Asher's POV

As the girl gets closer, I start to feel like an idiot for just sitting here. I jump to my feet quickly, forgetting about the Kindle on my chest until I see it go flying. Before it can hit the ground, the girl moves so fast that she almost blurs and snatches it out of the air. My breath hitches again. How did she do that? I don't have time to really think about it as she moves even closer and takes a deep breath.

Then she looks directly into my eyes as if she can see straight into my soul and says, " You smell like... Mine." I tilt my head at her, confused by her words. Seeing this, she seems to shake herself out of whatever she was thinking and smiles even bigger at me.

"Hi. I'm Ivy Grant. Sorry if I disturbed you, I just really wanted to say hi." She says in a soft voice. The sound is beautiful, I don't know if I've ever heard a better sound in my life. I just continue staring at her, taking in her gorgeous face. Her eyes are mesmerizing. They are bright blue and contrast beautifully with her wild fiery hair. She looks at me expectantly, but I'm so caught up in her that I can't think straight enough to figure out what she wants from me. "What's your name, love?"

Oh! Of course. Geez, I'm an idiot. Wait... love? Did she really call me love? My heart starts to beat even faster at the thought. Obviously, it was just a random endearment, I mean she probably calls everyone that. With that thought, I feel myself become upset. I don't want her to call anyone but me that. I want her to mean it. As I watch her, I see her smile start to slip.

" Do you want me to go?" She asks quietly, sounding almost pained. It takes a moment and her beginning to turn away for me to realize I still haven't spoken.

Before she can fully turn away, I reach for her hand. I swear I feel sparks as we touch and hear her catch her breath as I do the same. She turns back to me with a hopeful look and I finally find my voice... well kind of. "N-n-no! Please don't g-go."

Since when do I stutter? Nerd or not, that has never been one of my issues. I try again, and thankfully my mouth starts to cooperate.

" My name is Asher Reed. Sorry, you just took me by surprise."

The smile I get in return for my belated response is glorious. I can practically hear angels singing. I can just barely catch the sound of her whispering my name.

" Are you new here? I know I would remember seeing you before." I say as Ivy just stares happily at me. I don't understand what is happening, but there is no way I'm going to question her decision to grace me with her presence.

She nods slowly at me, and I see the tip of her pink tongue as it glides over her bottom lip. " Yes, it is my first day here. What are you doing out here by yourself? Were you waiting for someone?" She asks.

" No, my roommate kicked me out," I confess. " But it's ok, I really like it here. I love this tree, and the forest is so peaceful, don't you think?"

I see a touch of anger spark in her eyes at my words. " Yes, I agree. It is beautiful here, and this tree is amazing." She says as she momentarily takes her eyes from mine to look at the tree. I feel a surprising sense of jealousy that her attention strayed from me, but I'm relieved when her gaze quickly returns to mine. " Why did your roommate make you leave?"

I mentally kick myself for telling her that, and I really don't want to answer. I don't want her to think I'm a loser. What if my ever-present aura of nerd hasn't registered with her and she realizes that she has no business here with me. Ivy is so far out of my league, we aren't even playing the same sport. Even though I don't want her to know, I find myself unable to give her anything less than the truth. " He said he didn't want a nerd like me around when his buddies showed up." I whisper as I look down at my feet.

I once again hear what I could swear was a low growl coming from her, but I must be mistaken. I glance up at her and I blink quickly because for a moment it looked as if her eyes flashed golden brown. When I look again, they are back to their beautiful blue so it must just be the light playing tricks on me.

Ivy seems to be trying to hide her anger, but it's almost as if I can feel it radiating off of her skin. She literally shakes herself before reaching out to me. I'm surprised when she places her hand softly on the side of my neck. " Don't listen to that douche nozzle. Nerds are in this year." She winks at me. Winks. At me. I almost die. This beautiful girl is touching me and winking at me. And calling Brandon a... wait did she really just call him a douche nozzle?

I can't help it, I burst out laughing. She seems delighted that she was able to make me laugh. "Douche Nozzle?" I cough out as I try to reign in my guttural guffaws.

" What? He totally is!" She giggles. " Don't worry though, I'm sure he won't give you any more trouble. What's his name?"

I look at her, confused by the question. I mean I understand the question, just not why she wants to know. I mentally shrug, because I guess it doesn't really matter. " Brandon Rushings. He is on the wrestling team, and he is, as you said, a giant douche nozzle. But maybe if I just stay out of his way, he will leave me alone."

She just smiles at my response. Suddenly I realize that the sun has completely set while we were standing here talking. The air has started to chill and I realize she is wearing very little to keep her warm. Swiftly, I remove my sweater, leaving on the t-shirt underneath. It's one of my favorite novelty tees from my all time favorite game. When she sees it she gasps.

Before I can offer her my sweater she squeals and shouts, " By Azura, by Azura, by Azura! It's the Grand Champion! I can't believe it's you! Standing here! Next to me!"

My jaw is hanging open and my eyes are wide by the time she finishes quoting the adoring fan depicted on my shirt. " You.... you play Oblivion?"

She bounces excitedly. " Of course! It is only the greatest game ever created!"

" I love you." I blurt. I didn't even mean to. It just flew out of my mouth. Her eyes widen and I quickly say, " I mean I love it, too. Definitely the best."

She just smiles at me as if I gave her the world. I don't know what to say until I realize I am still just holding my sweater like an idiot. " Here, you can put this on if you want. It's getting a bit nipply out here. Oh geez, I meant to say nippy. As in cold. You know, the temperature. It's not warm." I force my mouth closed and squeeze my eyes shut tight. Oh my glob. I cannot believe I just said that to her. Stupid mouth. She's going to leave now and never speak to me again. Then I feel a soft touch to my face and my eyes fly open. She is just smiling at me with humor-filled eyes.

"I would love to wear your sweater, thank you, Asher." Her lips quirk a little, but she doesn't say anything about my nip slip. Oh geez, I can't believe I just thought that. Ok, it was kind of funny.

I hand my sweater to her and once she pulls it over her head, I notice her sniffing it. Holy cheese wheel, I hope it doesn't stink. I should have done a quick sniff test before offering it. I stop freaking out when I notice her smiling again. I guess it must smell fine after all. " It's dark now, I didn't mean to keep you out here so long. Can I walk you back to your dorm?"

She smiles softly before once again shocking me. " Golly you're the best! I'm going to follow you and watch you and worship the ground you walk on! Let's Go!" She quotes. In case you didn't know, that is yet another thing that the adoring fan says, but I kind of wish she really meant it. She reaches out and takes my hand as I beam at her.

I slowly walk her back to the dorm after she tells me which one, wishing I had brought a flashlight. The trail is pretty clean, but I would hate for her to trip on something. We stay silent the whole way back, just listening to the sounds of the forest around us as she swings our hands back and forth, never losing her smile. When we make it to her dorm I realize that I really don't want her to go. Even still, I know she must. I walk her to the door and as I go to speak, she throws herself at me. She hugs me tightly and I swear she is sniffing my neck. It is just now that I realize that she isn't much shorter than me, only a few inches. Very tall for a girl. I find myself burying my nose in her hair and taking in a deep breath of my own. She smells like roses and peppermint. An odd but intoxicating aroma. I want to cover myself in it. She pulls away all too soon.

" I'm really glad I met you. Do you think maybe we can meet up again tomorrow?" She asks while biting her lip as if she thinks I would reject her.

"I would love to!" I basically shout at her. She flinches in surprise but then she smiles another of her megawatt smiles at me.

" Awesome, what dorm are you in?"

" Slater House. Why?" I ask.

" I can meet you in front of your building. In the morning? Around 10:00? Or is that too early? I know classes don't start until the day after, so maybe you want to sleep in. I can wait until later if you want or I can bring you coffee.... do you like coffee? I love coffee. Cheese and rice, I'm rambling. Sorry. What time would you like to meet?" When she finally stops talking I'm left with my mouth hanging open yet again. Is this beautiful creature for real. As if I would ever choose to sleep over spending time with her.

" 10:00 is perfect. Maybe we could walk to the campus coffee shop together? No need to bring it to me." I say while smiling at her pink cheeks. Her blush makes her even more beautiful.

"Ok then. Good. It's a plan. Goodnight, Asher." She whispers to me with a soft smile.

"Goodnight, Ivy. I'll see you tomorrow." As I turn to leave, I would almost swear that I heard her say,

"See you tomorrow, mate." 

A/N: I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this. Please comment and Vote. Hope to hear from you soon.