The Fire In My Eyes Read Online Free

heavy, from what I could see. She paid no attention to me. I wasn't sure she even knew I was there.
    I stepped around the corner to get out of the doorway. Two beds were bunked against the far wall near where Drew sat. A stack of empty soda cans was in the corner next to Jess's desk. I took another step to get around the corner and stepped on something soft that slipped under my foot. I put a hand on the wall to steady myself and make sure I didn't ruin whatever I was standing on. My hand landed right on the light switch.
    “Holy shit!” Jess shouted as the overhead light came on, blindingly bright. “Max! I'm going to kill you! You hear me? Kill you!” She twisted in her chair and lunged out of it toward me. Her hand was an inch from my throat when she stopped dead and blinked at me, green eyes behind thick glasses. “Wait. You're not Max.”
    Max cleared his throat. “I'm over here, Jess. Nice to see you, too.”
    She looked over her shoulder at him and her hand dropped to her side. “So you are.” She looked back at me. “So, who’s this asshole, and why does he have a death wish?”
    “I don't think either of us can answer the second part of that question,” Drew said. “I didn't think he was suicidal. Do you think we should take him to the infirmary now, Max?”
    “It might not be a bad idea,” Max agreed.
    “Third time today,” I muttered.
    “What?” Jess glared at me. Now that I could actually see her, I had to revise my first impressions. She was a classical redhead with green eyes and freckles, and even if she was a little chubby, she still looked pretty good. If she lost some weight, she'd look even better. “Wait a minute,” she said. “I bet Max put you up to this.”
    Her personality left a little to be desired, though. It wasn’t as if I had any standing to complain about that. “I had nothing at all to do with that,” he protested.
    “He didn't. I stepped on something and accidentally put my hand on the switch when I was trying to catch my balance.” I pointed down at the ground. The offending object was revealed to be a skirt. I promptly moved my foot away. “I'm their new roommate, by the way. Kevin Parker. Look, I didn't mean to blind you in the middle of your game, I know how that feels. Sorry for making you lose.”
    She frowned at me, but then shrugged and took a step back. “Jess Kelton. Nice to meet you. So, you’re a gamer? What’s your game of choice these days?” She pointed at the computer.
    I mentally slapped myself. I hadn't even thought about it, just shot my mouth off. “I don't game anymore. Broke the addiction.”
    “Addiction? Right.” Her lip curled. Her personality definitely could use adjustment. “So, what are you majoring in? Psychology?”
    “Right now I'm doing business, but I want to take more general education courses and see what catches my interest,” I said. “How about you? Computer engineering?”
    She retreated to her chair and snorted. “I'm no engineer. Computer science with some side courses for graphic design. Looking into the game programming and design field. Why did you think engineering? Do I really look that nerdy?”
    “Well, since you asked, yes,” Max said.
    “Shut up, Max,” she snapped.
    “It was just a guess. Computer science was my next guess,” I said.
    She nodded and pointed at the floor beside me. There was a beanbag on the floor next to the can stack. “Sit,” she ordered. I sat. “So what did you play? Why did you give it up? Embarrassed? Did you miss the memo that nerds are cool these days?”
    That wasn’t true, at least in my experience. High school had been a series of awkward and embarrassing encounters. I thought that community college would let me have a fresh start, but even there, my past followed me. That was part of the reason I came to Ripley. “I never got into games like that. Was that something new?”
    She narrowed her eyes and I thought she'd keep prying, but Max spoke up and saved me. “I