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Chapter 1

John Davis smells like Play-Doh When ere in ele deal I h on the awesouy should stop s supplies and develop a y up and down the crowded street trying to ditch John and his noxious odor for over an hour, but he was too oblivious for it to work He followed me to the trashcan, stood in line with , and even waited outside the girlʼs bathroom

"I still canʼt believe our senior year is finally here, you know? I feel like weʼve been waiting for this one year our whole lives" He paused to lift up his NASCAR hat, running his fingers through his hair My attention drifted as he blathered on about post-graduation plans I briefly considered stabbing hi stick, but decided there were tooand ahhh-ing as Jase Donovan regaled them with his I beat the NCAAʼs top Point Guard in a one-on-one story to notice ht draw so desperately hard to not be jealous that Jase was entertaining theme at the mercy of the only other social outcast within a five ested heading out to The Strip, a o-to summer spot The shops and tourist attractions of The Strip were overrun with vacationing faroup that ot out of our car My brother had taken his rightful place as the center of attention while I was relegated to the Loserʼs Table with John Davis, whoʼs inability to grasp the fact we hadnʼt been friends at any ti the past twelve years was truly spectacular

I was coping by playing a round of Anywhere But Here, i but a backpack and lied me back to reality with his elbow "Do you know the on a bench in front of Lyndaʼs Beauty Parlor and Tanning E the same chestnut colored hair and aristocratic bone structure The younger one was sprawled out, a book propped against one knee I tiltedto read the title, but he was too far away to o over and ask The slight ses made me think he wouldnʼt mind the interruption

In contrast, the older brother looked as though he ht be inclined to eat children on occasion It wasnʼt just his size; there so to pounce on the first person andered too close He scowled at the world in general, andMaybe one day Iʼll get used to being stared at, but I doubt it According to ued by my "unique beauty" Of course, sheʼs ais, there really isnʼt anything horribly wrong with any of my physical features when taken individually Hair that is so blond it looks silver? Kinda cool Pale ivory skin that can only e to burn and blister in the sun? Appeals ic flaw Eyes a peculiar shade of icy blue that ht have looked okay on the right person The problem occurred when you put all those le individual Itsocial status and an endless supply of gawkers everywhere I went

Depending onin one of tays -- either I ignore it or Ithat people find it unnerving to have the freak stare back Thanks to John, I was all kinds of annoyed, which made it a see-if-you-can-make-them-flinch kind of day I raised my eyes to meet his and waited for a reaction

He never even blinked

I didnʼt realize how tense I was until sorabbed my shoulder I reacted to the sudden invasion of ed to block ht of my fist trapped in his hand caused my stomach to clench Had I really just tried to hit et ice cream? Yes or no?" Jase asked slowly, as if I was mentally is and an order of onion rings hadto dessert just as an excuse to stay near Jase and put some distance between roup, but after a fewEllie Davis, Johnʼs somewhat skanky little sister, throw herself aton ot their order, I quietly slipped away, heading towards the lake

"What happened back there?" Jase asked as soon as ere out of earshot I hadnʼt realized he had followed h, I could have done without the whole concerned hovering thing he see sinceto hit you You just caught uard"

"I said your na" He ju you?"

"It was just so problem"

Jase worked the " I spotted a nice flat rock in the shade and started towards it

The lake was considerably less crowded than the surrounding shops, restaurants, and attractions A few families splashed in the water, but most people preferred the public pool, since it didnʼt have the top layer of green slime that may or may not contain byproducts froe chunk of the beach to ourselves, which suited , the incident with Sir Stares-A-Lot had shaken me up

Iʼve dealt with my fair share of jerks, bullies, and weirdos over the years, but none of the but look at er than was socially acceptable, yet I was genuinely frightened of hi to convince myself that he wasnʼt, in fact, a serial rapist or mass murderer, but luckily I had my brother there to distract me