Hailey wasn’t sure if she was done yelling at him and debated the tone she wanted to use for what she said next.
“One second you’re holding my hand next to Holly’s grave, and then you were gone,” she said sadly, her eyes boring into his. “No explanation—you just disappeared. You left me.”
Fin bowed his head, biting his lip. “I’m sorry,” he said, meeting Hailey’s eyes. He pressed his lips together, and she could tell he wanted to say more but for some reason, he didn’t.
He raised his hand to touch her but then made a fist, shook his head, and dropped his arm. “I’m sure Pix told you where I was…”
“Out chasing women and getting into trouble?”
“I wasn’t chasing women.”
“Did you get into trouble?”
“A little,” Fin told her, and he glanced briefly at the student still sitting in his jump seat in the front of the plane.
“Who is that?” Hailey said.
“That,” he said, studying Hailey’s reaction, “is Asher.”
Chapter sixteen
ParaScience 101: An Introduction
“Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand.” - Kurt Vonnegut
Hailey’s breath caught.
Asher…the Envoy…
She didn’t mean to, but she couldn’t help but stare at him.
Fin shifted. “He sort of works at the university. Like me.”
Why wouldn’t he look at her?He sat like a statue, his hood hiding his face. She silently willed him to turn so she could see him.
But he never moved. And Hailey’s heart sank.
Maybe he’s not interested in you, silly girl, her good sense told her. But he had kissed her, hadn’t he? Now she wasn’t sure. Maybe he was suffering from “Tage Adams Syndrome” and could only see her when no one else was around.
Frowning, she shook her head, knitted her fingers together in her lap, and studied them.Did Fin know Asher was an Envoy? And—wait a second…
“You work at the university?”
“Yeah,” he said stiffly. “I’m a teaching assistant. For Dr. Woodfork.”
“I didn’t mean for that to sound condescending.” Now Hailey couldn’t stop smiling. It felt good to have a friend again. “Dr. Woodfork is the dean of the university, right?”
“He’s the dean of the College of ParaScience,” he corrected, his voice was much kinder now. “There are three colleges at Bear Towne: ParaScience, Pre-Med, and Geology. You’ll get all of this during your campus tour,” he said with a wave. “Did you check out your lunch?”
“Not yet…”
Feeling brave, she opened her metal lunchbox and, peeking inside, she sighed happily.Good! No brains.
She certainly wouldn’t go hungry. Hailey started nibbling through the contents: two giant sandwiches, a bag of chips, an apple, a banana, an assortment of cheeses, crackers, two candy bars, a bottle of water, and a can of pop.
“Do all the teaching assistants leave from Pittsburgh?” she asked as she polished off her first sandwich and looked around the cabin floor.
“No,” he smiled sarcastically. “I drew the short straw this year. The others are on flights leaving from LA, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Moscow.”
