Shadow Mate - Jen L. Grey Page 0,12

going to make things interesting." She laughed as she stepped beside me and grabbed one of my boxes. "Here, let me help you."

"No, you don't have to." I already felt obligated to her now that I knew she was the reason why I had even made it in here. "It's fine."

"What? No." She dropped the box to the ground, and I cringed.

At least it had been the one with only my blankets and nothing breakable. I grabbed the box with my makeup and jewelry box. I couldn't risk her breaking the things inside it. "Are you okay?" I almost felt as if I was on a different planet.

"You can't treat me weird." Bree reached for my box, and I moved out of the way so she only caught air.

Her eyes, which were almost an exact replica of Liam's, flashed with hurt. "Why can't I help you?"

"This has my makeup and jewelry in it." I lifted it a little higher in front of me. "You can't throw it down like you did the other one."

Her forehead creased, and then she snorted before breaking out in loud laughter. "You really are strange."

"Uh... thanks, I think." That was a point Max liked to remind me of over and over again.

"No, it's good." She took a step toward me and touched my arm. "It's refreshing. Do you know you're the first person I've ever met that treated me like a normal person? And the fact that you stood up for me with my brother was the icing on the cake."

"But what about Nate? He seems to really like you." It was obvious, considering the way he'd watched her almost the entire time at the party when she wasn't paying attention. He was completely and utterly smitten with her.

"Oh, he does." She waved me off. "But he also enjoys the fact that my dad's a council member and that my brother is the next in line."

"Well, it's kind of cool." Actually, I didn't think that any longer. "Or at least it was."

"See, you haven't even been here an hour, and you're already seeing things differently." She reached down and tore open the box and pulled out my navy blue sheets. She held them out and pursed her lips. "What size sheets are these?"

"Full-size." I never imagined I'd have a king-size bed. My brother's dorm was tight with the two full mattresses in it. "I didn't realize..."

"Actually, we have sheets provided for us here." She headed over to the walk-in closet and came back out with satin blood-red sheets. "So this will do fine." She moved to the bed and started making it for me.

"You really don't have to do that." She had already done so much for me. "I can do it."

"No, it's fine." She waved me off as she began tucking the sheets into the corners. "And now that the staff knows you're here, they'll be washing your bedding and making your bed from here on out, so it's no biggie."

"What?" That couldn't be covered by my financial aid. "I can do it. I mean I can't afford to pay someone..."

She waved me off. "No, it's part of the tuition and rooming with me. It's no biggie at all." She finished putting the sheets on and grinned. "Are you going to help me, or am I doing it all by myself?"

"Shit, sorry." I reached down and tore the box open. I pulled out my jewelry box and headed over to the dresser, placed it on the side, next to the mirror, and opened it up. As much as it didn’t make sense, I always checked to be sure the necklace my mother gave me on my sixteenth birthday was still intact. After my first shift, she took me running through the woods. When we got to a small clearing, she shifted back to her human form to grab the clothes that she had left for both of us next to one of the trees. It was strange that Dad and Max weren't there, but I wouldn't have traded the time with her for the world. At first, she'd acted like she was nervous, but after we dressed, she leaned behind the tree and pulled out a small, wrapped box. She'd handed it to me and told me that this was a special present from her to me. That it was a family heirloom and important for me to have. I opened the box with shaky hands, and when I had the cover off, the