Page 2 of Here Comes Trouble (Ian Crawford 1)

My fellow herbivores scattered, some finding places to hide, others taking off deeper into the forest. I looked down at myself and sighed. If I’d known hiding in a forest was on the agenda, I wouldn’t have worn a white shirt. It was going to be pretty damn hard not to stand out unless I climbed a tree. To my surprise, someone to my right was doing just that.

I started jogging to the right, not knowing where it would lead me or what my plan was. Close to the bottom of the mountain, I found a large, fallen log and jumped behind it. The ground was lower there, offering me more coverage than I’d expected. If I pressed my body close to the ground, I could even peer under the log and see what was coming.

About five minutes passed where nothing happened. My breathing grew louder as the anticipation grew. There was no sign of anyone. Had I passed the boundary? Just as I was about to stand up, I heard a yell and then the thudding of distant footsteps on the forest floor. Two guys raced past not ten feet from me. The chaser saw me and did a double-take, and for a moment I thought he might stop and go for me—easy prey. Luckily, he looked forward again kept running.

Relieved, I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw her. A female face was watching me about twenty feet away. My breath hitched and for a moment, I wondered if she was another hiding herbivore like me. She looked large-eyed like me. Just as I was about to offer a smile, she jumped to her feet and came barreling toward me.

I ran.

I didn’t pay attention to where I was going, I only ran. I leapt over fallen branches, twisted through trees, the wind whipping in my ears. The footsteps behind me grew louder, more forceful, and I pushed harder. But still the footsteps continued behind me. I was a strong runner, stronger than the average female—how had I not lost her already? The air seemed to shift and I could feel someone’s fingers reaching out behind my neck, stretching out to tag me...

Then I tripped on a root, tumbling in a somersault along the path and onto the grass, my left shoulder hitting the ground hard. The person chasing me cried out and then strong hands rolled me over onto my back. Cursing, I grabbed at my winded stomach.

Sunlight shining through the tops of the trees blinded me so that all I could see was a silhouetted face above me. I tried to push up but a hand on my shoulder held me down.

“Don’t move, Lex. Are you hurt?”

I tensed. It wasn’t the girl that had spotted me. It was a guy.

I moved my head slightly and my view shifted. Now I could see him, that dark hair across his forehead and those bright green eyes looking down at me and filled with worry. Ian Crawford was kneeling beside me, one hand on my shoulder and the other on my left thigh.

“I’m okay,” I said, catching my breath. “I feel fine, except that I was supposed to be a carnivore.”

“So you picked up on that.” He grinned down at me, his eyes twinkling. “Why didn’t you call me out?”

“It didn’t really matter until I was getting chased through the forest. Why did you do it?”

“Because…” His gaze moved from my eyes to my lips, his eyes darkening. “I wanted to catch you.”

I inhaled harshly, my heartbeat ratcheting up a few levels. Ian was still looking at my lips. As he did so, his tongue licked his own bottom lip, wetting it.

I sat up quickly, forcing him to sit back on his haunches.

“Take it easy for a minute,” he said, looking up at me from the ground. “That was a bad fall.”

“I’m okay.” I paced around with my hands on my hips. “It didn’t hurt really.”

A branch cracked loudly and Ian jumped to his feet. About fifty feet away, a girl was chasing a guy—another poor herbivore. The guy raced past us but the girl stopped. She was another RC wearing the telltale red sweatshirt.

“Everything okay?” she asked Ian breathlessly.

“She tripped. I’m going to take her in and make sure she’s okay.”

“I’m fine,” I said quickly. “I tripped but nothing’s hurt.”

“I think we should take a break,” Ian said, giving me a look I didn’t understand. “I’ll buy you a coffee or hot chocolate. It’s the least I can do after tripping you.”

The girl rolled her eyes and took off again.

I bit my lip. “Thanks, but I’d rather play the game with everyone else.”

His eyebrows shot up like he hadn’t expected that response. “I’m studying Medicine. Well, premed. It would be irresponsible of me to let you play again.”

Now I was just annoyed. Sure I wouldn’t exactly say I’d been having fun, but I didn’t need to be treated like a charity case and dropout either. Plus I somehow doubted his intentions were honorable.

“Thank you for your recommendation, doctor, but I’m going to return to the game now. I don’t need special treatment. Or maybe you’re just looking for an excuse to quit yourself?”

“Very well, we can follow the rules.” Ian shrugged, but his jaw was tight. He wiped his hand on his jeans and then casually inspected his nails. “But I caught you, which means...you’re dead.”

My mouth fell open. “So what—I’m out of the game?”

“’Fraid so.” Still looking at his nails.

“Fine.” I stomped away in the direction of the field. He didn’t call out or follow me, and I didn’t expect him to. Somehow I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder and see if he was still there.

When I reached the edge of the field, it became apparent that more than half of the herbivores had been caught. They all sat or stood in a group in the spot where we’d started, their orange fabric wrapped around their heads, waists or arms. Beside them was a group of omnivores in green. Funny how the two groups remained segregated even after the game was over.

I spotted Carly and went to her.

“Do we have to stick around?” I demanded, still fuming.

“I think so.”

“Good.” I stomped past her. “Then I’m leaving.”

Chapter Two

Instead of going back to residence, I decided to explore campus. The bookstore was amazing—all shiny and new with multiple floors to explore—and had an immediate calming effect on me. On the bottom floor, I found nerd heaven: shelves and shelves of textbooks organized by subject and course number. One of the classes I was most excited about was A History of Music. It was a full year course and I still couldn’t believe that it actually counted toward my degree! How cool was it going to be to learn about all the artists I loved and admired? I bought the books my professors had chosen and carried them back to residence, where I immediately sprawled on my bed to read.

A few hours later, Melissa came home and told me that following the game, everyone had returned to the Quad where they served drinks and snacks. I couldn’t help but wonder if Ian had noticed I wasn’t around. He’d probably find it amusing that I left in a fit.

“Why did you take off anyway?” Melissa asked. “Carly said you were in a pissy mood.”

Before I could respond, a guy appeared in our doorway, startling us both. He had shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a skateboarding T-shirt. “Hey girls, I’m Kent.”

“Hey Kent,” Melissa responded quickly. “I’m Melissa and this is Alexis.”

“Cool. I live on the top floor. Some of us are going around collecting requests for a liquor run. Gonna be a party in the lounge tonight.”

“Nice! I want a bottle of Vodka,” Melissa said and Kent lifted his cell to type in the order. “Anything you can get with this.” She passed him a wad of bills.

“No prob. And you?” He turned to me expectantly.

“Um...” I had no idea what to ask for. I hadn’t gone to many parties in High School. So I pretended to think. “What do I feel like...”

He smiled kindly. “How about I just get you one of those 4 packs of coolers girls like? Ten bucks should cover it.”

“Sounds good.” I pulled a tenner out of my purse and handed it to him.

“Cool, we’ll bring all the alcohol to the lounge at

9. See you then.”

But we didn’t need to wait until 9. By 8 the guys had already cracked their beers and were pumping music so loudly, we could hear it on the fourth floor. The girls down the hall started coming out of their rooms and Melissa and Carly grew antsy to join the party before someone grabbed their drinks. I knocked on Lena’s door but no one answered, so I followed everyone down.

The lounge was a modern and very basic rectangular room with a wall-mounted television on one wall, a window on the wall beside it, and a kitchen with cabinets that spanned the other two. The sink was filled with ice and beer and the unopened alcohol was sitting on the counter.

“I got these for you,” Kent said and passed me a 4pack of Smirnoff Ice.

“Oh sweet. Thanks.”

He pulled out a bottle and opened it before handing it to me. “So what degree are you working toward?”

“Bachelor of Arts. You?”

“Engineering.”

“Cool. What kind of Engineering?”

“Civil.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Not sure yet.”

He didn’t return the question. Instead, he started looking around the room, most likely checking the girls out. Or else I’d just bored him that much. No one wanted to talk about school at a party.

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