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– to stop

‘And …’ she said quickly, ‘I love the X-Men

But I hate Cyclops’

He whipped his head back

‘You can’t hate Cyclops He’s tea He’s worse than Bat I can’t evenBat out the ishing I was in hypersleep’ The bus ca up He said it really judg when you stare out the ’

‘No, you don’t,’ she said ‘Idown the aisle past theht Returns,’

he said

‘What’s that?’

‘Only the least boring Bat Batman story ever, huh?

Does Batain His face cohed He didn’t have dimples, exactly, but the sides of his face folded in on themselves, and his eyes almost disappeared

‘Just wait,’ he said

Park

That lish, Park noticed that Eleanor’s hair came to a soft red point on the back of her neck

Eleanor

That afternoon, in history, Eleanor noticed that Park chewed on his pencil when he was thinking

And that the girl sitting behind hiiant brsts and the orange Esprit bag – obviously had a crush on hiht, Park ain

He earandma to tell her that all he wanted for his birthday in November was double-A batteries

CHAPTER 14

Eleanor

‘I know she doesn’t think I’,’ DeNice said

DeNice and the other girl, the big girl, Beebi, talked to Eleanor now in gyreat way to win friends and influence people) Today in class, their gy over a thousand-year-old gymnastics horse She said that next ti,’ DeNice said after class, in the locker rooled ‘Better tell her you didn’t eat your Wheaties’

Actually, Eleanor thought, DeNice did kind of look like a gys and braids She looked way too young to be in high school, and her clothes justponytail balls … She wore her gyy, like a romper

Eleanor wasn’t scared of the horse, but she didn’t want to have to run down theher She didn’t want to run, period Itto detach fro to tell Mrs Burt that ht rup-ture ious reasons’

‘For real?’ Beebi asked

‘No,’ Eleanor said, giggling ‘Well Actually

…’

‘You’re nasty,’ DeNice said, hitching up her overalls

Eleanor put her T-shirt on over her head then wriggled out of her gy?’ DeNice asked

‘Well, I’ class now just because of gy to pull up her jeans

‘No, are you co up They aiting for her at the end of the lockers ‘Yeah’

‘Then hurry up, Miss Jackson’

She sat with DeNice and Beebi at their usual table by the s During passing period, Eleanor saw Park walk by

Park

‘Why can’t you get your driver’s license by horoups They were supposed to be co Juliet to Ophelia

‘Because I can’t bend ti across the roouy na, and Eleanor was frowning at him

‘If you had your car,’ Call said, ‘we could ask Kim’

‘You can ask Kiuys who alalked with his shoulders about a foot behind his hips Constantly doing the limbo Like he was afraid to hit his head on every door jaroup,’ Call said

‘Plus I think she likes you’

‘What? I don’t want to go to ho with Kim I don’t even like her I mean, you know … You like her’

‘I know That’s why the plan works We all go to houres out you don’t like her, she’sher to slow dance?’

‘I don’t want to make Ki else, and Eleanor frowned again Then she looked over at Park –

and stopped frowning Park smiled

‘One minute,’ Mr Stessot …

Ophelia was bonkers, right? And Juliet hat, a sixth-grader?’

Eleanor

‘So Psylocke is another girl telepath?’

‘Uh-huh,’ Park said

Every ot on the bus, she worried that Park wouldn’t take off his headphones That he would stop talking to her as suddenly as he’d started … And if that happened – if she got on the bus one day and he didn’t look up

– she didn’t want him to see how devastated it would make her

So far, it hadn’t happened

So far, they hadn’t stopped talking Like, literally They talked every second they were sitting next to each other And almost every conversation started with the words ‘what do you think

…’

What did Eleanor think about that U2 album?

She loved it

What did Park think of Mia

‘Yes,’ they said when they agreed with each other Back and forth – ‘Yes,’ ‘ Yes,’ ‘ Yes!’

‘I know’

‘ Exactly’

‘ Right? ’

They agreed about everything iood, too, because whenever they argued, Eleanor could always crack Park up

‘Why do the X-Men need another girl telepath?’ she asked

‘This one has purple hair’

‘It’s all so sexist’