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Or,didn't happen to Gabbe

But Luce's body got the better of her li in a corner picking out a juled pile She watched as he selected a thin navy rope ooden handles, then olden skin was almost radiant, and everyneck in a stretch or bending over to scratch his sculpted knee, had Luce coainst the doorway, unaware that her teeth were chattering and her toas soaked

When he brought the rope behind his ankles just before he began to jump, Luce was slammed with a wave of dйjа

vu It wasn't exactly that she felt like she'd seen Daniel jump rope before, but more that the stance he took seemed entirely familiar He stood with his feet hip-width apart, unlocked his knees, and pressed his shoulders down as he filled his chest with air Luce could alan twirling the rope that Luce snapped out of that tranceand right into another Never in her life had she seen anyoneThe rope whipped up and over his tall fraraceful, narrow feet - were they even touching the ground? He was

A loud grunt and a thud on the other side of the weight room tore Luce's attention away Todd was in a heap at the base of one of those knotted cli ropes She feltdown at his blistered hands Before she could look back at Daniel to see whether he'd even noticed, a cold black rush at the edge of her skin made Luce shiver The shadoept up on her slowly at first, icy, tenebrous, its lih, it crashed into her body and forced her back The door to the weight room slammed in her face and Luce was alone in the hallway

"Ow!" she cried, not because she was hurt exactly, but because she had never been touched by the shadows before

She looked down at her bare arripped her, shoving her out of the gy in a weird place; a draft ymnasium

Uneasily, she approached the closed door and pressed her face up against the s around, like he'd heard so She felt certain he didn't knoas her: He wasn't scowling

She thought about Roland's suggestion that she just ask Daniel as up, but quickly dis of Daniel She didn't want to bring out that scowl on his face

Besides, any question she ht pose would be useless She'd already heard all she needed to hear last night She'd have to be some kind of sadist to ask him to admit he ith Gabbe She turned back toward the locker room when she realized she couldn't leave

Her key

It must have slipped from her hands when she stumbled out of the roolass panel on the door There it was, a bronze blunder on the padded blue otten so far across the roohed and pushed the door back open, thinking if she had to go in, at least she'dfor her key, she sneaked one last look at hi, but his feet still barely touched the ground And then, with one final light-as-air bounce, he came to a stop and turned around to face her

For aShe could feel herself blush and really wished she wasn't wearing such a horrible bathing suit

"Hi" was all she could think to say

"Hi," he said back, in aat her suit, said, "Did you win?"

Luce laughed a sad, self-effacing laugh and shook her head "Far from it"

Daniel pursed his lips "But you were always "

"I was alhat?"

"I ed "That's all"

She stepped toward hi just a foot apart Drops of water fell froy to say," she insisted "You said I was always "

Daniel busied hi the jump rope around his wrist "Yeah, I didn't eneral

They're always supposed to let you win your first race here Unspoken code of conduct for us old-timers"

"But Gabbe didn't win either," Luce said, crossing her aret in the pool"

"She's not exactly new, just co away nothing of his feelings for Gabbe His obvious attempt to look unconcernedthe jump rope into a coil, the way his hands moved almost as quickly as his feet And here she was so clu by everyone Her lip quivered

"Oh, Lucinda," he whispered, sighing heavily

Her whole body warmed at the sound His voice was so intimate and faain, but he had turned away He hooked the jue before class" She rested a hand on his arm "Wait"

He wrenched away as if he had been shocked - and Luce felt it, too, but it was the kind of shock that felt good

"Do you ever get the feeling " She raised her eyes to his Up close, she could see how unusual they were They seeray from far away, but up close there were violet flecks in them She knew someone else with eyes like that