College

Grace POV

I wake up to the sound of my alarm going off for what is most likely the 10th time, definitely not a morning person. I groan and smack around my nightstand trying to find my phone and shut off that awful airhorn alarm. Accidentally knocking my phone to the floor in my search, I realized I had no choice but to get up.

Dragging myself out of bed, I find my phone and go to turn my alarm off when I realize the time is 8:45. Class is supposed to start at 9 and with a 10 minute walk I had to get my butt in gear if I didn't want to be late on my first day. Racing to the bathroom, I grab my toothbrush and start scrubbing my teeth while I pee. Brushing them dry is probably better than not at all, right?

Taking a quick glance in the mirror, I saw that my curly, long chocolate brown hair looked like a bird's nest. Having no time to shower or straighten it, I quickly grab my scrunchie and throw it into something that kind of resembles a messy bun. Not wanting to show up looking like a complete train wreck, I quickly applied some mascara to draw attention to what I consider to be my nicest feature, my forest green eyes and some concealer to hide my purple undereye bags.

Opting for a black-knit sweater dress that ends just above my knees and some black-heeled ankle boots to match, I'm ready to go.

We live in a little cottage-style 2-bedroom home. My best friend Summers' parents bought it so that we didn't have to live in the cramped dorm rooms. Extremely considerate of them seeing as I’ve never met them before.

I grabbed my purse as I ran out of my room and down the stairs to the kitchen.

I see Summer already waiting for me, two coffees in hand. Damn morning people. Maybe I am a little biased, being her best friend and all, but I considered Summer to be so beautiful, with her long blonde hair and brown-doe eyes. She had a rockin' body that got her any guy she wanted.

We were polar opposites in that department, whereas Summer is tall and athletic, I am short and probably weigh 90 pounds soaking wet. She also had a healthy glow on her sun-kissed skin, where I looked sick and pale. In reality, I was actually in fact sick, so it's not entirely my fault I look this way. I have an autoimmune disease that causes me to puke regularly, even during the night, hence the undereye bags and unhealthy weight, it also messes with my memory sometimes so I can be quite forgetful. Thankfully, I have pills that help keep the nausea at bay during the day.

"I grabbed coffee for each of us but it looks like you could use both of them", Summer laughs as she hands me one.

"Ha. You're hilarious, but if you didn't notice, we are going to be late if we don't start walking, so get a move on" I said as I took it from her and grabbed one of my pills out of my purse, quickly washing it down with a quick gulp of coffee.

"Don't worry about being late, Nate and his friend offered to drive us on our first day." I didn't miss the way she avoided eye contact with me when she mentioned his friend. Nate is her current boyfriend. He is a good looking guy with light brown hair that stops just above his shoulders and eyes that are sky blue. But Summer doesn't like to hold onto a guy for too long in fear that he might fall in love with her. She has a few commitment issues, she always says it's because she is a free spirit and a man will only try to tie her down by getting her pregnant with what she likes to call, "little crotch goblins". Yes, that's really what she calls babies.

"Summer, who is Nates' friend and why is he joining us this morning?" I asked with a bitter tone.

"Well, its just that I thought you might like to have a friend to accompany you in the backseat is all. A single and hot backseat friend. That just so happens to be interested in an equally single and hot backseat companion." She replied, emphasizing on the word single.

"Summer..." I started only to be quickly cut off by her.

"Grace, don't start. You've never had a boyfriend or a fling or anything. You are a college girl now and need to live a little, get a taste of that college life and maybe even taste this college boy if you know what I mean. Besides, we are going to be late so get your ass out the door and quit your complaining." She stated as she started shoving me out the door.

As promised, Nate was sitting in the driver's seat of his two-toned 1969 Shelby GT500. As I climbed into the back and Summer in the front, I noticed the young man sitting next to me. I'd be lying if I said he wasn't attractive with his large muscular build, pitch black hair that stood out against his fair skin and the typical bad boy get-up. He wore a black leather jacket, a black v-neck tshirt underneath that showed off some of his chest hair. Blue jeans and black steel toe boots to complete the look. Definitely not your average frat boy, there was something very mysterious about him, I felt almost drawn to him. He caught me gawking and I saw one side of his lips turn up into a crooked smirk.

Realizing I'd been caught staring, my face and ears started to heat up, with the shade of my skin it was probably painfully noticeable that I was blushing.

"I'm Dean" he says as he turns towards me and puts his hand out to shake. It was then that I noticed his eyes were as black as night. He really must have a favorite color, I thought to myself.

Noticing that if I didn't react now, I was going to leave him hanging and make this moment more embarrassing for myself, I reached my hand out to shake his as I told him my name.

"Hey, I'm Grace. Nice to meet you Dean."

Once my hand touched his, I felt tingles shoot up my fingers where our hands connected.

A:N Hello lovely readers, I hope you are enjoying the story so far. I will do my best to update frequently. I am a busy momma of 3 toddlers so bear with me. This is my very first book so I am sorry if there are any grammar/spelling mistakes. Any constructive criticism/positive feedback is encouraged but please no hate comments as it can be extremely discouraging <3 can't wait to continue writing Grace's story and I hope you all enjoy!