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"No, no, no, you didn&039;t," Lucy said, cradling Brent&039;s head against her chest She ran one hand over his hair, over and over "You couldn&039;t possibly have"

He was crying openly now The events of the last week had totally undercut any idea he ever had about being a tough guy "He said it wasn&039;t safe, that we should probably just leave And it was so weird in there - I could barely hear his voice It was the last thing he ever said to me! And then I found that well or - or whatever it was It was closed off, there was a lid on top But it looked kind of loose, and I thought I wanted to see if there was anything inside I don&039;t knohat I expected to find But when the lid ca down there and it was getting bigger - like it was co up really fast"

Lucy kissed him on the top of his head Which was a little weird but he didn&039;tup behindwas perfectly silent He looked down into the well and then he grabbed the lid and tried to put it back on but - but it was too late It was just too late He was on fire, he was"

"You didn&039;t do anything"

"Yes, exactly! I didn&039;t stop hiain, and pressed her lips against his forehead There was so ood it felt just to have a friend right then "You didn&039;t know You couldn&039;t possibly know"

"Oh my God, Luce, it was so horrible He - he melted while I watched I would have stayed there and just watched and probably got killedShe saved me If I&039;d been as smart as her, or as fast,for Dad"

"No, no, no, no," Lucy repeated "It wasn&039;t your fault" She sat down next to hi, and wrapped her arht while he shook and cried and got it out of his systeone," Brent said "I don&039;t knohat to do Everything is different - I can&039;t talk to Grand about what Dad would want ood things, I think If I do good things, if I help people,him Do you think so?"

"Shh," she said "You didn&039;t kill him And I think he&039;d be proud of you whatever you do I heard hi had slowed down a little, when he wasn&039;t sucking in breath that he couldn&039;t seehtly in her ar bravely Like she wanted to show him she didn&039;t think he was a bad person It meant so much, to see her smile like that, her face just a few inches away from his Her mouth so close to his He leaned in just a little closer, and she did, too

"You rock, Lucy," he breathed

"Thanks," she said One of her hands tangled in the hair on the back of his head and she started pulling hirazed each other and he felt her braces underneath

He pulled back hurriedly He had just almost kissed her! That wasn&039;t cool Desperately, he tried to think of so to say that would smooth over what had just happened "Best friends forever, that&039;s what the girls say, right? BFFs?" he asked her

He didn&039;t understand the look in her eyes It was hopeful and terrified and lost and disappointed and burning with triu, or feeling

Then she lifted her aro hoht, Moet the pork chops started right nowto eat, and he&039;ll just laugh, and then he&039;ll say forget the pork chops let&039;s order a pizza, which would norain and the doctor says he can&039;t have any cheese, and anyway I can&039;t eat pizza because it makes me break out but I want you to know, I&039;m totally your BFF, and I will always be here for you if you want to, to, to talk, yes, to talk, or you know, just hang out Chill Be cool, together, just two friends hanging, we don&039;t even have to talk, we can just be quiet so that lasts which, you know perfectly well, forBut we could try that"

"Thanks," he told her, as she hobbled out the door She didn&039;t reply or even look back He really hoped he hadn&039;t screwed things up by nearly kissing her It wasn&039;t like they&039;d ever thought of each other that way before but she was a girl and he was a teenage boy and sometimes you couldn&039;t help yourself, and -

"Oh God," he thought "What if I made her feel so unco sound on hisscared hi it open to see as outside It was Maggie, crouched on the roof looking in at him She had a lot of eye e

"You&039;re not the sie asked "And you don&039;t understand other people at all"

"If you wanted to insult me you could have just coh theand into the chilly night air You could see half the neighborhood fro in on the dead-end roads In the distance the ht on the dark blue horizon "When was the last tiotten steeper or ed It didn&039;t feel nearly as stable as it used to "Before Moe" Maggie skipped easily up the slope of the roof to stand on the very top of the house "That&039;s probably how long it&039;s been since we did anything together without co about it," he corrected her He wished she would come down from there He didn&039;t want her to fall He didn&039;t want to lose another family member for some stupid reason that didn&039;t ether, anyway?"

She shrugged Then she stood up slowly on the toes of one foot, balancing herself by stretching out her ar in coain" Then she dropped to a crouch, pus - and sailed out across the darkness towards the roof of the house across the street He could just hear her call back, "You&039;re it!"