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She searched his face with soleht you tere close Don’t you care that he’s gone?”

His heart ju so fast it hurt When he tried to speak, nothing came out His throat ollen shut

“Of course they were close,” hison her ar for us”

With his feet frozen to the floor, he watched as they disappeared through the doorway Logically, he kneas standing in place, but he felt like he was falling Down, down, down

I thought you tere close

Ever since his elementary school teacher insisted his parents take hiist, he’d known he was different Thediagnosis, saying he wasas autiser’s syndroet into trouble and did well in school What did it matter?

I thought you tere close

The words wouldn’t stop echoing in his head, bringing him to an unwelcome self-realization: He was different, yes, but in a bad way

I thought you tere close

Andy hadn’t just been his best friend He’d been his only friend Andy was as close as close got for Khai If he couldn’t grieve for Andy, that rieve, the flip side also had to be true

He couldn’t love

Andy had been right Khai’s heart really was made of metaphorical stone

The knowledge spread over him like petroleu to do but accept it This wasn’t soe He hat he was

I thought you tere close

He wasbad

He unfisted his hands, worked the fingers His legs s drew breath He saw, he heard, he experienced And it struck hi incredibly unfair This was not what he would have chosen If he could have chosen ent in that casket

The chanting started again, signaling the funeral was nearing its end Tiood-byes No one seeood-bye unless Andy said it back For his part, Khai would say nothing

CHAPTER ONE

Two o

TP H? Chí Minh, Vi?t Nam

Scrubbing toilets wasn’t usually this interesting M? had done it so many times she had a streamlined routine by now Spray with poison everywhere Pour poison inside Scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub Wipe, wipe, wipe Flush Done in less than twocontest, M? would be a top contender Not today, though The noises in the next stall kept distracting her

She was pretty sure the girl in there was crying Either that or exercising There was lots of heavy breathing going on What kind of workout could you do in a bathroom stall? Knee-ups maybe