All In My Head (First Tracks Book 1)

All In My Head (First Tracks Book 1) Read Free Page B

Book: All In My Head (First Tracks Book 1) Read Free
Author: Kristen James
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slept through the drive-through?” I asked, confused,
because I’d been talking to Marcus, right?
    Dude, yeah.
    “You were out of it. Still feeling okay?” She looked me over
as if her layman’s eyes might see something.
    “Avery!” Jazz called, bouncing down the front steps, pulling
a herd of helium balloons behind her. She’d tied her long, black hair up in a
knot in a way my hair refuses to do. “Welcome home!” She landed right next to
me, engulfing me. I noticed Dawn coming down the steps too. We all rent
together—me, Dawn, Kristina and Jasmine—and go to Southern Oregon University.
    Everyone started talking, including Marcus, until Kyle stood
up by the driver’s side and cleared his throat.
    “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” Kris turned and planted a kiss on
my cheek as she hugged me. “I’ll check on you later, ’kay?”
    Once she got in, the car pulled away slowly, almost like an
apology because that wasn’t Kyle’s usual driving style.
    “Hmm.” Jazz raised an eyebrow at the retreating car. She
didn’t say more, which we don’t around Dawn.
    “Thanks for the balloons,” I told Jazz as the three of us
walked up to the house. It felt strange that everything looked the same. Our
wide, covered cement porch greeted me like usual. We rented an old white
farmhouse on the edge of a small but nice college town. The farms disappeared
years ago, and newer houses came, but they were mostly rented by college
students on this street.
    “Want to watch a movie here?” Jazz asked. Dawn went back to
cooking something in the kitchen and said she was up for a movie. 
    Not the best time. Kinda stuck in an emergency right now.
    I started to shake my head but a spark of pain stopped me.
“I really just want to lie down and rest. Thanks, though.”
    She gave me a sympathetic smile, and I faltered, imagining
how great it’d feel to spill this entire mess to her. Just as quickly, I saw
how it’d look. As I made my way down the long hallway to my room, in the back
of the house with its own tiny bathroom, I fantasized about falling into bed …
but I’m a problem solver, and I couldn’t just go to sleep while I had voices in
my head. I dropped my things on my cedar hope chest where I store stuff that I
don’t use too often, like snow wear. The balloons had a small weight so I set
it on my dresser. Then I hit the power button on my laptop and let it fire up
while I changed into my thermal pajamas.
    The entire day was gone … just like that. With a sigh, I
peeked in the fast food bag. Kristina had gotten me a seven layer, which is
what I always get from Taco Bell. When we go to the college cafeteria, I always
get the ham, bacon and Swiss sandwich. At our fave Mexican place, I get shrimp
nachos. Starbucks, a mint mocha. Well, mint in the winter, and iced Chai in the
summer. Kristina knows all of these. She also never puts me down for being
boring.
    Sweet room. How’d you end up with this one? Pull seniority or
something?
    Would Jazz hear me with my door shut? I didn’t think she
could, unless she was right outside. My room is at the end of a hall so I
decided it was safe enough to whisper. 
    “I pay the most rent so I can have the room with a
bathroom.” It was just a room with one big window and a small bathroom, but I
loved my space, and, unlike my roommates, I tried to keep anyone else out as
much as possible.
    Job? Or a rich daddy?
    I chewed and swallowed the last bite of my seven layer and
said, “Mind your own freaking business. I just wanted my own bathroom.”
    What’s with the notes on the walls?
    He was looking at my screenplay board. I pointed to one set
of papers and explained they were character bios, another section had notes on
the plot, and the third section had some issues I was trying to work out. It
was a mess at this point, really, but I didn’t have time for that right now.
First I’d take care of this problem, and then put all of my focus back on my
work.
    Work?
    “Well, I use some of

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