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"Hey, co my palm

He rubs his eyes "It’s a valid question,all the tiht in front of me You know I like her, and you don’t even care And to top it all off you already have like the hottest girlfriend in Ohio"

"I do care," I whisper

"You care about what?"

"I care that you like Six, Saht--I like her too I wish I didn’t, but I do It’s stupid and cruel to you, but I can’t stop thinking about her She’s cool and she’s beautiful and she’s Loric, which is like, extracool But I love Sarah And that’s why I have to see her"

Sao back and help Six Think about it If they aiting for us atfor us at Sarah’s"

I gently pull ht? You saw her in the backyard?"

"Yeah," he sighs His eyes find his shoes

"You got to see your et to see Sarah"

"That doesn’t ot the transmitter, remember? This is e’re in Paradise It’s the only reason" Sam hands me the tablet, and I stare at its blank screen I touch every inch of it I try telekinesis I hold it to my forehead The tablet remains off

"Let me try," Sam says As he fue skeleton with the pendant, and the desk and wall covered in papers

"Six grabbed a handful of the papers, but it’s not like we can read theround lair?" Sa the tablet back "He was so cool I’d really like to look at the papers Six took"

"Absolutely," I say "Right after I see Sarah"

Sae youryou can do to stop me"

The last ti Day I re Sarah wave from the front

"Hey, handsome," she said when she opened the door, and I turned around to look over my shoulder to pretend she meant it for someone else

Her house looks co With everydark, with the garage doors closed, the house looks cold and e Sam and I are on our bellies in the shadow of a house on the corner, and I don’t kno I’ to talk to her

I pull the prepaid cell phone I’ve had turned off for days out of my jeans "I could text her until she wakes up"

"That’s actually a pretty good idea Just do this already so we can get out of here I swear, Six is going to kill us, or worse, s and we’re here lying in the grass about to go through a scene from Romeo and Juliet"

I power up the phone and type: I promised I’d come back U up?

We count to thirty after I send it, and then I type: I love you I’ her," Sam whispers after ait another thirty seconds "Say so only you would know"

I try: Bernie Kosar hts up Then my phone buzzes with a text: Is it really you? You’re in Paradise?

I pull up a handful of grass, I’m so excited

"Chill out," Sam whispers

"I can’t help it"

I respond: I’round in 5?

My phone buzzes i behind a Dumpster at the end of the street when Sarah takes her first steps onto the concrete playground From the moment I see her, I’m breathless, flooded with e dark jeans and a black fleece jacket A white winter hat is pulled over her head, but I can still see her long blond hair, and it brushes over her shoulders in the slight wind Her flawless coround bulb, and I feel instantly self-conscious about being covered in dirt and Mog ash I take a step away frorabs my wrist and holdsto be really hard," he whispers "But we have to be back in those woods in tenon us"

"I’ll doof the repercussions at this point Sarah is right there, and I’m so close I can practically smell her shampoo

I watch Sarah turn her head back and forth looking forand twists herself, the ropes above her beco taut Sarah starts to spin slowly, and I shuffle around the peri her She looks so beautiful So perfect

I wait until she’s facing the other direction before stepping out of the shadows, and when she twists around again, there I am

"John?" The toes of Sarah’s sneakers scrape on the concrete to stop her fro back around

"Hey, beautiful," I say I can feelthe corners of my eyes

Sarah covers her mouth and nose with her hands

I walk towards her and she tries to get off of the swing, but its ropes are too taut for her to escape

I ju’s ropes inher and the seat so her face lines up with mine I lean in and kiss her, and the instant our lips meet, it’s as if I’d never left Paradise