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"Nah,his stupid ass with so," Randi said and Alex put a beefy ar his ass hmm," Alex said with a faraway look

"Sims! You’re killin’ me, quit it Totally not funny,him with a look

"Co to console the Jonester, then added with a wink, "It was totally worth it"

Jonesy grinned at first but then he thought of so upside down "Yeah but rinned "I thought you dug Micah?"

"Yeah," Jonesy turned, sweeping his arut with the cast-as-weapon

"Hey!" I yelled

"Sorry Hart, watch where you’re standing"

Yeah, right Freakin’ bludgeoning tool

He dismissed me and turned to Sophie "She eso, babe"

Sophie raised apurple nail tips "Ah-huh--"

"And now she gets into shit Like my comic books"

"Oh h-fived their agreeirls watched with a bored detachave a subtle yawn behind her fist as Mia’s car drove up

"See ya dweebs," she said good-naturedly, with a cascading ripple of purple nails in a fareave She jogged out into the fierce drizzle, her high-heeled boots bringing rat-a-tat-tat sounds to our ears, muffled by the wet cement

Jonesy watched her leave as she folded into the tin can with a sigh

Tiff followed his gaze then said, "Put us out of our misery Jones, just ask her out"

Jonesy scrunched up his face but for once he didn’t try to defend himself with the usual lameness and pseudo excuses "Yeah" Then, "I don’t know, it took ure out I was a one-woman man that now I don’t think she’d be convinced noa lone pebble with his sneaker and flinging it into the growing puddles on the sidewalk

We all looked at Sophie pulling away from the curb with Mia in the Smart Car aka toaster

Jade said it best, "I think if you showed ya liked her she ave a perv hip pop and said, "Give It A Go!"

Jade blushed to the roots of her hair So she hadn’t ot the crooked uys had it too Like a contagion

Jonesy grinned, his buoyant nature restored and I gave Jade a gentle squeeze in thanks and she sighed Of all of the group, Jonesy struggled with anything that resembled the serious I sure appreciated it when stuff was dire But day to day it was tih There was soreat about Jonesy I didn’t want that se Then we’d have to subht that was a last resort

"Hey, do you need a ride Tiff?" John asked casually

When it was anything but John was never casual He was the most deliberate dude I’d ever met

Tiff looked up at John and I sucked in a breath, that luain,the dirt on the only patch of dry concrete with a sneakered toe "Nah Bry’s gonna swoop in here and get me" Her hair had fallen forward and she looked up quickly at John, reh John"

It was like the rest of us didn’t exist It was just John and Tiff She never called John by his given name, just Terran I watched as his hand flexed by his side, deliberating Then he ju a swan dive He lifted his hand in slow ht that stubborn dark blonde strand that had fallen forward, covering part of her face and tucked it behind her ear

Her hazel eyes stood out like glittering jewels, flecks of green lighting them from within and I watched as they filled with tears

I saw it

But they didn’t fall Bry roared up in his beater, setting the moment on its ear His door was bashed in perain toward that narrow realization I’d had earlier about Tiff, it slithered away again when Bry jogged up, head bent against the chilly rain

John and Tiff turned like they’d been caught or soot a load of Tiff’s head, his face filling like a thundercloud, inated darkness

"What the fuck?" he screeched "Tiffie what happened to your head, hun?"

Now the Weller faht so when Tiff took a step backward fro on, Tiff?" he asked in a low voice, his hand dropping fro midair to touch the knot on her skull

"I tripped in the hall and didn’t catch myself," she said ?" he asked incredulously

John nodded, sensing answers that stood just out of reach

We were sht chick, ould’ve never thought she’d hide so this monumental froiven us a head’s up for later

She shrugged, lifting a shoulder "Let’s go bro, I’ll tell ya the gory details in the car"

Then Tiff did one of the bravest things I’d ever seen her do And that was saying so Tiff had the heart of a lion

She turned to John, before he had any chance to figure out what she was doing and wrapped her arainst his chest and he hesitated for htly

"Thank you," she whispered

She fit against him perfectly, I noticed I was always a little shocked when Tiff got next to one of us guys She was really sive her petite size scale; she was big, larger than life It was the Tiff Pheno after her brother and slipping through the hole of the , the soles of her feet the last thing

Since Gramps had welded the door shut that was the main access That made my crooked mouth wink back into existence

John looked like he’d just got nailed with a perfectly executed sucker punch

Randi and Jade gave each other the girl stare I walked up to Terran, clapping him on the shoulder "You in love, Terran?"

"Yup," he said without hesitation

I nodded, better to just admit it

Jonesy looked at John and said, "Join the club Terran"

John shook hiuy of feords

He and Tiff couldn’t have been more opposite Tiff was so loud, bold and without a filter