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She didn’t even bother to dignify my question with a response Instead, she picked up a stack of pictures froht? You ith an Undead I could sense him I could hear his voice" When I didn’t answer, her face contorted with anger "Who was he?"

"There was no one there except fordown, she raised an eyebrow "I bet he wouldn’t be so happy knowing that you had dinner with Noah’s parents I bet he wouldn’t be so happy if I told ht"

"What do you want?" I said "What are you trying to gain by going through s you have no proof of?"

"I want you gone I want you out of raphs

Enough, I thought I stood up and tried to grab them from her, but she held the pictures out of reach

"Oh, are these your parents? What happened to theain?"

I wanted to scream at her; to rip the barrettes out of her hair, lock her in the bathroom, and make her listen while I invited Noah over and kissed him on the other side of the door I wanted her to knohat it felt like to lose everyone she loved

I heard the slap before I realized what I had done Pulling ainst the wall, holding her cheek

"Get out of my roo to find out who you ith that night in the ce to find hi to bury him" With that, she finally left

Chapter 10

I STAYED AWAY FROM NOAH AFTER THAT OR AT least I tried to Noveray and lifeless like stone When I felt Noah staring at me in class, I forced ht up with , I brushed hiroup project I kneas hurting him from the way his face dropped, from the way his eyes searchedwrong What else could I do? Clementine’s words haunted me, and I kneas only aht, as I discovered in Strategy and Prediction

"Renée?" the head his de a body with gauze "You’re unusually quiet today" We were standing in a frosted meadow a fewwell"

I glanced over at Noah, as studyingSnoirled around y and averted my eyes

After class ended I sat in the back of the van with Anya, where we quizzed each other on our French vocabulary while the head back to the dormitory when Noah called out to me across the courtyard

I pretended I didn’t hear hi to stop?" Anya asked

I shook ht up with noring lanced around the courtyard to make sure Clementine wasn’t around "There are other people you should be chasing after," I said quietly Anya was standing aardly by the stoop, pretending not to listen

His shoulders collapsed a little

"What do you want from me?" I asked

"I don’t know," he said finally, his eyes a watery brown through his glasses "I just want to be around you Why does it have to beat us and whispering I wondered if they were going to tell Cle to ether, they’ll think things that aren’t true"

"Since when do you care what other people think?" Noah took off his hat, his hair a matted mess beneath it "You know me You know the truth That’s all that lossy layer of ice A year ago I ainst the afternoon sun, but noas nothing but water and stone I had spent the lastattention in class I had even shunned one of the only people at St Clé around: Noah