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"Let’s just please not get in trouble," I said "I , but not at the expense of, like, my future"

She looked up at me, her face mostly revealed now, and she smiled just the littlest bit "It amazes "

"Huh?"

"College: getting in or not getting in Trouble: getting in or not getting in School: getting A’s or getting D’s Career: having or not having House: big or s It’s all so boring"

I started to say so, to say that she obviously cared a little, because she had good grades and was going to the University of Florida’s honors program next year, but she just said, "Wal-Mart"

We entered Wal-Mart together and picked up that thing fro wheel into place As alked through the Juniors departed to speak in her usualmy question "Did you know that for pretty e life span was less than thirty years? You could count on ten years or so of real adulthood, right? There was no planning for retire for a career There was no planning No ti No tier, and people started havingabout it About the future And now life has become the future Every h school so you can go to college so you can get a good job so you can get a nice house so you can afford to send your kids to college so they can get a good job so they can get a nice house so they can afford to send their kids to college"

It felt like Margo was just ra to avoid the question at hand So I repeated it "Why do we need The Club?"

Margo patted me in the oing to be revealed to you before the night is over" And then, in boating supplies, Margo located an air horn She took it out of the box and held it up in the air, and I said, "No," and she said, "No what?" And I said, "No, don’t blow the air horn," except when I got to about the b in blow, she squeezed on it and it let out an excruciatingly loud honk that felt in my head like the auditory equivalent of an aneurysm, and then she said, "I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you What was that?" And I said, "Stop b--" and then she did it again

A Wal-Mart employee just a little older than us walked up to us then and said, "Hey, you can’t use that in here," and Margo said, with seeuy said, "Oh, it’s cool I don’t mind, actually" And then the conversation seeo, and honestly I don’t bla at, and then finally he said, "What are you guys up to tonight?"

And Margo said, "Not oing out to this bar down on Orange, if you want to come But you’d have to drop off your brother; they’re really strict about ID’s"

Her what?! "I’uy’s sneakers

And then Margo proceeded to lie "He’s actually my cousin," she said Then she sidled up to me, put her hand around ainst uy just rolled his eyes and walked away, and Margo’s hand lingered for a minute and I took the opportunity to put my arm around her "You really are my favorite cousin," I told her She s out of my e down a blessedly eo’s directions The clock on the dashboard said it was 1:07

"It’s pretty, huh?" she said She was turned away fro out the , so I could hardly see her "I love driving fast under streetlights"

"Light," I said, "the visible reht"

"That’s beautiful," she said

"T S Eliot," I said "You read it, too In English last year" I hadn’t actually ever read the whole poeot stuck in my head

"Oh, it’s a quote," she said, a little disappointed I saw her hand on the center console I could have put my own hand on the center console and then our hands would have been in the saain," she said

"Light, the visible reood That must help with your lady friend"

"Ex-lady friend," I corrected her

"Suzie duo asked

"How do you know she duh she did," I ado, but I didn’t bla to pay attention to the world of lower-caste romance What happens in the band rooo put her feet up on the dashboard and wiggled her toes to the cadence of her speaking She always talked like that, with this discernible rhythht, well, I’m sorry to hear that But I can relate My lovely boyfriend of lo thesemy best friend"

I looked over but her hair was all in her face, so I couldn’t"Seriously?" She didn’t say anything "But you were just laughing with hi I saw you"

"I don’t knohat you’re talking about I heard about it before first period, and then I found the bloody murder, and Becca ran into the ar there like a du out of his stank mouth"

I had clearly misinterpreted the scene in the hallway "That’s weird, because Chuck Parson askedwhat I knew about you and Jase"

"Yeah, well, Chuck does as he’s told, I guess Probably trying to find out for Jase who knew"

"Jesus, ould he hook up with Becca?"

"Well, she’s not known for her personality or generosity of spirit, so it’s probably because she’s hot"

"She’s not as hot as you," I said, before I could think better of it