The Rush (The Siren Series) - By Rachel Higginson Page 0,1

I gave him a little head nod and prompted him for a name.

“Uh…. I’m Chase Merrick, we had a, uh, we had chemistry together last year,” Chase’s confidence started to fade under the scrutinizing gaze my friends and I were subjecting him to.

“Oh, yeah, I remember,” I lied, and forced my lips into a smile. It was almost painful. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” he smiled one of those charming smiles that popular boys reserve for their next conquest.

Lucky for him I was easy.

Ok, not easy…. I kept my legs together.

But I was looking for a boyfriend. I know that sounded trashy, but to be fair it wasn’t like I was some jungle animal on the prowl. It was just safer to be committed to someone. Plus, he was cute in that all-American way with his floppy sandy brown hair and perfect, white teeth. He even wore a letter jacket which was a major bonus for him even if he didn’t know it yet. A letter jacket meant that if I could tolerate this relationship longer than this school day he would at some point offer it to me and in turn I would wear it every day to support my awesome new boyfriend. That all led to effectively branding me as “taken” for the whole school to see.

On closer examination he had dimples.

Another point for…. um…. Chase?

Yes. Chase.

“So you’re back?” he asked breaking the silence and my tally of his better qualities.

“We’re going to go, Ivy, before you know, we need a prescription for this or something,” Exie interrupted in her best valley girl impersonation.

“Alright, pick me up?” I asked, turning to receive the light hug each of them would give me. It was moments like this that we were perfect imitations of our mothers. And that annoyed the hell out of me.

“Oh, do you need a ride?” Sloane asked barely containing her smirk.

“I could give you a ride if you need one,” Chase gallantly offered.

What a gentleman.

“Really? I don’t live far. Thank you. That would be such a life-saver,” I played up my enthusiasm but everything inside me felt dead.

“Sure, it’s my pleasure,” Chase smiled again, popping out his identical dimples.

“Ladies, I’ll call you later,” I told them. I turned to face them while walking backwards up the long set of stairs that led to the school building.

“Just breathe, Ivy,” Sloane called out knowing I needed some last minute advice. “Two years, that’s all, just two years!”

I continued walking backwards, taking each step in stride and watched Exie and Sloane climb into Exie’s brand new, silver BMW. She gunned the engine and then cut across traffic dangerously.

Central High School was located exactly downtown Omaha on one of the busiest streets, Dodge, which ran almost exactly down the middle of the city. It was also the most traffic jammed street, especially at this time of the morning. Exie was lucky she didn’t nick her brand new car in the onslaught of oncoming traffic. She got off lucky with a few honking horns and a confused but angry homeless man who screamed obscenities at her from the sidewalk.

I cringed for her and her lack of driving ability. But then again, she probably didn’t even notice.

“So, Chase, are you a junior or a senior?” I asked, dropping my gaze to my future boyfriend as he followed me up the stairs like a loyal puppy.

“A senior,” he smiled. He answered everything with a smile. His happiness was going to a problem. I really hated breaking the happy ones’ hearts.

“Oh, exciting!” I gushed, and this time I almost meant my enthusiasm. He only had nine months left until he could write his own ticket out of here.

So jealous.

“Yeah, I guess,” he laughed, probably surprised by the sudden energy in my voice. “I still have to figure out where I’m going to school next year though.”

“Undecided?” I asked and he nodded in response. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You seem like a smart guy.”

I said that generously because I seriously had to wonder why we would have been in the same chemistry class if he was such a genius. Although maybe chemistry had been one of my AP classes…. I couldn’t remember. Last year seemed so long ago and I really hated remembering it anyway.

He chuckled at my way-too-cliché compliment and mumbled a “thanks.”

Chase actually seemed like the kind of guy to be put off by obvious flirting. He was the type of guy that could probably pick and choose his girls and didn’t