Page 16 of Reversal of Fate

11 – Walking in the Moonlight

Outside, Julie could finally acknowledge the pain in her right hand. She let out a groan and shook her hand as if she could shake the pain away.

“Damn, that hurt.”

“Let me have a look,” Carter said and reached for her hand.

She let him. His touch was gentle and careful, his hand warm and soothing. But what was even more important was that she liked it. She trusted him although she didn’t know why. Was it because he’d saved her from a potentially life-altering situation? And it would have been life-altering because there was only one reason why a guy would slip a girl a roofie. But she didn’t want to think of that now. Carter had acted, and she was grateful for it.

“Doesn’t look like anything is broken,” Carter said. “But I know how punching a guy can hurt. You might want to ice it down.”

“It felt good though.”

He chuckled. “Punching him? I would have liked to do that myself. But hey, ladies first.”

Julie looked at her rescuer. Carter was the quintessential heartthrob: tall and broad-shouldered, dark hair, a classical face, and piercing green eyes. She’d always had a thing for guys with green eyes. To say that she was attracted to him was an understatement. Normally, when she was attracted to a man, she became all flustered and nervous. Not so with Carter. She felt at ease with him. While he looked like he was either a Junior or a Senior in college, something about the way he carried himself made him appear more grown up than an ordinary college student. Besides, nothing about him felt ordinary.

“I needed to do it,” she said into the brief silence between them.

Carter nodded, and she saw in his eyes that he understood her. “Worth the pain in your hand, right?”

“Totally worth it.”

Julie motioned in the direction of her home, and they started walking side by side.

“I’ve never seen you on campus,” Julie said. If she had, she would have noticed him.

“I just arrived here. You’re studying here at UCLA, right?” When she nodded, he added, “What’s your major?”

Did he really want to know, or was he just making conversation like Todd? Oh God, how had she become so cynical in such a short time? It wasn’t fair to measure Carter with the same yardstick as Todd.

“Engineering.”

“What kind?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Actually, nanotechnology.”

“That’s a great field. It’ll change the world. Everything really comes down to improving nanotechnology and advancing the research. It has a big future. An amazing future, you’ll see.”

She looked at him from the side, and he met her gaze. “You sound so confident. Is that your field too?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Only the brightest minds work on nanotechnology. I don’t have the grades for that.”

Hearing him admit that she was smarter than he, was refreshing. Most guys would never admit it. Or was he just acting humble?

“So what are you studying?”

“It’s a little hard to explain,” Carter said. “Uhm…”

“Why?”

He sighed. “’Cause I’m not attending UCLA.”

“Oh, you’re taking a gap year? I wish I could do that, but I need to keep pushing and get my Bachelors as quickly as I can, and then do my Masters. Perhaps a PhD…” She shrugged. Did she sound like a total nerd?

“I admire that. You have great goals.”

“You must have goals too,” she fished.