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‘Wait a minute,’ I say ‘Where is Tori?’

Ben looks at me, then back at Penny, a question mark on his face

‘Tori isn’t in our Group any more,’ she says And moves on to the next in the circle, who learnt how to make chocolate chip cookies A box of cookies is produced, and conversation ceases as they are passed around

Benstuck on his wet shirt I resist the impulse to brush them away

‘Ben,’ I say, in a low voice ‘Why isn’t Tori in our Group any more? Did she tell you? Why hasn’t she been in school this week?’

He shrugs ‘She didn’t say anything; I don’t know’

‘Aren’t you worried? Maybe soot the flu or so; I didn’t really think about it,’ he says, but I can tell by his face that he is, now ‘Tell you what: I’ll stop by her place later, and ht’

Group carries on, and I wonder about Tori, and Ben’s reaction to her vanishing with no explanation She was his girlfriend, or so I thought Yet I get the feeling if I hadn’t asked, he wouldn’t have thought to And it isn’t like he doesn’t care; he just didn’t think about it I wasn’t much better as I’d noticed she wasn’t in school, but never said anything: there were so s to worry about

I wonder if he’d notice if one day I bent too many rules, and wasn’t here any y, and not give it a second thought?

Penny has me wait at the end

‘What happened to your face, dear?’ she says, concerned

‘I tripped and fell on the bus’

‘I see Was it an accident?’

I hesitate

‘Tellabout it if you don’t want me to’

I shake my head ‘It wasn’t an accident Someone tripped me up’

‘Oh, how dreadful I’m sorry that happened You have to take care So now?’

‘All right I knoho to watch out for’

‘Sweetie, understanding that you have to look out for so I can do to help,’ she says, and squeezes s muddled up Mrs Ali had seemed so nice, and then wasn’t, at all And Penny was so annoying when I first met her, but now, I feel like she is on et up to go

‘Wait, Kyla,’ she says ‘I asked your mum to come in to chat for a minute’

Mo an u across the floor

Mu Is she on on, or someone who makes me soup when I am hurt? I don’t know

Muet on with it, and don’t interrupt Penny is saying I’s on rees But eventually says, all right

A night full of surprises

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I tilt my face to the sky To tiny droplets, so seneral sense of wetness More like ether, a few little trickles form and run cold down my face Not like tears which are hot

‘You’re supposed to put your hood up to stay dry, not spread it out like a rain catcher,’ Ben scolds And reaches a hand either side of my face, pulls up the hood of my jacket, then tucks my hair in both sides His hands are warm

Our eyes meet and he pauses, his hands still on either side of old flecked eyes with more depths than first seen hold mine, still, in place

But then his hands drop, he looks both ways No one is in sight but there are voices not far behind

‘Come on,’ he says, and starts to walk away from the others Then turns back to where I stand, ht hand, his little finger curved up, the others tucked in

And I look at his hand, unsure, until he glances down to my left hand, then back to er in with his and gives it a tug, turns and walks through the trees, pullingether It is so silly, I start to giggle

I hadn’t noticed at first that Ben was leading us away from the others, bit by bit Why? Despite the cold, I feel flushed Our biology class is spread out in the woods We’rewater sarowth or trees to identify later Their voices are distant and beco more so

He stops, turns to face et some leaves? How about those…’