Parallel (Travelers Series Book 1) Read Free Page A

research or check emails. Not that I have anyone emailing me—unless you count spam. I mumble a weak greeting to Jaime, drop my books at my desk and sprawl on top of my bed.
    At first I ignore it, but Jaime’s stares get the better of me. “What?” I finally ask. I know it’s not like she’s purposely trying to be rude, but her stares are starting to get on my nerves.
    Jaime laughs the way all beautiful girls do: hearty and confident. “Nothing silly. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to come back to all this without you around.” She waves her hand around to indicate the glumness of the room.
    “I guess,” I say, not knowing how else to respond. Jaime is a quite a sight, sitting on her bed, all bouncy and perky, while I’m just, well, me. I don’t get exactly why she’s acting thrilled about the situation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to finally have a friend around here, but it’s not like we’re tragic characters in a Charles Dickens tale. I mean, being an orphan sucks and all, but hey, that’s life.
    “Hey, we’ve been stuck in the dorms every night this week,” Jaime says as she slides the laptop off her lap. “Why don’t we go somewhere else to study for a change?”
    “I don’t see how the library can be any more scintillating than this.” I really don’t want to walk all the way to the library. It’s a ten minute walk and I can spend that time doing something more productive, like watching a repeat episode of
Fringe.
    “No, I mean, let’s go get some coffee or something.”
    Not only is a laptop out of the question, but so is a simple cup of Joe. Even before I came to Dominion House, I had to save my pennies. It’s not like I have a trust that doles out an allowance every week—like someone else I know. Maybe I was a bit rash in dismissing the library. At least there, the books are free.
    Jaime must have picked up on my hesitation. “My treat of course. You look like you could use a grande-double-mocha.”
    I have no idea what the hell that is, but I’m not going to let on that I don’t.
    Crap.
This leaves me with two options: I can be proud and decline or accept her offer and be gracious. In the end, I cave. “Sure, it’d be nice to get out of here for awhile.” It’s just a cup of coffee, right?
    “Great!” She grinned. “Let’s go to Battle Grounds.”
    Both Dominion House and the coffee shop are located within the historic section of Alexandria, better known as Old Town, but it still takes us fifteen minutes to get there on foot. Battle Grounds got its name due to its close proximity to the statue of the Confederate soldier on the corner of Washington and Prince Streets. The soldier doesn’t have a name, so it’s simply known as The Confederate Statue. I guess the proprietors of the coffee shop wanted to keep with the theme of the block, even though a Civil War battle never occurred here—at least not to my knowledge. The shop is actually a renovated old colonial style townhome that most likely served as a family homestead before the surrounding area was slowly eaten up by the ever growing population. It isn’t a large building, but it has a balcony off the second story, and the shop fits in well amongst the other historical buildings along the drag.
    We haven’t even placed our order when Jaime leaves me in charge of holding our place in line as she goes in search of a bathroom. The aroma of the coffee is so intoxicating that I’m glad Jaime convinced me to come. I wait patiently for the girl ahead of me to order a triple-chai-soy-machiado-whip drink.
    And I thought Jaime was weird talking about grande-mocha-whatever’s.
    I hear a deep chuckle coming from the other side of the shop. That’s when I notice him across the room, looking directly at me. He’s darkly handsome in a rugged kind of way. The guy definitely isn’t someone I recognize from around town. Granted, I hardly notice people, but it’s not like we live in a big city. One of the