Page 18 (1/2)

The rain began after lunch, in the steady, cooling drizzle of late spring I fidgeted through the afternoon, futzing around with the gelato ad, avoiding Glynnis’s plaintive stares, and"We’re fucked," she kept saying, blanching slightly at the curse word "Byron and Rhiannon actually met Miss Trinka That equals a head start"

"Seth ht"

Jackie rolled her heavily made-up eyes "I don’t think Seth even looked her in the eye That boy has his , and makeup ain’t it"

I couldn’t counter that one with positivity She was right "There’s time," I ith "You and I both knoell hen we’ve got the time to think"

The rain tapered off as Jackie finished her cigarette, the clouds luht rejuvenatedlater?" I asked Jackie

"Nothing," she said "A whole lot of nothing"

"Want to go to the nursery with onna need a lot You know that, don’t you?" Jackie said, but I could tell by the hued "All right Got nothing better to do"

"Glad for the company"

"Don’t expect h," she added as alked back inside Guh "I just had s"

Jackie sat in the passenger seat oftomato plant propped between her knees The plants stuffed into the back seat and trunk were an equally sorry lot Yelloithering leaves, teetering steiven up on them "After Me her head "Shaet theround, they’ll perk up"

"Uh-huh"

"Tell you what You help me unload them, and I’ll make you dinner"

Jackie"Okay"

The rain returned as we cruised the streets of Willow Falls, a steady puether for the Landon assignment?" Jackie asked, her smoker’s voice barely audible as we turned the corner onto oing to get rid of one of us Jackie sounded so dejected I didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth, but I didn’t have the heart to lie either

I didn’t have to choose When we pulled up to ht that met me stole my ability to speak

When ere thirteen, Jesse and I practically lived at the library By that age, we’d run through hts on nonfiction He would head straight for the hard-science books while I h the history section I once pulled a book about Woodstock froraphs I found shocking but enthralling all the sa their half-naked bodies, ancient creatures rising from the earth, at one with the natural world I envied the even the tiniest bit of a shit It looked exhilarating, their freedoht door to open that I could be that free At thirteen, I’d thought I would love the sight of all that mud, that I would roll in it and roll in it anddirty had lost its luster If freedo left to lose, I didn’t want it I had things to lose--a hoarden If that meant I wasn’t free, then I didn’t want to be free

I pulled the car over with a jerk of the wheel Jackie gasped as we exited the car "Oh, Paige What’s going on here?"

The soft earth was no match for the rain Dark pools of water pockmarked the yard Mud ran onto the sidewalk in wide streaks