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"Eh the crowd, her bubblegu out in the sea of bodies and her hands are in the air Sweat trickles down her skin and she fans her face as she gets close to ? You proer atin my face "In fact, you swore on it"

I take the plastic cup fro there’s only vodka in it and no punch "I know and I’, I promise, but no more drinks, okay?"

She pouts out her bottom lip "Come on, Em You pro o and dance Have some fun for the both of us"

Annoyance burns in her eyes as she puts her hands on her hips and glares ata pain in the ass because you’re here, or is your little death thing putting you in a bad aze promptly sweeps the rooht hear you"

She waves her hands in the air and rolls her eyes She’s co out "Oh, big news over here! Little Emmy can see death! Does anyone care?!"

I pour her drink into the nearest garbage can "No more drinks for you"

She snarls, about to spit foul words, but a lanky guy, sporting dark jeans and a black T-shirt, interrupts us "Death is everywhere, my friends And it will all eventually catch up to us, so what’s the point of running froreen eyes are outlined with black eyeliner and crossbones tattoo his wrists He drapes his arers forward, inadvertently buhted mass takes over my body, floodsdown from the dark sky Glass everywhere Blood… they can’t breathe… they can’t breathe! Feathers fall to the ground I gasp, nearly choking on how much it resembles my father’s crime scene where his car was found

"Does that scare you?" His eyes scrutinize othic tone of my clothes "By the looks of you, I wouldn’t think it would But hey, maybe you’re just a poser"

"You know, you shouldn’t judge people by their looks" I let my hair screen my face and I closethe end, the last rose petal about to wilt froh "You got a ‘DD’?"

"What the hell’s a ‘DD’?" he slurs, stu, and spills his drink on the floor

I rub the sides ofyourself, a favor and don’t drive houy lets out a sardonic laugh "What is that, like an o?" He holds up his hands "Ooo, scary" He pauses and the recollection clicks in his expression "Hey, wait a irl who killed her dad?"

I s hard and take a step back "No, I think you’re thinking of solazed over eyes squint at my face "No, I’m pretty sure it was you Didn’t you, like, call the police and confess, then like run" He trips over his feet and grabs ain, I’ death "Wait… as I saying again?"

I slip my ar that you need to quit drinking"

"Are you feeling okay, Em?" Raven asks, her voice laced with concern "You look a little pale"

"I always look pale," I say, hugging my arms arounda death episode

"Oh, I get it" She coils a strand of her hair around her finger and flutters her eyelashes as she conjures up a plan "Oh! Okay, I got it"

Goth boy looks back and forth between us "Got what? Wait a rins and I shake my head in irritation "Don’t worry, ladies, there’s plenty of Laden love to go around"

Raven’s hand falls froer interested in hio dance" She laces her fingers with his, and leans in to give me a quick kiss on the cheek and I wince "I’ crazy" She sways her hips as she leads Laden toward the dance floor Before she vanishes into the crowd, she peeks over her shoulder and ainst the wall, let my head fall back, and shut my eyes "Breathe, Ember, breathe You can’t stop death--it’s endless"

"God, it’s likeseason in here," a deepvibrations quivering throughoveron the toe of his shoes Actually, boots; black ones with little silver skulls on the buckles I like his boots My eyes progressively travel upward as I take him in; dark jeans, a plaid shirt over a black T-shirt and a skull necklace hooks around his neck There’s a sequence of leather bands on his wrists and a les in his slate eyes and hangs shaggily down over his ears