PART ONE
Chapter One
Pain exploded behind Skye Carver’s eyes. She closed them and tried to open them again. A bright light distracted her, and as she tried to sit up, the entire room swam. Even as she closed her eyes, she saw another person there.
Forcing herself to reopen her eyes, she tried to focus on the person.
“It’s okay. It’s just me. Do you remember your name?”
She stared into the blue eyes of Noah King, all-star jock and bad boy at her local high school. They’d stayed late at school. She’d been forced to tutor him, and as her stomach rolled, she decided to give in and just lie down on the ground.
“What happened?”
“You don’t remember?”
“I … something hit me hard, I think. Ugh, I can’t think right now. It’s too much.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“No, I don’t feel fine. What is going on?” She pressed her hands to her face, and still nothing became clear.
“Do you know your name?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Why are you asking me so many questions?” She didn’t want to think right now, or focus, or do anything.
Kidnapped.
This was what happened in movies to really popular girls that were nothing like her.
“I need to know you’re okay.”
She licked her dry lips, staring at him. “Skye. My name’s Skye Carver.”
“How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Who am I?” he asked.
“No, I know who you are. You tell me.”
“Noah King. I’m eighteen years old, star of the football team, and you’re my tutor. I’ve been flunking in English and science, all of them. You’ve been helping me. What is the last thing you remember?”
“I don’t know.”
“Please, Skye. We need to keep our heads right now. I need to know everything, and so do you. We were both hit pretty bad.”
“Okay, fine. I remember the day at school. Derek stole my soda and ran around the cafeteria. You asked me to meet you out by the brook.” She paused. “Why did I have to meet you out by the brook?”
“I wanted to talk to you about the studying.”
“Yeah, you wanted to quit and have me do all of your assignments. We got into an argument—”
“And woke up here,” Noah said.