Out Of The Ashes Read Online Free Page B

to be okay. Today is the start of something special for you.”
     
    I hoped so. More than anything, I wanted her to be right about that. We parted ways outside the Student Center. Gillian hurried off to the Sciences building where she had a chemistry lecture. I headed inside to grab coffee before class.
     
    I turned around with my fresh latte in my hand and bumped right into Clay Forbes. Luckily, there was a lid on my cup, or caramel-scented coffee would have splashed all over his baby blue v-neck tee. A blue tee that turned his eyes into liquid topaz. I could see the defined muscles of his chest and his flat stomach through the fitted shirt. Clay wasn’t a big guy, but he was at least six feet tall and his body was lean and fit.
     
    “Whoa,” he said, catching me by my forearms before I stumbled over his feet. “Slow down, there’s no fire.”
     
    My face burned scarlet, and my breathing increased its speed. No sound escaped my lips when I opened my mouth. I was losing my grip on the here and now; my mind began hurtling into the past. I tried to stop it, get control of my breathing. I fought as hard as I could, struggling with slowing down each breath before I took the next.
     
    It didn’t work.
     
    Flashes of the past began pouring into my consciousness, one quick picture at a time. The faces of my family, terrified and reflected in the orange flames. The feeling of being choked into oblivion by the thick, inky smoke. Crawling on my hands and knees, smelling my hair singing in the hot flames.
     
    “Hey,” Clay said. He tilted his head to look down into my eyes and placed his finger under my chin to lift my face skyward. “What is it? Are you okay?”
     
    I struggled, gulping in air and closing my eyes. His voice brought me back to the Student Center and I pushed back against the dark memories. I remembered that my therapist had instructed me to count when I was having a panic attack. After I counted to ten, I had recovered enough to get a sentence out.
     
    “I, uh…I have to go to class.”
     
    His hands tightened on my arms, not painfully but tight enough to keep me in place. “Wait, Paige. What just happened?”
     
    His eyes were full of confusion and concern. The concern was puzzling...and nice. The emotions those eyes were stirring up in me were too much for me to handle at the moment.
     
    “Sorry about running into you.” I pivoted and practically ran for the Student Center’s double doors, exiting into the bright sunshine. I hurried down the steps.
     
    “Paige!” I heard Clay call out behind me. “Wait!”
     
    Continuing to walk crossed my mind, but he would catch up eventually. I slowed and allowed him to fall into step beside me.
     
    “Look, I’m fine. You didn’t have to chase me down.” I whirled on him. I found it difficult to keep my face unaffected when those azure eyes burned into mine like that.
     
    “I know I didn’t. But what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you walk to class all alone?”
     
    I eyed him doubtfully. “I wasn’t aware that you were a gentleman.”
     
    He shrugged. “I’m not, usually. You seem to bring all kinds of strangeness out in me. So what class are we heading toward?”
     
    “We are heading for Statistics. And I’m awful at math, so I’d better be on time to get a seat in the front.”
     
    He laughed. “Oh, I don’t think you’ll have a problem getting a seat in the front. What’s your major?”
     
    “I don’t know yet. I’m going to see where life takes me these next few years.”
     
    “Gotcha. Probably smart. Some people end up changing a bunch of times.”
     
    We walked the rest of the way to Snellings Hall. The campus was bustling, covered with students rushing to class, sitting on the lawn with books and with ear buds in, and jogging around campus. Trees dotted the wide-open lawns, full and majestic branches reaching out for the sun. I loved it here.
     
    We paused outside my building, and I cast my eyes toward