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Noel took off his jacket and threw it to Mags She caught it because she had good hands

Noel looked good

Long and pale In dark red jeans that no one else would wear In a T-shirt that would have hung on hiood

And she loved hiain

She couldn’t stand across the rooht She couldn’t watch so so hard for, since the s scooped up a handful of Chexinto the hall Liketo check the filter on the furnace

Then she slipped out the back door No one would think to look for her outside in the snow

It was cold, but Mags still had Noel’s jacket, so she put it on She leaned against the foundation of Alicia’s house and ate Alicia’s mom’s Chex mix--Mrs Porter made the best Chex mix--and listened to thestarted

And it was good that Mags was out here, because it would hurt too much to be in there It always hurt too ht kill her

"Seven!"

"Six!"

"Mags?" soaret?"

"Four!"

"Here," Mags said Then, a little louder, "Here!" Because she was his best friend, and avoiding hi fros…"

She could see Noel then, in a shaft of h the slats of the deck above her His eyes had gone all soft, and he was raising his eyebrows

"One!"

Mags nodded, and pushed with her shoulders away fro her as ainst the wall

He kissed her hard

Mags hooked both arether, their chins and open mouths

Noel held on to both of her shoulders

After a few minutes--maybe more than a few minutes, after awhile--they both sees petted Noel’s curls, pushing them out of his face Noel pinned her to the wall fro her to the rhyth inside now

When he pulled away, she was going to tell hi to tell his said, when Noel finally lifted his head

"Mags," he whispered "My lips are going nuo"

"No…" Noel pushed away fro nu strawberries?"

"Oh, God," she said "Chex mix"

"Chex mix?"

"Cashews," she said "And probably other tree nuts"

"Ah," Noel said

Mags was already dragging hi with you?"

"Benadryl," he said "In my car But it makes me sleepy I’m probably fine"

"Where are your keys?"