent said.

He pointed to the front of the room, where a short hallway connected to a second lab. On this floor all the lab rooms were interconnected with back hallways, allowing students to access the equipment specific to each room.

“He recruited all of you?” she asked.

“We did it for the extra credit,” a girl said, but the girl next to her elbowed her.

“The points were just bonus,” she said.

Kate stepped to the doorway and looked around the frame. She glanced back uncertainly but the class stood silent, their expressions excited and impatient. Confused, Kate turned back and then noticed a stretch of tubing fastened to the other side of the door. Supported by tape, it curved into the adjoining room and out of sight. Balanced on the end was a marble, poised so, when touched, it would roll down the tubing like a cart on a roller coaster.

“Well?” Kent demanded. “Are you going to push it or not?”

“What does it do?” she asked, taking a step toward the other room.

“Don’t!” several cried, and Mike shook his head.

“Follow the track and you’ll find out.”

Unable to keep the smile from her face, Kate reached toward the marble. Her fingertip brushed the glass and it began to roll down the tubing. Slow at first, it quickly accelerated as it approached the curve and banked into the dark room, where it landed in a motorized wheel that carried it upward and deposited it onto a second track. As it curved into the dark room Kate followed it and squinted into the gloom, watching the marble roll along a track about shoulder height.

It struck a second, larger marble which dropped off its ledge and landed in a basket attached to a pulley and the light switch. The weight caused the light to flip on, and Kate gasped as she saw what lay in the room.