Ethon (The Other Worlds Series Book 2) Read Online Free

the far back right corner. He was making his way toward her, textbook in hand. Olinia recognized him to be the straggler from her first day of class. She watched as he reached the blonde’s desk and then passed by without so much as a nod. Olinia let out a short laugh. Fortunately for the girl, her friend the farmboy was sitting right behind her, ready to offer his assistance. Olinia smiled to herself, dropping her gaze to the textbook on her desk. She secretly enjoyed moments like these.
    “Hey, do you have a partner yet?”
    Olinia’s head snapped up. The guy who had passed the blonde was now standing in front of Olinia. She shook her head and heard herself admit, “Not yet.”
    “Awesome.” He sat in the chair to her right. “My name’s Porter Mires.”
    “Olinia Reien.” She forced a smile.
    Nice smile. Porter thought as he opened the book in his hands.
    Why did he pick her? The blonde muttered to herself, glaring at Olinia.
    “You know the reading for last night?” Porter asked out loud.
    Olinia winced inwardly, forcing her mind to focus on the actual conversation she was involved in, rather than the silent rambling of every person in the room. “Yeah, pages forty-eight through ninety-seven, right?”
    He nodded. “Did you read all of it?”
    “I read some, but no, not all of it.” She reached for the textbook in her backpack, but her fingers slipped off its edge as she pulled it out. The book landed in a messy heap on the floor. Letting out a sigh, Olinia bent to pick it up, but Porter was faster. He grabbed the book and extended it to Olinia in one fluid movement. Surprised, she accepted the book, and noticed Porter’s fingers brush hers as he released his grip.
    Almost instantly, her inner eye witnessed images of things she had seen earlier that day. One scene in particular stood out from the others. It was a picture of her and Legann in swimsuits at Virginia Beach the summer before. Trenton had taken it. That morning, before she left for school while Legann was in the shower, Olinia had opened a sort of diary she kept during her time in Ethon. Trenton had suggested she record her adventures here so that one day when she returned to the Other Worlds she could remember. He was more optimistic than she was. The picture had been inside the diary – next to a drawing Legann had done of…well, that didn’t matter. It was the image of them at the beach that was being focused on.
    Confused by the sudden rush of memories, Olinia rubbed her forehead with one hand. Strange. It was almost as if someone had pulled the memories out from her, but that wasn’t very likely. Hearing everyone’s thoughts must have rekindled some of her own.
    “How far did you get in the reading?” Porter began thumbing through the pages of his own textbook.
    “I just basically skimmed it,” she admitted.
    “Okay.” He glanced up from the book. “We may have done about the same then.”
    “Has everyone found a partner?” Sanders called out to the class, interrupting his students. When no one responded, Sanders nodded. “Good. The person you’re with will be your partner for the rest of the semester. You’ll also write your final papers together, so be mindful of that.”
    As Sanders turned to his briefcase, ignoring his class once again, Porter grinned. “Looks like we’re going to be with each other for a while.”
    She nodded and opened her own textbook on her desk. “What should we discuss?”
    “How about you?”
    “Excuse me?” She blinked.
    He leaned forward onto his elbows, keeping his face towards her. For some reason his thoughts were suddenly fascinated by her. “How old are you?”
    “I’d rather just focus on the homework,” she replied.
    “You can’t tell me your age?”
    Olinia rolled her eyes. “I’m nineteen. How old are you?”
    “Twenty. Where are you from?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “If you had done all the reading last night, you would have learned that often where a person is raised