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"So are you ready for the rope swing?" Oz asks

My head inclines to the side "I’ It’s tradition Everyone i Then you carve your name on one of the trees"

"Well" I assess the rope It dangles over the water and it’s attached to the aging tree The one I’ Olivia wanted , in the water, are several large rocks and in the h, but I don’t have tiht out here Not in the woods Not with the darkness "I’ the exception"

Oz crosses his ar out of things You engage just enough and then you skulk back into your shell"

Uh "It was ood Think about it You’ve been here for a month, and tell me what you’ve learned about any of us"

"Plenty"

"What type of cancer does Olivia have?"

Oz swears when I don’t answer

"No one’s mentioned what type," I whisper

"And you’ve never asked Day after day your body is here, you play nice, talk to your parents and then you go to bed Like today, you spend the day with er picture, part of a family tradition, and you rein yourself back in where it’s nice and safe"

His words sting Veryin my face "I have shared I told you about how I’ curious about Eli"

"And then you crawled back into your hole--proving et to know me?"

Oz tosses his ar her ass asking you question after question and you sit around giving her half-truths Eli’s been doing this dance with you for the past seven years Why the hell would I want to play monkey for someone who doesn’t respect anyone else?"

"Oh my God!" I shriek "I don’t ask about you because there’s nothing to know You graduated froh school and your job is to follow me around I have ears I listen Especially when everyone thinks I’ me around is your job for some stupid reason and you are perfectly okay with that What type of life is this? Olivia says do so, you do it Eli calls or texts and you’re immediately on your feet Nope, you don’t playit for everyone else!"

Oz towers over me "You have no idea what the clubflood has taken overcarried away by the rapid current "And when you aren’t busy doing what everyone wants you obsess over Olivia"

"She’s dying!"