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"That’s right"

She put out her hands as if to say, well, there you go She picked up her pen again That er That you were a good person

"That’s an awfully big assu, not thinking at all"

Zu gave a little shrug Better to risk helping soret what you could have done Lee said that

"That sounds like him," I said dryly And that was the exact reason Chubs and I had to be so vigilant about every new kid we crossed paths with

Are you and Lee fighting about the ?

Ah So he or one of the others had told her

"Not exactly" But then, e doing, exactly? Not being friends to each other Not being whatever it e had been "It’s co but complicated And I accept full responsibility, but"

Zu, as always, zeroed in on the root of the situation Do you think he doesn’t forgive you?

Reluctantly I reached around her, pulling out the Beach Boys CD case fro to tear at the center froain I don’t knohy I felt like I had to keep rereading it every night, punishing myself with it

Zu read it, the crease between her dark eyebrows deepening She clearly recognized his handwriting, but when she looked up, I saw confusion, not understanding

"What?"

She wrote, What does this prove?

"The fact that he felt like he had to write this is a pretty big clue he thinks I’ll do it again--take his memories, I mean Send him away"

Zu calmly folded the note back up and then reached up to smack me in the nose with it with her patented are you serious? look

Seeing I still wasn’t getting it, she picked up her notebook and pen again OR--he wrote it because he was scared someone else would make you do it, like his brother He says he wants to stay Thiswhat happened Did you even ask hiave s that don’t belong to you