Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 5

Jo rolled her eyes, but she had to admit--she was enjoying the conversation more than she would ever say out loud. She'd been pretty shut up in the house since she got here, besides her one trip into town, so it was probably just the simple fact of being able to talk to someone.

"Ryker," the brunette in front of Jo interrupted. She was pouting, as if she'd been deliberately ignored by Ryker.

"Oh, hey, Hannah," Ryker said, his tone going back to bored. Nice to know he could be rude to everyone, not just her. Then he looked at the blonde-haired boy next to Hannah and gave a short nod of acknowledgment. "Charlie."

Charlie was looking at her curiously, though he took the time to nod back at Ryker, and Jo quickly focused on her phone again. She wasn't about to get in the middle of whatever was going on here.

But apparently Charlie wasn't having it. "Jo Scott, huh?" he asked, leaning on the back of his seat. "I'd heard you moved in from Aunt Grace."

"Oh!" Jo looked up at him and smiled. He was related to nice people. Probably. Possibly? "I think I met your aunt the other day! Do you have two little cousins?"

Charlie grinned. "Janna and Ayden?" Little hellions? Yeah, we're related. Aunt Grace said she brought you a casserole with them in tow."

Jo nodded. "It saved me a few dinners. I also heard you've been terrorizing those girls with ghost stories about my house."

"It's a healthy right of passage here in Jackson's Hollow," Ryker said, leaning forward again, his eyes glinting with humor. "You have to brave at least one haunted house, so the kids need to know which places are qualified." Ryker glanced at Charlie, and something seemed to pass between them that Jo couldn't quite read.

"Sorry to disappoint, but there aren't any ghosts in my house," Jo said firmly. "So you can take it off the list."

"Maybe they're just scared off by you right now," Charlie said teasingly. His longish golden hair fell in his face before he ran his hand through it, shoving it back out of his eyes. "They could show up any minute."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jo said, rolling her eyes.

"You know, I think they sell ghost spray at Kirkpatrick's, if you get too scared," Charlie said with a grin. "It's right next to the bear spray but like a thousand times more useful."

"Kirkpatrick's is the general store," Hannah said, breaking back into the conversation with a frown. If it was supposed to be directed at Jo, she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like she was the one who had started this whole discussion.

"You guys don't have a Dollar General or anything?" Jo asked.

"Everyone has a Dollar General," Charlie said, "But we prefer Kirkpatrick's. They've been around longer."

"But you're welcome to go to whichever suits you," Hannah said with a smile that was almost friendly. Almost. She wasn't mean, necessarily, but she also didn't act as welcoming as some people had. She was more on Ryker's level of welcome wagon, which had its door locked and window barely cracked.

Jo decided to not reply to that, seeing how she felt like she was being lowkey baited. She just went back to making notes on her phone and ignoring them, even though she could feel both Charlie and Ryker still looking at her. Whatever, let them stare.

Except Charlie should just turn around. Both of them needed to mind their own business. When she finally got tired of them looking, she shot Ryker a hard glare. He grinned a little and leaned back in his chair, which he seemed too big for. Everything about him seemed to make the stuff around him seem smaller.

Before either of them had a chance to say anything though, an over-the-top, peppy student life rep had stepped up to the podium to welcome the president of the community college, who they were oh-so-honored to have in attendance. The lights dimmed and Charlie finally turned around, but Jo was still hyper-aware of Ryker's presence.

Focus, Jo reminded herself. She wasn't here to stare at local giants or hear ghost stories. She was here to get her life back in order. Figure things out. Not take a break in her education or waste time.

After that--well, after the president's speech, when they finally got to the facts--Jo was careful to take notes. She was going to have to take some time to explore campus to make sure she knew where all her classes were as well as some of the other buildings like the library, but luckily they had provided a campus map in the orientation packet. When the lights came up, she decided to stay behind while the others cleared out and plot her route out on the map. It needed doing, this was probably one of the most comfortable places to do it, and then she wouldn't have to interact with Charlie, Hannah, or Ryker again.

But apparently Charlie at least had other plans. Although she suspected Hannah would've been perfectly okay with Jo's original plan.

"Need someone to show you around?" Charlie asked--he was standing, but resting his hands on the back of his chair as he leaned toward her. Though it seemed he was addressing her, seeing as she was the only new person in the group, he was looking at Ryker again. Jo looked at Ryker, confused --and again, she met those clear, fierce hazel eyes. Jo couldn't read his expression before he shifted his gaze to Charlie, saying nothing.

"Jo?" Charlie prompted again. Hannah gave a loud sigh.

"Um, no, I'm fine," Jo said, looking down at her map with a small shake of her head. "I've already figured out where I need to go."

Ryker snorted, but when she glared at him, he said nothing. Just raised an eyebrow, which was even more infuriating.

"It's not like there aren't signs everywhere," Jo muttered under her breath. This time Ryker actually chuckled, and to her shame, Jo felt a flush rise to her cheeks. She hadn't realized she'd spoken that loudly.

"You're right," Ryker said. "And a good hiker should be able to follow the map, right?" He gestured toward Charlie and Hannah. "Let's go."

Jo would've loved to throw something at the back of his head as he sauntered off, flanked by the other two. She'd already made it clear she wasn't a hiker.

Charlie glanced back at her with an apologetic look, but Jo stood up and turned and headed the other way, not wanting to bother with them any more. It was a decent-sized (sort of small) campus, and she could at least hope she didn't have any classes with them. Or at least no classes with Ryker. Did she give off some kind of hiker vibe? She didn't think so. It wasn't like she was walking around in hiking boots and a flannel shirt.