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"A good guy?" I echo, trying to wrapI had even considered before Not so here was a mistakethen maybe it was a mistake for others, too Okay, not Nathan, but I had already decided Gil couldn’t possibly be a bad sort
Coco’s gaze snaps back to ot sent here, he tried to help keep Brock Just a dim memory
I shake ht be tough, but he doesn’t have any real power He ht be able to handle Nathan and Brian, but in the end, who’s gonna help me in this school? The teacher? Or another carrier?"
I just stare at her
"I do what I have to" She looks aze flicks to the boy sitting two desks behindat hiets up then and moves to her desk I watch as she opens her backpack and starts rifling through it, hunting for so I study the slim line of her bent neck, the curly hair pulled up in a irl is so dangerousso deadly What lurks inside her?
What has she ever done, or Gil--orup down here?
What did Sean O’Rourke do?
I gnaw on the edge ofthe clock, willing the hour hand to et to , closing in The long stretch of ht when I can pretend none of this exists
Every tiaze collides with Sean’s Those pale eyes bore intoforto turn around
When we’re finally dismissed, I’ behind Notout of the Cage My feet race without quite running down the narrow hall I don’t cross paths with anyone, and I reach the parking lot without incident All of thisbehind the wheel, I drag a deep breath of stale, warh It’s my car, my space, my sanctuary Air releases in a loud shudder fro wheel like I need solass next to ht as well have dropped outside my car I jump A yelp escapes me, and both my hands fly over my mouth
Gil stands there, hands buried in his pants I haven’t started the car yet, but I need to in order to roll down theHe waits, watching lass as I fuine I hit the button for theIt slides doith a purr
"Nice car," heover the plush interior
"Thanks"
Silence hangs between us for a e His hair seelint behind the fralasses They’re not just brown but amber
"You okay?" he finally asks "You flew out of there so fast"
"I’er than I need to be"
He nods but looks unconvinced
My gaze drifts Across the parking lot, Sean lance at us Si in the world can touch hi Gil still stood next to my
Gil’s head cocks and he looks over at Sean His shrewd eyes widen behind his lenses "Are you and he--"
"No!" My voice comes out harder than I intend
"Sorry He went after you when Brockman followed youand he hardly talks to anyone inside the Cage Even et is monosyllables out of him Guy’s like a wall Guess that’s what happens when you’ve been treated like a deviant all your life Can you iine? When you’re just a kid? A toddler?"
I watch Sean back his truck out, thinking about this Thinking how Sean had known he was a carrier practically forever As a foster kid, he had to have been one of the first groups tested
I slidehave you known you’re a carrier?"
He pushes up his glasses on the bridge of his nose "Since last summer I applied for a position as a cas as if it should have been nothing A for I understood that too well
"You’re a nice guy, Gil," I say suddenly I have Mitchell to tell me that, but I don’t know if Gil has anyone to tell hihs "Yeah? Well, tell that to the rest of the world"