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Mom waited in the kitchen, poised with her arled so the frown on her face was the first thing I sahen I walked in I wondered how long she&039;d held that pose

She began with a cal sent to the principal&039;s office after school?"

I slipped out of iven me a medal rather than suspend me fro et in a fight I intervened I already went over this with Principal Romero That kid was about to kill the other one, and I stopped him"

"Principal Romero said you beat on hie, didn&039;t it?" I crossed the kitchen, opened the freezer, and frowned "Noto you"

"I can snack and listen" I opened the cupboard and pulled out a bag of pretzels instead

"Aurora, I&039;m extremely disappointed"

I stopped mid-chew and looked at her "Well, I&039;ht This is who I aent Melcher said you could go back to your norent Melcher" I sneered The pretzel sticksunder et to make my own decisions anymore"

My mother&039;s face dropped "Maybe they&039;ll reconsider in a year"

"Morabbed an apple out of the glass fruit bowl on the counter and headed up the stairs

"Where are you going now?" Moet started on homework" I chuckled at the surprise on her face "Much as I despise the idea of attending the UAA next year, I loathe the thought of repeating senior year at Denali even more"

And that was the truth I could only play the recovering accident victi more participation on my part

The upside of suspension was it forced etNo Fane

I&039;d already cra a whole week at Denali

I joinedand spread lass of pulpy orange juice sat bythis time count," Mom said "Are you sure I can&039;t make you breakfast?"

"Mom, I&039;m fine"

I&039;d never really been sure what my mom did while I was at school To start the day, it seelass of diet soda

An hour later, lass in the dishwasher, and took the paper in the recycle bin She disappeared upstairs for a while then returned fully dressed with freshly applied rocery store I&039;ll be right back Do you want anything?"

"More fruity pops," I suggested

The solitude was nice For the first tiot work done The sub sandwiches Moardless of the way the bread disintegrated like sponge cake insideas roceries

She answered "Hello? Yes May I ask who&039;s calling?"

I stared at ainst her chest "Aurora, there&039;s a boy on the phone for you Fane?"

I leapt out of rabbed the phone "Hello?"

"Hello, Aurora"

Even through the phone, his voice was silky

My mother looked over

I turned et my nuhtheaded in a good way I wasn&039;t sure if Fane would talk to me, much less call after the kiss Scott hadn&039;t called and he actually had my phone number

"How&039;s school?" I asked

"All the boys are resting easy knowing Aurora Sky&039;s not around to beat theet too co me return on Friday"

"I can&039;t wait"

I gripped the phone around my ear My heart hammered inside my chest

"Do you have a piece of paper and pen?" Fane asked

"Why?"

"I want to give you iving lee

He chuckled "Just write it down"

I grabbed a No 2 pencil and piece of unopenedthe envelope over to the back "I&039;m ready"

Fane recited his cell number

"Got it"

"Callclass?" I joked

"Anytiht, see you Friday"

"Until then, Aurora"

My hands shook slightly when I hung up the phone

"Who is Fane?" Mom asked

I spun around and smiled innocently "A boy at school"

"And his name&039;s Fane?"

"Yeah"

"How do you two know each other?"

I shrugged my shoulders "Gym class"

"Aurora, I don&039;t want to see you fall in with a bad crowd"

Laughter bubbled uphe&039;s a delinquent because of his name?"

"Nice boys don&039;t call themselves Fane"

"Yeah, and nice boys aren&039;t always nice, either"

"What do you et it I&039;ll be in my roo before settling on a sweater and skirt that touched my knees

When I reached school, I avoided C Hall and the risk of running into the Mouseketeers I wandered the halls until I heard his voice

"Welcome back"

Instant shiver

I turned and smiled I focused on Fane&039;s upper lip, the one that was slightly sain

"Aurora Sky," those lips said I want to show you so"

"What?"

"Come with me"

We walked side by side down the e lot The cold bit into my bare flesh Fane led me to a familiar Pontiac Catalina

"This is my car"

I folded my arms over my chest

Fane planted a boot on the bu&039;s a tank"

I looked it over "It&039;s certainly ugly enough to be"

"Very funny, but it could go through a brick wall and still hold its shape Last year, this woe Neon ran headfirst into me in her sedan Wasn&039;t her fault, really, she was skidding on ice"

My eyes widened

"Don&039;t worry," Fane said "She walked out of it just fine But her car" Fane shook his head "That thing cruether to demonstrate

A save it a shove with his boot "Not a scratch"

"It sounds very safe," I said As Fane grinned I added quickly, "But I&039;m still not ready"

"Just know that I&039;m here for you when you are and, at the risk of my reputation, I&039;m no speed demon" Fane lowered his voice "The tank isover fifty"

I laughed "Thanks I&039;ll remember that"

Fane opened the back door "Go on, have a seat"