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The strange thing was, Jessica&039;s dad was a lot more upset than herclothes - sheon the kitchen She had talked to the police quietly and thanked the her voice, she&039;d told Jessica to wait in the kitchen while she woke Dad up

Dad had flipped

He was still wide-eyed, his hair standing on end froh it Mom had repeatedly told hiine her little sister sleeping through his yelling What freaked him out the most was the bruise on her face, which she could feel was just starting to show

There were tiineer for aand burass stain Even the skinned patch on her bare elboas rass in her hair

She looked like a ten-year-old after a long summer day

"So, you really did fall, didn&039;t you, sweetheart?"

Jessica nodded She didn&039;t trust herself to speak yet She&039;d already been such a hen the police had co her eyes out in the back of the car Jonathan had been totally cal the world&039;s worst darklingfro like this when the cops showed up

"You look like you rolled down a hill, Jessica"

"Yeah," she ," Dad repeated loudly He started up again every ti, as if he couldn&039;t bear to hear her voice

"Don" Moe with Dad that she never used on Jessica or Beth He didn&039;t say another word but sat there pulling on his hair

Jessica took a breath, looking down at her knees They hurt The overall ache of her body was dividing up now into individual pains One of the bumps would hurt for a while, then take a rest while another took over, like a bunch of suys Right now the bruise on her cheek was throbbing with her heartbeat, ently

Moain

"Jessica, tell me what happened When did you leave?"

Jessica sed The last tiht after dinner "Jonathan ca for a short walk"

"But the police said you were over by Aerospace around ht People can&039;t walk hed There were other tiineer for a , but Mom worked on the other side of town Jessica didn&039;t know exactly how ed "I don&039;t know, it was right after I went to bed"

"That ay before ten, Jessica Right after dinner," her father said "I thought it eird how early you went to bed Did you knoas co over?"

"No He just came by"

"And you just went for a ith him?"

"He&039;s in my physics class"

"The police said he&039;s a year older than you," Mom said

"My advanced physics class"