Wildfire

Chapter 1

1. Glance

I had never been so thankful to see the doors of a lecture hall in my entire life.

The air outside was bitterly cold, flakes of snow collecting along the path as my booted feet pounded over the concrete. My hands, stuffed inside my coat pockets, were numb from the freezing temperature and when I caught my reflection on a nearby car, I was unsurprised by the blue hue to my lips.

I reached the hall with seconds to spare, my heart pounding faintly in my chest as I slipped inside the large doors, closing it gently behind me. The low hum of conversation echoed through the packed hall, a cacophony of coughing and intermittent sneezing rising above the usual level of noise.

Great, I thought as I hurried down the steps. If the weather isn't enough to make me sick, an hour trapped in a lecture hall with poor ventilation will do it.

Alexandra Mortensen – otherwise known as Lexie – had saved two seats about halfway down the main aisle, and I slid into the seat next to her just as the lecturer, Dr. Barton, stepped up to the podium.

"It's not like you to cut it this close," she murmured in lieu of a greeting.

I pulled off my scarf and shrugged. She was right – it wasn't like me – which probably had more to do with my sweaty palms and racing heart than the fact that I'd practically run over here. I had a pathological fear of being late – to anything.

"I couldn't find my gloves," I admitted. "I think Charlie stole them."

Charlotte Wakefield – Charlie – was my dorm-mate and one of the main reasons my stress levels were so high at the start of the semester. Charlie operated on a different frequency to the rest of us, which I found both annoying and oddly endearing. She threw herself at life with all she had, which clashed heavily with my more reserved, cautious method of living, but she was starting to grow on me.

Sort of.

"Did she steal your sunny disposition, too?" Lexie teased. "If you frown any harder, you might give yourself a brain haemorrhage."

"I need coffee. Lots of coffee." I blew out a cold breath and sank down in my seat.

My body temperature was starting to return to normal, but my fingers were still icy cold. I pulled a blank notepad out of my bag and a pen, propping them up on the desk in front of me before I squeezed my hands together between my thighs, desperate for warmth.

At least the heating was on; last semester, it had taken them until mid-December to finally catch on to the freezing temperatures outside.

"This is the introductory lecture to the Anthropology of Dreaming and Myth," Dr. Barton announced over the babble of voices. Slowly, the noise level began to die down. "For the first half of the semester, we'll be focusing primarily on European ancient cultures – namely, the Roman Empire – before we start studying cultures closer to home. There'll be a midterm essay due in March, followed by..."

"I was kind of hoping he'd be cute," Lexie whispered to me.

"If you're into balding, anthropology professors then he's sort of... interesting." I suppressed a smile, trying to maintain a straight face. "If you close your eyes, he kind of sounds like Freddy Krueger."

Lexie's eyes fluttered shut for a heartbeat. "Oh, gosh, you're right!"

I focused on the screen at the front of the room as Dr. Barton brought up the lecture slides. I lasted about five minutes before the first yawn rose in my throat. I covered my mouth with my hand and caught Lexie rolling her eyes at me.