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I studied the creases in his pal up the contours of his ar "Renée," I said quietly, slipping my hand into his

His skin was cold to the touch, and I felt a tingling sensation in o numb Our eyes met, andlike a cage of s like this had ever happened before, and I didn’t understand why I felt so strange It wasn’t just nerves or butterflies I’d felt those with Wes; but this was different --frightening, al, but nothing came out

He pulled his hand back quickly, and the sensation inthroughexcept for Dante seemed muted and distant I stared at him--horrified, confused, excited--at his lips, parted and drawing breath into his body as he tried to understand what had just happened, and I knew that nothing would ever be the same

CHAPTER 5

Horticulture

DANTE WAS COMPLETELY WRONG FOR ME Unsociable Severe Intellectually condescending Or at least that’s what I told Annie It was Thursday, and I was nearing the end of narled cord of the phone was stretched across the room as I huddled beneath the covers and whispered into the receiver, trying to find some semblance of privacy

"He’s the exact opposite of Wes And Wes is perfect, isn’t he? So what does that say about Dante?" I asked her All week I’d been trying to convince et close enough so I could ask hi further and further away After our hands touched in Crude Sciences, he’d stared at his and then athis hand beneath the desk, he opened and closed his fist, watching his knuckles turn white

Turning to me, he asked, barely audible, "Did you?"

But as he studied my face, his voice trailed off Had he felt what I felt? I didn’t have a chance to ask hi else, he stood up The class turned to us as his chair scratched the floor Professor Starking stopped lecturing

"I have to go," Dante said, gathering his things and givingbehind him

I had tried to talk to him the next tih a Latin book under the desk and writing in a leather-bound journal to grace me with more than a one-word answer As a matter of fact, he hadn’t even looked at rier

"Could you passa lab about the physics of a butterfly, but instead of paying attention to the lab, Dante was reading Before I could finish lass As he did, our hands brushed against each other He pulled his hand back

"Don’t touchhis eyes

His words stung as I stared at hi what to say "What?"

"I’ at me "I … I shouldn’t have said that" He turned back to the book in his lap and flipped a page, tracing the lines with his finger until he found the sentence he was looking for "It’s a milkweed butterfly, by the way"