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When Luce didn't laugh, Dawn and Jasht she was just beingend of one of those giggles before

"What exactly did your mom say?" Luce asked

"Oh, just the usual stu : The war broke out, shit hit the fan, and when they drew a line in the clouds, Daniel was all `Nothing can tear us apart,' and that pissed everyone o'Course it's my favorite part of the story So now your love has to su er this eternal punishment where you still desperately want each other but you can't, like, you know--"

"But in some lives they can" Jasmine corrected Dawn, then winked impishly at Luce, who al all of this

"No way!" Dawn ung out a hand dismissively "The whole point is that she bursts into a Luce's horri ed expression, Dainced "Sorry Not what you want to hear"

Jasmine cleared her throat and leaned in "My older sister was telling me this one story from your past that I sould--"

"Oooh!" Dawn linked her are that Luce had no access to-- Luce was ercely embarrassed And, okay, a little excited And absolutely unsure whether any of it was true One thing was sure: Luce was suddenly kind offae Like she was one of those unnamed bimbos next to the It-boy uys!" Jaseratedly down at the clock on her phone "We're so super-late! We've got to book it to class"

Luce gri her backpack She had no idea what class she had rst, or where to nd it, or how to take Jaser smiles since--well, ure out where ot a schedule"

"Duh," Dawn said "Follow us We're all together All the tiirls walked with Luce, one on either side, and took her on a winding tour between the tables of other kids nishing their breakfasts Despite being "so super-late," both Jasrass

Luce thought about asking these girls as up with Shelby, but she didn't want to start o looking like a gossip Besides, the girls see, but it wasn't like Luce needed toherself: This was only tely beautiful The three of theea path, which curved around the , but Luce couldn't take her eyes o the blu s' drae, how abruptly the terrain dropped hundreds of feet to the glittering ocean The waves rolled toward the small stretch of tawny beach at the foot of the cli almost as casually as the Shoreline student body rolled toward class

"Here we are," Jasmine said

An impressive two-story A-frame cabin stood alone at the end of the path It had been built in the ular roof and the vast open lawn in front of it were covered with a blanket of fallen needles There was a nice grassy patch with some picnic tables, but the main attraction was the cabin itself: More than half of it looked like it wasdoors Like soned Several students lounged on a huge second-story deck that faced the ocean, and severalthe twin staircases that wound up froe," Jasuys have class?" Luce's ape It looked

Next to her, Dawn squealed and squeezed Luce's wrist Next to her, Dawn squealed and squeezed Luce's wrist

"Goodto an olderat the foot of the stairs He had a thin face, stylish rectangular glasses, and a thick head of wavy salt-and-pepper hair "I just absolutely love it when he wears the three-piece suit," she whispered

"Morning, girls" The h to make her veer toward nervousness, but the smile stayed on his face "See you in a few," he called, and started up the stairs

"Steven Fil Luce in as they trailed behind him up the stairs "Aka SF, aka the Silver Fox He's one of our teachers, and yes, Dawn is truly, h he's spoken for She is shameless"

"But I love Francesca, too" Daatted Jas "I defy you not to develop a couples crush on them"

"Wait" Luce paused "The Silver Fox and Francesca are our teachers? And you call theether? Who teaches what?"

"We call the whole elics would be more appropriate Frankie and Steven teach it jointly Part of the deal here, sort of yin and yang You know, so none of the students getswayed"

Luce bit her lip They'd reached the top of the stairs and were standing in a crowd of students on the deck Everyone else was starting to alass doors "What do you mean, `swayed'?"

"They're both fallen, of course, but have picked di erent sides She's an angel, and he's more of a de about the di erence between frozen yogurt avors Seeing Luce's eyes bulge, she added, "It's not like they can getever They just sort oflive in sin"

"A de our humanities class?" Luce asked "And that's okay?"

Dawn and Jasmine looked at each other and chuckled "Very okay," Dawn said "You'll coo"

Following the ow of other kids, Luce entered the classroom It was broad and had three shallow risers, with desks on theht cas er than it was An ocean breeze blew in through the open doors and kept the air comfortable and fresh It could not have been ht she could almost have liked Shoreline, if it hadn't been for the fact that her whole reason for being here--theShe wondered if Daniel was thinking about her Did he miss her the way she missed him?