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Prologue

The Stars are Not Wanted but the Sky Will Submit

Her eyes attelanced those eyes of a thousand nights, eyes that had made love to every spectrum of color this reallass and black ined those eyes had prevailed over ht he would pretend they had prevailed over him

What happened after that was of no interest to him

It would be of no interest to him unless He willed it so

PART ONE

~1~

Ghost in the Soul

Ari’s eyes followed the swipe of Mr Dillon’s eraser across the board, wiping out the poor chalk-figure hangman who had met his full and complete death — a head, torso, liure out the blanks equated to accumulated depreciationThe last week of school Business class

Ari hid a yawn behind her hand and glanced worriedly out of the classroo lot She wondered if he was out there already

“God, I thought this class couldn’t get any ,” Nick Melua whispered across to her Arifor graduation was a slow torture in hell That the waiting room at present happened to be Mr Dillon’s Business Studies class only increased the banality

Ari winced She better get used to it She would be heading off tothe future and the host of angry butterflies the thought of it created in her belly out of herabout Charlie Was he out behind the parking lot? Again?

“Miss Johnson?”

She groaned into her wrist and flicked her eyes up at the board “W,” she guessed without thinking and ilares from her classmates

“Nope” Mr Dillon shook his head “Nick?”

“E,” he threw across the roorateful smiles as the word became clearer

“Entrepreneur!” Staci Pike shouted out with such enthusias she cared Ari smirked over at her and rolled her eyes at Staci’s sheepish shrug Staci hateddown Mr Dillon’s face that told the the to feel the pressure, was not so Staci could just sit back and watch

Mr Dillon sratefully “Correct Do you want to come up, Staci, and choose a word?”

Ari grinned at her See, that’s what happens when you’re nice

Staci narrowed her eyes on her as she swept by her table “Meanie,” she h to make Ari snort

Fifteen rew ure out Staci’s word Finally Mr Dillon sighed “I’man is definitely… dead You’ll have to tell us your word, Staci”

Her dark eyes ith disbelief “You guys are terrible at this game”

“Aw coainst the table, his voice cli to a whine “Just tell us”

“Fine,” she huffed “The word or words, rather, are ‘Bill Gates’”

Ari ih as the class exploded into an uproar

“I still don’t see what the big deal was” Staci shrugged as they headed towards their lockers

“You were supposed to use a business ter a spit ball out of Staci’s hair and flicking it to the ground She griainst her t-shirt

“Bill Gates is a businessman, hellllooo!”