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I glanced into the kitchen where Olive had gone back to housing her wet food My ee nohichfor Haley to come in

She walked over to Mike’s L-shaped couch and sat down

I sat, too "So, what kind of stuff are we supposed to say?"

"Anything," she said "It could be about your childhood Or about where you’re fro"

I pulled off my beanie and opened my mouth to ask a follow-up question, but she cut ht, maybe you should put that back on"

"Why?" I stood up to look in the mirror mounted on the wall behind the couch My hair was a rats’ nest of thick, broaves It was the longest I’d ever had it I put the beanie back on, saying: "I guess I kind of need a haircut"

"You think?"

Sweet, another thing I couldn’t afford

Back home my auntie Cecilia always cut it for free

"Okay, I’ll start" Haley paused for a few seconds, looking around, then said, "Long-distance relationships are all about patience And my boyfriend, Justin, is probably the most patient h I knehat she was doing This was Haley’s way of establishing that she was in a relationship, which she believed would lessen the risk ofto sneak into the shoith her while she was busy rinsing out her Awapuhi

"Like I said yesterday," Haley answered "I was supposed to book my own ticket hoht now, hanging out at ho to a B&B in Seaside Our parents are friends, and they said as long as ere back by Christ mad at me, which is what I would’ve done, all Justin wants to talk about is my frozen pipes He actually feels bad for me, can you believe it? That’s so "He sounds … patient"

"Okay, now you"

I sat there for an unco interesting to say I couldn’t talk about a distant girlfriend the way I wanted to--which would definitely make Haley feel more comfortable about the shower situation

"It doesn’t have to be so," she told me "It can be si Then it came to me "My little sister, who’s probably my best friend in the world, turns seventeen on Christmas day This is the first birthday of hers I’ll have ever missed" Sofe wasn’t technically my best friend, and she didn’t technically turn seventeen until the week after Christmas, but the point was to show Haley I was a solid brother, which would hopefully increase her trust in o home?"

No money! "Because I promised Mike I’d cat sit"

Haley frowned "I’m sure he’d have understood It’s Christmas And your sister’s birthday"

"I have a lot of houred you were a student," Haley said "What school?"