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Even though every ounce of E wanted to wave and sht of Sutton, and shot Nisha a bitchy look Outrage flashed across Nisha’s face After athe face of the girl behind her

A cautious feeling flitted throughissues

Not that I had a clue what they were

Chapter 6

WHO CAN RESIST A BROODER?

Nisha’s driveas quiet and peaceful Crickets chirped in the bushes, and the air was cool against Eht from a TV flickered in theof a house a few doors down A dog barked behind a block-wall fence Ean to slow, and her shoulders slowly fell from their crunched position by her ears She pulled out the BlackBerry and stared at the screen The e was from Clarice: GOT YOUR NOTE EVERYTHING OKAY? LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING

Eain No newfloodlight shone across the Sabino parking lot Eulped The park bench was now empty Had someone taken her stuff? Where was Sutton? And as she supposed to do when this party ended? Her wallet had been in her bag Now she had no cash No ID

Swish Emma turned around and faced Nisha’s house No one was in the driveway Then, a stiff thwock echoed through the air, a soda can opening Eure stood on the front porch of the house next door There was a large telescope by his side, but he was staring straight into Emma’s eyes

Euy stepped forward, his proht Emma took in his round eyes, thick eyebrows, and closely shorn hair His ht, tense line that seemed to say back off He was dressedfrayed hiking shorts and a threadbare gray T-shirt that showed every contour of his well-nized hi used to this by now--I didn’t knohy

Giggles elanced over her shoulder, then back at the boy She was intrigued by his sullen slouch, and by the fact that he didn’t see next door She’d always been a sucker for the brooding type "Why aren’t you at the party?" she asked

The guy just stared at her, his eyes two huge moons

Eht in front of his house "What are you looking at?" She gestured to the telescope

He didn’t blink "Venus?" E Dipper?"

A sainst the back of his neck and turned away Finally E to sound as breezy as possible "Hang out by yourself I don’t care"

"The Perseids, Sutton"

Emma turned back to him So he knew Sutton, too "What are the Perseids?" she asked

He curled his hands around the porch railing "It’s a meteor shower"

Euy stood h the yard His house was a se A few cacti lined the curb Up close, he sht shone down on his face, revealing striking blue eyes A plate containing a half-eaten sandas on the porch swing, and two leather-bound books were on the ground The tattered cover of the first book said The Collected Poetry of Williauy who read poetry--not one who’d admit it, anyway

Finally he looked down, adjusted the telescope lens to Eht, and stepped out of the way Emma stooped to the eyepiece "Since when did you become an astronomer?" he asked

"Since never" E, full ive the stars names of my own"

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

E fro off the eyepiece "Well, like the Bitch Star There" She pointed to a so, she’d narade who’d spilled a puddle of lemonade under Emma’s desk in Spanish and then told everyone Emma was incontinent She’d even translated it into Spanish, incontinencia E Maria into the sky, just like the Greek gods used to banish their children to the underworld for all of eternity

The guy let out a cough-like laugh "Actually, I think your Bitch Star is part of Orion’s belt"

Emma pressed her hand to her chest, like an offended southern belle "Do you talk to all the girls like that?"

HeEmma’s heart jumped to her throat at the effortlessness of it all For a second, she thought about Carter Hayes, the captain of the Henderson High School basketball team, whos to say to Carter in her Ways to Flirt list, but whenever they were alone together, she’d always so about American Idol She didn’t even like Auy tilted his head up to the sky again "Maybe the other stars Orion carries around could be the Liar Star and the Cheater Star Three naughty girls ere dragged by their hair to Orion’s cave" He looked at her , feeling the words carried some special connotation she couldn’t possibly decipher "It sounds like you’ve done a lot of thinking about this"

"Maybe" He had the longest lashes Eaze felt less flirty and morecurious, maybe

And suddenly a flash about hiratitude and hu aze away and vigorously rubbed the top of his head "Sorry It’s justwe haven’t really talked sinceyou knohile"

"Well, there’s no time like the present," Emma said

A whisper of a smile appeared on his lips "Yeah"

They looked at each other again Fireflies danced around their heads The air suddenly sirl’s voice called through the darkness