Awakened (Vampire Awakenings) Read Free Page B

there!” Kathleen pointed.
    Sera looked at the group of girls gathered in the back, but saw nothing unusual about them. She was about to give up, thinking that Kathleen was losing it, when she spotted Michelle. She was standing amongst the group, a sweet smile on her normally cool face.
    Sera was momentarily perplexed by Michelle’s actions. She was never so openly flirtatious, or seemingly carefree. Then, the group parted slightly to reveal a young man in their midst. He was leaning casually against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he smiled at the girls surrounding him. He was by far the most gorgeous man that she had ever seen. Her heart began to pound rapidly in her chest as everything around her seemed to freeze. The noise was gone, the room ceased moving. He became the only thing that she could see, the only thing that she could feel.
    She had the fierce urge to cross the room to him, but she couldn’t seem to get her legs to move. They were riveted in shock. Slowly, the girls surrounding him began to come back into focus. The music filtered back into her startled mind, and the room once again swarmed with people. She looked at the girls in amazement as they flirted outrageously, and overtly grazed against him. He could have his pick of any of them, even Michelle, who was usually too condescending to even think about picking a guy up at a party. Sera glanced back at Kathleen, who was wearing the same riveted expression that she was certain had been on her own face.
    She looked back to find the strange guy staring intently at her. She was unable to break free of his intense gaze as his eyes locked on hers. The room seemed to disappear again as he smiled softly and nodded. She swallowed heavily, and managed a small smile in return before the group enclosed him. Sera felt as if she had just snapped out of a trance. She took a startled step back, bumping roughly into the doorjamb. Kathleen turned to her and grasped her arm painfully.
    “Isn’t he hot!?” she cried.
    “Who is he?” Sera managed around the lump in her throat.
    “I don’t know. He just transferred here this semester. I can’t get close enough to talk to him and find out anything.”
    Sera nodded slowly as she looked back at the group that enclosed him, blocking him from view. She felt a surprising sense of loss that completely confused her. She didn’t know anything about him, not even his name. She was acting like a silly fool. She was acting like the girls crowding around him.
    She definitely wasn’t acting like herself.
    “Come on,” Kathleen said, her voice filled with determination.
    “What, where?” Sera gasped in surprise as Kathleen drug her toward the dance floor.
    She didn’t have time to offer more of a protest as Kathleen plunged into the crowd. “Dance!” Kathleen called happily above the noise.
    Sera stared dazedly at her before realizing that she looked like a foolish, wooden statue among the swaying bodies. Slowly she began to move to the music, but her mind remained on the group in the corner. And the man. She was so focused upon her thoughts, and pondering over the strange sense of loss she had felt, that she didn’t realize Kathleen was angling them toward the group until they were only feet away.
    When she did realize it, she began to move slowly away, ignoring Kathleen’s agitated glances. She moved to the center of the floor, mingling back in with the larger group. She’d be damned if she was going to turn into some groupie, and latch onto some guy that she didn’t even know. He was gorgeous, but she would not degrade herself that way.
    Kathleen stared up at her and sighed angrily. “I’ll be back!” she yelled above the music.
    Sera nodded and mingled in with a group of girls from her dorm. They smiled warmly at her, and Danielle, another good friend of hers, playfully bumped her hip as she laughed happily. “Did you see the new guy?” she asked eagerly.
    Sera sighed inwardly and nodded. Was every