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When I felt his kind, seeking fingers, I latched onto them gratefully and squeezed. “Now—now what?” I asked, looking to him for advice.
“Uh…” He appeared to momentarily freeze before his eyes lit up. “Oh! Okay, so my buddy used to get panic attacks, like, all the time. And one thing he would do was put his finger in his ear a little and pull down on it. Helped every time.”
I blinked at him in disbelief, but then I tried it, anyway.
“Good. Now take deep breaths,” he instructed as I held down on the inside of my ear. “It’s stimulating some nerves in there or something. I’m not really sure. But it always worked for him.”
I swallowed and drew out a deep breath before looking up at the guy and slowly pulling my finger from my ear as his face grew into focus. He smiled from brilliant white teeth and the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen.
Nodding in encouragement, he asked, “Better?”
I blew out a long breath, relieved. “Yeah. Thank you, Alec. That was?—”
Cutting myself off, I tipped my head and squinted at him in confusion.
“Did I just—did I call you Alec?” I asked slowly.
He seemed similarly stumped. “Yeah…” he answered, wrinkling his nose in confusion. “You did.”
“I amsosorry,” I gushed. “I have no idea why I did that. It just…came out of nowhere.”
“I mean, it’s fine,” he assured me. “Since my nameisAlec. I just hadn’t realized we’d met before.”
“Wait,what? Your name’s really Alec?”
“Yes, ma’am. Did you seriously not know?”
“Why would I know that? I’ve never met you before. I would remember that hair.”
He flushed and plumped his curls before shrugging. “Well, you must have. Otherwise, this is just super freaky.”
I shook my head, answering, “It’s super freaky because I’m sure I don’t know you.”
“Huh.” Lifting his eyebrows in a good-natured sign forwhatever, he held out his hand to introduce himself. “Well, I’m Alec Younger, freshman here at HaveU.”
“And you’re a film major,” I added for him as I shook his hand.
“Right!” he cheered. “See. Wehadto have met at some point. What’s your name?”
“Raina,” I answered, still frowning at him and wondering how I knew so much about him.
His eyes widened. “No shit?You’reRaina? Raina Bollen?”
“That’s me,” I answered, reassured by the familiarity in his voice. “So wehavemet?”
“Oh! No. Not physically, anyway.”
When I tipped my head, not sure what he meant byphysically, he continued, “I think I was always away when you came to visit. Wait. Sorry…” He laughed a little at himself and then pressed a hand to his chest. “Maybe I should tell you who I am. I’m one of Oaklynn’s roommates.”
“Oh!” I shook my head, not expecting to hearthat. “Okay. Right. Ihaveheard her mention an Alec before. And I’m sure she talked about the film stuff. But I—I’m sorry. I don’t remember ever seeing a picture of you or?—”
“No, you probably haven’t. Man, this is so great. You must be starting to remember.”
“Remember?” I asked suspiciously. “Remember…what?”
His eyes flared. “What?” he asked. “I didn’t say remember.”
“Yes, you did,” I countered. “You just said,you must be starting to remember.”
