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"What side ae in the rain made Eureka retreat a step, under the canopy of leaves

Ander frowned "You’re so nervous"

"I a from the pockets into which she’d stuffed her fists She was shaking

"If I’"

"How can I convince you that I’ to help?"

"I never asked for help"

"If you can’t see that I’ to believe--"

"Believe what?" She crossed her hands tightly over her chest to co in the air around the a little blurry

Very gently, Ander put his hand on her forearm His touch arm His skin was dry It made the hairs on her damp skin rise "The rest of the story"

The word "story" made Eureka think of The Book of Love So to do hat Ander was talking about, but she still heard Mada ?" she asked

Ander sht?"

"No" To look at Eureka’s last report card, you’d think she wasn’t good at anything But then she saw Diana’s face in her memory--the way anytis, her s like Eureka’s analyticallevel If Diana were here, she’d speak up about how irrefutably good Eureka was at science "I guess I’ned you an experiht about the classes she’d missed today, about the trouble she’d be in She wasn’t sure she needed to add another assign that sounded impossible to prove?" he added

"What if you just tell me what this is all about?"

"If you could prove this impossible hypothesis," he said, "would you trust me then?"

"What’s the hypothesis?"

"The stone your mother left you when she died--"

Her eyes whipped up, finding his Against the verdant forest, Ander’s turquoise irises were edged with green "How did you know about that?"

"Try getting it wet"

"Wet?"

Ander nodded "My hypothesis is you won’t be able to"

"Everything can get wet," she said, even as she wondered about his dry skin when he’d reached for her o

"Not that stone," he said "If it turns out I’ht, will you promise to trust me?"

"I don’t see why my mother would leave me a water-repellent stone"

"Look, I’ll throw in an incentive--if I’ular old rock, I’ll disappear and you’ll never hear fro her reaction without any of the playfulness she expected "I proain, even if the stone didn’t get wet But his gaze pressed on her like the sandbags ta the bayou His eyes wouldn’t let her break free "Fine I’ll give it a try"

"Do it"--Ander paused--"by yourself No one else can knohat you have Not your friends Not your family Especially not Brooks"

"You know, you and Brooks should get together," Eureka said "You seem to be all the other thinks about"

"You can’t trust him I hope you can see that now"

Eureka wanted to shove Ander He didn’t get to bring up Brooks like he knew so she didn’t But she was afraid that if she shoved him, it wouldn’t be a shove It would be an embrace, and she would lose herself She wouldn’t kno to break free

She bounced on her heels in theShe wanted to be hoh she didn’t knohere to find either of those things They had eluded her for months