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"An ethnography of sorts?"

"Yeah," Sophie said "I’m particularly interested in the sweaters The syht-up ones"

Sophie paused a beat, waiting for the blank expression and the really? she would’ve gotten off a Kyle or a Connor To which Sophie would’ve had to say, no not really, just kidding and the conversation would’ve fizzled

But Russell was nodding along, stroking his chin in exaggerated professorialritual"

"A hts up in order to attract the attention of the female so that procreation lerfish," Russell said

"Here’s a question: are the sweaters , or the people in theer looked professorial "Couldn’t tell you, Sophie," he said "But both prospects scare the shit out of hed, but her real laugh, with the almost snort at the end It had been awhile

"You wouldn’t find it so funny if you knew the rest of the ritual," Russell warned, a hand over his mouth, all conspiratorial

"I’m almost afraid to ask" Sophie tilted her head up to listen She was flirting a bit, so else she hadn’t done in a while

"‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ is like a trigger As soon as they hear it, all those sweaters…" He shakes his head "Just trust y?"

"Think about it The lighting up of Rudolph’s nose, all red and pulsating, it’s a sy away the iht into this"

"Scary, ain’t it?"

Sophie wasn’t sure if he was referring to the aht he’d put into it or the vision of all these nice, clean, singing people having an orgy But when, a fewnotes and words, "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose…" Sophie and Russell looked at each other, and, as if by so

The probleo The campus was pastoral, surrounded by farms and woodlands There was a small commercial strip but places tended to shutter early, even when school was in session

They were standing in front of the student union, which was open, but going inside felt like ad defeat, and after the last few months--or maybe the last few minutes--Sophie couldn’t bear it

But then Russell said, "I’m parked just over there" He flashed the key remote and a car with Texas plates chirped and lit up

"I’ to wind up at the bottom of some limestone quarry, am I?" Sophie asked, alh New Yorker, wasn’t just na&iu into the car with him But then she worried that he’d take the question differently, because he was black And then she chastised herself for obsessing about this Zora was black She never acted this way around her Then again, Zora wasn’t a guy

But he just grinned again and undid the top two buttons of his coat to reveal his sweater underneath Heather gray and plain "No Rudolph, no light-ups You’re safe"