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I reotten ht watching chick flicks and eating ice creaht out of the carton while she’d explained to irl-stuff, like ta

She told otten his wallet and she’d had to pay for everything And their second date, when he forgot it again and how he’d had to beg her to give hi that he’d show her his cash when he picked her up, because he didn’t want her to think he was a total loser and was just trying to get free meals out of her

She’d wrapped her arht I was born, and the waye house with nothing to say to each other

The knocking at mystartled me, and I practically leaped offatacross the floor as I ca stop I slidtoward the front, and then the back, of the house to see if anyone else was around "Why didn’t you corinned back at " When I stared at him blankly, he raised his eyebrows "You know, you caed and pushed his hands into the pockets of his zip-up hoodie

Letting out a sainst , but okay" I didn’t tell hi, because it didn’t s that had nothing at all to do with me

"So, hoas it? Your first day back and all?"

The fact that he was here, standing outsideme how my day was, almost made me cry No one else had bothered to ask hoas He was the first person asn’t pulling -of-war "You really don’t want to know," I answered "This whole returning thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be"

"Yeah? What was it supposed to be like?"

I considered that for a ainst the sill as I chewed the side ofconfetti cannons in my honor And maybe someone should carry me on their shoulders A little less with the crazy dads and the bickering parents and" I stopped short of saying how boyfriends should still be boyfriends and not be hooking up with et

Ex-best friend, I corrected silently

"Ormischievously as he bit his botto to act like it was no big deal even though it was a huge deal I leaned farther out theso I could get a gli reen eyes, just a shade darker than Austin’s, never leaving mine I could’ve sworn his cheeks flushed just a little, but he e the subject effortlessly "People are talking about you At school"

"Talking good or talking bad?" Not that I cared, really, but I couldn’t help being curious about the kind of gossip ton were that way; neays spread fast

"Wrong, mostly A lot of stupid speculation about where you’ve been all this time Abducted, runaway, sold into white slavery, that kind of shit" He sht, and I wondered if he’d had braces when I was gone or if they were always that perfect I tore my eyes away from them

"Hey, check it out" I left theand ca him, I pressed the button to check the tiot rin lighting up his entire face A groove etched its way into his cheek, producing a diet you a new one Here" He held out his hand, and I let hiersit up and pulling up the contacts list I knew exactly what he was doing He didn’t mention the fact that his would be the only name in the list, and I didn’t mention the tiny flutter that erupted in the base of my stomach because I was now in possession of his number

I watched as he dialed himself then, and the phone in his pocket vibrated "Now I have your number too" He handed it back to me and we stood there for a , and we both knew it, but neither of us looked away, and then it ay too long I’, and I hated how badly I wished I could see inside his head, to read his thoughts But eventually ot hot, and I blinked first

"So, I have this thing" he started, pointing in a general way toward his house or his car but o

"Oh yeah Sure Go ahead" I was sta me stammer at all "I’ll see you lat--"