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"Rhian, we’ve talked about this Normal people don’t like to be called names For some reason, they tend to take that personally And you are a tad bitchy, by the way"

"Normal people are so sensitive"

"Joss, have you read this one?" Hannah appeared around the corner of the aisle, waving yet another dystopian atfor dystopia

"Who’s that?" Rhian asked "Where are you?"

I nodded at Hannah "That’s a good one And there’s a hot guy in it I think you’ll really like it"

Hannah was delighted at that and clutched the book to her chest, before lugging her hand-basket of goodies back to the teen fiction section

"Joss?"

"That was Hannah" I tilted my head at a Dan Simmons novel Ooh, I hadn’t read that one

"And Hannah is…?"

"Ellie’s fourteen year old sister"

"And you’re with a teenager… why?"

What ith the tone? Her questioncrack… why?’

"We’re in the bookstore"

"You’re shopping with a teenager?"

"Why do you keep saying it like that?"

"I don’t know Maybe because you’ve, you’re friends with a girl who’s seen The Notebook fifty-five times and, like, smiles a lot; you’re out for drinks with actual people on week nights, you saveda therapist, and you’re babysitting teens I ot a fuckin’ lobotorateful for the whole saving your relationship thing"

"Joss, seriously, what’s going on with you?"

I pulled the Dan Sis deliberately Ellie and I get along and for so my broody ass around, and she has a different life than e had She actually likes people, and that means I’m around the before me, a deep frown between her eyes A rush of concern swam overfor Hannah

"Hannah’s fine," Ellie guessed the reason for the"I’m stuck" She held up a paperback with a woman in a lavish Victorian dress on the cover A masculine pair of hands reached seductively for the laces on the back of it There was also so about seduction in the title In her other hand was the latest Sparks novel "Which one?"

Without hesitation I pointed at the bodice ripper "The seduction of what’s her face The sparks novel would be overkill this week"

She gestured at me with the bodice ripper book and aback out of the aisle

"Seriously," Rhian muttered down the line "Where’s Joss, and what have you done with her?"

"Joss is getting off the phone if you’re done psycho-analyzing her"

"Joss is speaking in third person"

I laughed "Rhian, get gone, okay And tell James I said hi and yeah, he does oweup on her and went to find Hannah and Ellie

They aiting in line to be served and I slid in beside the as Ellie stood there uncharacteristically silent and Hannah just stared adoringly down at all her books We should have brought a backpack for the Hannah’s books into weak plastic bags, and since Ellie had spaced out on me, I pointed behind the clerk "Hey, could you s These ones will just break"

He shrugged lazily "They’re fifty pence a bag"

I ht a hundred pounds worth of books and you can’t give us the bags for free?"

He waved the gift card at ave her that gift card did You’re not seriously asking us to pay for so to carry them in?"

"No" He drawled the word out like I was stupid "You can carry thes"

Maybe I would have backed off if he wasn’t speaking to‘I hate my job so fuck customer service’ rippeda little, her face pale, her eyes screwed shut

"Ellie" I grabbed for her and she held ontoto her sister’s other side

"I’m okay," she murmured "Just dizzy I have this… headache…"

"Another one?" That was like the third one this week