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"The basketball gaot creamed in the second half"

"It waspained

"It wasn’t your fault" I’ "The Pansies suck, is all"

"My fault," Manuel says again His voice cracks

That’s when I stop laughing Because I realize he’s crying Fat tears are beading up under his eyelids, threatening to co out any minute He seems to want to lift his hands up to wipe them away, but he can’t

"It’s not your fault, Manuel," I say "How can you even think such a thing? The guys on the team didn’t even knohat happened to you until later Coach Andrews didn’t tell the out fro down his face "I meant it’s my fault about Lindsay My fault that she died"

Whoa "Manuel," I say "It isn’t your fault that soave her the key," Manuel insists And he does ers into a fist and thumps the mattress, pathetically softly

"That doesn’t mean you killed her," I assure hiiven it to her I should have said no when she asked I should have said no Only…she was crying"

"Right," I say I glance at the two detectives outside the rooo? I want to run out after theet in here…but I don’t want Manuel to stop talking "You said that last night When did she co, Manuel? When did she ask you for the key?"

"It was right before I went hoht After the cafeteria was closed at seven I was pulling a double, because Fernando had to go to his grandmother’s birthday party The holiday You know And she cao home, and said she needed to borrow the key to the cafeteria, because she’d left so at the door Where were those guys? "What it was she left, I

"I should have gone with her I should have gone and opened the door for her and waited until she got whatever it was But I was supposed to meet someone"--froirlfriend--"and I was running late, and she’s…well, she was Lindsay"

"Right," I say encouragingly "We all knew Lindsay We all trusted her" Though I’ to think iven it to her," Manuel goes on "But she was so pretty and nice Everybody liked her I couldn’t i bad She said it was really iive back to…the people she borrowed it frory, she said"

My blood has run cold That’s the only way I can think of to explain why I suddenly feel so chilly "She didn’t say who they were?"

Manuel shakes his head

"And she definitely said they, plural, like it was more than one person?"

He nods

Well, that eird Unless Lindsay had said they instead of hi about

"So you gave her the key," I say