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4: a

His nahth period

Back in his classroom, he handed over a wad of paper towels and pointed me to a back room: ―There‘s a sink Plenty of soap Take your time‖

The back room was a kind of office with a couple co to e room lined with shelves of che on a sill

The putty-colored stain on the khaki skirt I‘d laid out so carefully the night before was dark and precisely centered over my crotch A fist-sized splash of coffee splotcheddried, I would look--and smell--as if I‘d taken a bath in a coffeepot Great At least my canvas slides were dark blue

There was a cake of Dove at the sink I washed off my arms and splashed water onon the wall My eyes were raw and red as if someone had thrown a fistful of sand, but otherwise I didn‘t look too bad Only nohat? God, I was so embarrassed Maybe I could just hide out here until the bell rang and--

―You okay back there?‖ Mr Anderson called fro else?‖

How about a new life? ―No Ia handful of hair from my forehead, I hefted my backpack onto a shoulder and blew out, the way I used to right before a big race He’s only a teacher; he’s not going to bite Just apologize and go

Mr Anderson was back at his s, in a wedge of bright sun, sipping coffee fro When he heard ue-tied, all the words I‘d thought about saying ja up behind h cheekbones, just the suggestion of a cleft in his chin and a broad forehead fraht, silver-blue, like ancient ice, and his skin was bronzed froed ―I‘mI‘m sorry I made such a mess‖

―Don‘t worry about it You were just lucky that coffee wasn‘t hot While you were cleaning up, I did the hall One less thing for Harley to co

―Need a cup?‖

―No,‖ and then thought that sounded rude, so I added: ―I don‘t really like coffee It was my mother‘s idea‖

―Smart woman Coffee is the elixir of life‖ He hesitated ―Look, uh, about earlier

what I was doing‖

―It‘s okay,‖ I said, quickly ―Honest‖

He put a hand up ―Let ize, okay? All I wanted to say was I‘htanyone around this early, obviously‖ The way he rolled his eyes rinned His teeth were square and very white He had a nice s for an Iron Man

Summer‘s no problem but once school starts up, I have to squeeze in time when I can You a runner?‖

―I used to run cross-country,‖ I said and then wondered why I was telling hiht back downstairs

―For real? What‘s your time for a 5K?‖ I told him, and he made iht or fifteen hundred?‖

―No I haven‘t run in a while, actually IAnyway, I just liked to run I likespeed‖ That wasn‘t quite what I meant to say, but to fly sounded, well, weird and I was supposed to be acting normally

―I like the power,‖ he said ―You knohen everything‘s working the way it should and nothing hurts? You slip into that zone where you‘re skiside the earth instead of on it‖

―Slipstream,‖ I said It just came out

He nodded, his eyes serious He wouldn‘t be the kind to laugh even if he thought I was an idiot, I knew that ―That‘s right Only real runners get that‖ He paused ―Soyou interested in training again? I‘m the track and cross-country coach and, well, I could always use another pair of legs, especially varsity girls‖

Then he ran a hand through his hair and let out a little laugh ―Sorry School hasn‘t even started and you‘re new and already I‘ to sell you on a sport You‘d probably like to settle in before getting yourself weighed doith a ations Come on, I‘ll walk you downstairs to the library just in case Harley‘s still lurking‖

He waited as I checked my left pal Unfortunately, between the coffee and washing up, the writing was faded and blurred, and I messed up the combination twice Mr Anderson waited a beat then said,

―You have to twirl it twice clockwise to reset the mechanism andHere, let me‖ He reached past ―What‘s the coht, pine needles, and Dove soap He spun the knob right, then left, then once around clockwise, and then stopped on the last nu the handle a yank The locker clanked open

―Thanks‖ After I‘d stowed my stuff, alked back down the hall, past his classroo, and I said, ―That‘s really nice I‘ve heard it before--in a ht a second ― Blume in Love, that last scene where they‘re in St Mark‘s square‖

―Yeah?‖ Cocking his head, he closed his eyes, listened a moment, said, ―You kno that you ave eneration How do you know the movie?‖