Page 32 (1/2)

The boy grunted

But it was a nice enough grunt, so she asked, "What’s your na "So … your uessed it"

"Why?" He stopped to look at her, and needles showered to the paveold Moon"

North smiled "That’s very Asheville"

"Born and raised"

"My parents aren’t hippies," he said, resu "I’m North as in the North Pole Unfortunately My brother is Nicholas, and my sister is Noelle"

"Wow God That’s…"

"About a hundred ti to say devoted Festively devoted"

He laugh-snorted

Marigold sh "So where’s the falanced back at her, and she shrugged "Near Spruce Pine?"

"Ah, okay," she said "Got it" That made sense There were tons of tree farms up there, just north of the city

"You kno snized by GPS"

"Well, it’s Shanghai coold was startled out of their conversation by his word choice Her hai He couldn’t know that, but was this his way of saying that he guessed she was Chinese? Most non-Asian-Auessers They’d say Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese before Chinese As if they were afraid "Chinese" was a stereotype, and they’d get in trouble for suggesting it As if China weren’t the old didn’t have tiiven her an entrance "You don’t talk like you’re from the boonies," she said

"You mean I don’t talk like ht into that one "I’m sorry"

His voice flattened "I used to It took a concentrated effort to stop"

They crossed into her apartroaned "Right," he said "Of course it’s the one in the back"

"So why’d you stop?" she asked, nudging a return to topic

"Because city folk keep a-callin’ it ‘the boonies’ and oing well

North thunked down the tree at the bottoular, exhausted breath "You Help" He leaned the tree on its side "Take that end"

She lunged forward to grab ahold of its top half With their significant differences in height and strength, it took several uncoet their rhyth," he said "Of course you live on the top floor"