Read Haven from the Storm (Storms of Life #1) for Free Online Page B

shoulder. I tried my best to make it look like I was brushing something off her black shirt. I turned my attention back to Mr. Roberts for fear I might continue to stroke her hair if my mind wasn’t occupied with something else.
    Since there was no lab to accompany his long winded review of the next five months of classes, Mr. Roberts had the class read the assigned chapters from their textbooks during third hour. He gave me a textbook and had me acquaint myself with the current topic. After the bell rang, Lily didn’t leave the room with all the other students. Instead she walked to Mr. Roberts’ desk and started to place her bag under a small desk at the end of his. He said something to her and she nodded, picked up her backpack, then left the room. Mr. Roberts saw me watching and walked toward me.
    “Lily’s my best student so she’ll be our teaching assistant this semester during fourth period. I’m going to have the two of you go to the library so you can discuss the material we covered last semester and get an idea of how the class runs. Then you can start to prepare lesson plans.”
    Score! My luck couldn’t get any better.
    “Great idea, Mr. Roberts, I think that will be very helpful,” I replied.
    “Good. I like your enthusiasm, Mr. Haven. That kind of attitude will get you far in life.” He patted me on the back. “Lily has already headed to the library so why don’t you join her. We have lunch period after this class, so feel free to occupy your time as you see fit and I’ll see you back here promptly at 12:10.”
    The library hadn’t changed since I’d graduated and I was amazed that some tables still sat in the exact same locations with the same worn plastic chairs that were yellow, red, and blue. Lily was sitting at a large table at the back of the room with her head hidden in her science book. I headed in her direction, but stopped at a table I knew had my name carved into it.
    Dean and Easton, Class of 2008.
    I ran my fingers across our names as I remembered the day we skipped class just to sneak in here and put our mark on the place we’d called home for so many years. I remembered Easton flirting with the library aide while I used my pocket knife to quickly scroll our names into the wood. I felt an ache in my chest at how much I still missed my friend. Lily cleared her throat, pulling me from my thoughts.
    “I’m making notes on last semester. If you give me about twenty minutes, I’ll have them ready and you can be done with me,” she stated harshly.
    “Lily, it’s okay. You don’t have to write everything down. You can just tell me. Most of what you covered last semester I’ve already experienced, so I don’t need much detail.”
    She shook her head. “No thanks. This won’t take long.”
    I didn’t understand her reluctance to speak to me about something as simple as this, but I’d let her continue writing her notes. She handed me a page with notes covering the front and back. I glanced at it and saw that she’d noted all the chapters with the activities completed in the lecture and labs for most of last semester.
    “Thanks, Lily. This will be very helpful.”
    She didn’t reply; she just kept making notes. After another ten minutes passed, she scooted a couple more pages of notes to me, closed her book and stood up from the table, walking toward the exit.
    “Lily, wait. Can’t we talk at all?”
    She didn’t stop walking. In fact, I think she might have sped up. I stared the doors she had just gone through for a few seconds, trying to decide the right course of action. She obviously didn’t want to speak to me, but I had so many things I wanted to explain. I finally decided to chase after her. I was an impatient man and I couldn’t sit by and watch her disappear from my life again. I rounded the corner coming out of the library, but I didn’t see her anywhere so I rushed down the hall and passed the girls restroom. I figured she was hiding in there, but there