Nondescript

Nondescript: 1Alone in the empty dance studio, Lorna Phillips pressed the play button on her little boombox, and the music started. The slow, contemporary melody had a rhythm she could dance to. She circled the gleaming pole slowly in step with the beat, getting into the right mindset. Pole dancing had a bad reputation, but really, it was a beautiful form of expression. She enjoyed the raunchy dancing herself and thought anyone had a right to take their clothes off if they wanted to. However, the notion that the dancers were only doing it for the satisfaction of their male audience and not themselves bothered her, and was also the reason why she never performed in front of anyone.2Lorna slipped into the physical education complex and headed toward the dance studios. She itched to dance. It had been a long day, and she just wanted to dance off the stress. The first studio was occupied and she meant to walk right by, but the doors were open and she couldn’t help but glance in. A small group performed a choreographed number. A blond guy led, teaching the rest of them the moves.3Lily stepped out of the bathroom after one of her regular migraine-relieving showers. Rikke stood outside the door waiting for her, glaring.4Jaz was horny, and she had no idea why. She flipped through her sketchbook, looking at some older sketches she’d made. This book was almost full. In a few more days, she’d need to break out a new one. Normally she was content flipping through the multitude of her old sketches, but not tonight.5Rikke’s fingers broke the sound barrier as they moved across the keyboard. An idea had just popped into her head, and she had to write it. She loved it when the words flowed like this.6Lorna woke up early to get to the dance studio on time. She wanted to hide under the covers when her alarm went off, but she was tired of being the girl who hid behind things.7Warm arms slipped around Jaz just as she flipped the pancake with the spatula. “Hey.”8Rikke pounded on her keyboard, letting out all of her anger, frustration, and fear on her characters. Adam had called her six times, and six times she’d ignored the call. The counselor had told her she needed to make a decision: go through the judicial system, the on-campus system, or do nothing. Rikke was still deciding. She couldn’t face Adam right now. She needed to think this thing over.9Lily’s heart rate quickened, and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself in an attempt to control the shaking. It was all too much for her to handle, she knew that. All of the training that her doctors had given her to deal with highly emotional situations flew out the window as the familiar pain exploded in her head. She whimpered and moved into the hallway, trying to make it to the sanctity of her room. But she fell before she reached the door, landing hard on her knees and palms. She knew what was happening. The shaking and loss of balance were only the first stages of her meltdowns. She pressed herself against the wall and hugged her knees tightly, still hearing the commotion going on in the hallway.10Lorna was heading back to her dorm from her final class of the day. She couldn’t get the dance rehearsal out of her head, especially with the upcoming night out with Shep. Circling around the science building, she joined the rest of the crowd on one of the main walkways. With the sound of scuffing shoes, chatting and cell phone conversations, she almost didn’t hear her name.11Jaz straightened her shirt as she left Nash’s apartment. He was stellar in bed and would be one of those guys she wouldn’t mind going back to. He was nice without being a pushover and a gentleman without being annoying, but it was obvious there was something or someone on his mind and he’d just needed a distraction, so she was pretty sure it was a onetime deal.12Lily left her bedroom, intent on making herself some breakfast. She hadn’t gotten back until very late the night before. Miles had walked her home, so she hadn’t seen any of her roommates. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and emptied some cereal into a bowl. As she turned back for milk, she was met with a very aggravated-looking Jaz and the usual annoyed-looking Rikke.13Lorna was meeting Nash and Shep for a couple of hours alone today, and then staying for the group practice. She was nervous. Lily was still in her room with the mystery boy when she left, and she shook her head, wondering how Lily seemed to have managed to find a guy, a cute one at that, and yet she still hadn’t.14The next day, Rikke was back in the office of John Pierce, the Resident Hall Coordinator. Both he and Anna Clark, the Sexual Assault Coordinator, were sitting across the desk from her. She wasn’t sure if this meeting was more or less comfortable than the first one she’d had. Rikke was much less excited to be at this one, that was for sure. Her face ached, as did the back of her head, both thanks to Adam.15A knock on Lorna’s door woke her up. She cracked an eye and the clock told her it was almost 2:00 a.m.16Lily was jittery as she prepared for Miles to come over. She had done as much reading as possible after he’d left the day before. According to her books, it was more appropriate for him to come hang out with her, since she had a room with roommates, than with him alone at his house. They were planning more talking today, which reinforced what Lily learned in the books—that communication was key to relationships. She also had to talk to him about defining what exactly was going on between them.17Rikke apprehensively knocked on Ben’s door. She still couldn’t believe what she’d done last night, and although she didn’t feel any more comfortable with herself, she felt like she could at least get her phone back. She shouldn’t have made him babysit it.18Shep was gone when Lorna woke the next morning. A message was sticky-noted to her forehead.19Jaz had turned up dry at the two previous Snickers sighting locations, so she gave up and went into the student building with the hope of getting lucky again. She sat on an upper level, looking out over the area clustered with tables and chairs outside the campus eatery, sketching caricatures of a group of nerds clustered around one table.20The next morning, Jaz felt like the walking dead. She didn’t have the energy to open her eyes, much less move. When she did open them, she realized she wasn’t in her own room. She rolled over and groaned. Her whole body hurt. She struggled to remember what had happened the night before.21Lily grinned to herself, wrapping her arms tighter around Miles’ waist while he pulled into his driveway and came to a stop. Her feet stayed planted on the foot pegs, like he’d said, while he turned off the engine and dismounted from the bike.22Ben backed up until he bumped into the bed. “What are you doing, Rikke?”23For the second day in a row, Lily waited anxiously for Miles to arrive. This time she knew Beck wasn’t going to show up instead, and she was even more nervous. They were having a study day at her place, and Miles was bringing the snacks. Her roommates had been in and out all day. None of them seemed to be in a particularly sociable mood.24Adam’s SUV came to a stop in front of the building just a few minutes after she hung up with him. His tone had remained unreadable, and she shivered nervously as she made her way to his car. Adam barely even looked at her as she slid into the seat and closed the door.25Lorna had never been to the theater building, but it wasn’t hard to find. As she turned around the corner, she found Nash leaning against the wall near the door. He had been waiting for her.26Jaz managed to stay in her room most of the day, after returning from Travis’ place. Her emotions were all over the place, and she knew she’d go crazy if she stayed cooped up much longer.27Rikke stood in line to get a sandwich at the on-campus eatery. Adam was in another line, waiting for pizza. When she glanced over at him, he grinned and mouthed something, probably dirty. She just smiled at him and turned back to the line.28The next twelve hours seemed like an eternity for Lily. She floated in and out of reality, the sirens continuing to ring in her ears even though they had stopped a long time ago. The lights still flashed in her vision, though those too were long past.29Jaz took a deep breath as Vince, the boy who’d been nailing her for the past ten minutes, rolled off her and onto his back. He hadn’t been great, but he hadn’t been bad either. She’d gotten a little satisfaction from it—not the screaming orgasm she got from some guys, but it was a good warm up for whatever lucky guy she found next.30“Are you ready for this?”31Leaving the building, Jaz made a beeline for the coffee stand but Bishop wasn’t there. He wasn’t in any of the regular spots either. She paused her search and took a deep breath, looking around. Where would he be?32Beep. Beep. Beep.33Travis wasn’t answering his cell phone—at least, he wasn’t answering Jaz’s calls. She’d just left Bishop’s place, where they’d talked for over an hour before she finally departed. She wanted to talk to Travis because she knew that he was upset not just because of the thing with Bishop, but because of what she’d been doing with boys lately. He was worried about her, and she saw that now.34Lily had just finished her testing when Miles leaned into the room. “Lily?”35Jaz rolled over and off of Travis, onto the soft carpet that separated his couch and bed. She wasn’t sure which one they’d been aiming for, but they’d missed both. She turned her head to the side and looked at Travis in all of his naked glory. His eyes were closed and his face relaxed—it was a post-sex face she’d become used to.Other BooksJaide Williams is young, beautiful, intelligent, athletic, and lives a charmed life. A straight-A student, good friend, and member of a well-respected soccer team, Jaide fits in surprisingly well in her unconventional choice of a school. Nobody would ever guess she spent the first half of her childhood locked in a room, a victim of the one person meant to protect her.Author's NoteWord-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review even if it is only a line or two; it would make all the difference and would be very much appreciatedNewsletterBe the first to find out about new releases by signing up for email alerts. Your email address will never be given away and you can unsubscribe at any time.