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"Hello?" I answer

"Davy, I need you ho Not because of her demand but because of the tremble in her voice So unlike Mo out in a rush Hours spent bossing people around at her design firuess

"I have practice--"

"Now, Davy," she cuts ht?" Silence ht "Is it Dad?"

"Your father’s fine He’s here"

Dad’s home, too? He’s more of a workaholic than Mo inside me "Is he okay?"

"Yes Yes He’s fine," she says hurriedly, that nervous tremor still there Maybe even worse than round and the phonethe receiver with her hand so I won’t hear Then her voice returns to et here"

"Okay" I hang up and face Zac

He stares atinside me for my brother What’s he done this time? "Let me just let Mrs McGary know" I stick my head inside the orchestra roo on the phone I er forme with Zac in the doorway, Tori heads over The orchestra room has always been a "no Zac zone," and I know she likes it that way "What’s going on?"

"My , she touches ht?"

"I don’t know" I bite ht with concern "Mitchell?"

I shake my head "I don’t know"

Her handh a phase He’ll get it out of his syste through a phase since he was thirteen And at twenty-one, I arow out of it anytiood guy"

"Thanks" A quick glance reveals Mrs McGary still on the phone "Look, will you let her know--"

"Of course" Tori givessqueeze "Go I’ll head over when practice ends Want me to pick you up a smoothie on the way? Wateroing down at hoether we head upstairs to the classroo when they try to stop us to talk

Zac’s best friend is the only one who succeeds A consu "Hey, gorgeous"

I step back fro weights today, et Davy houys later"

"Hey, Bridget," I call out to the sophoirl who sits beside me in orchestra She’s second-chair violin She jerks to a sudden stop, her hand clutching the railing as she stares atstill even as we keep clirow pink "Hey, Zac"

He looks back at her with a blank look "Hey"

I s?" he asks as we reach the first floor "You don’t even know her naainst hih "Oh, really? Just aze slides over me, and it’s a hot look that s about you, too"

"You’d like to know a few other things," I tease

"I will" He grins, so sure of hiets the door forthe pebbled path toward the parking lot There’s a nip to the late afternoon--what consists of a Texas winterits final stand Soon it will be so hot that shirts stick to skin, and the air feels like stea forward to New York I’ve only seen snow once, ten years ago Itto the rooftops for the day My brother and I scraped e could off the lawn into snowballs and stuck they, brownish balls of ice with twigs and dried leaves sticking out of theot a chance to recover thereen hills etched against a sky so blue it hurts your eyes The headmaster’s white-pillared mansion looks down on us from the top of the hill as we pass the refectory where we eat A perfectly reen stretches to our left In the distance, flags slap on the wind, olf cart driven by the head of campus security as he rolls toward the practice fields Everyone calls hiet your attention My brother coined the nicknao as a freshman Snappy busted Mitchell on more than one occasion

We descend the hill toward the parking lot Seniors get the best spots It’s one of our privileges at Everton, in addition to having our very own senior lounge replete with couches, TV, and soda and snack machines Zac’s parked in the front row beneath a crape myrtle tree in full bloom Tiny white blossoms decorate the hood of his car

"So down"

"It’s pretty"