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"Again, you’re not fazed" He grins, pleased and entertained "No, I didn’t find it"

"Did you think to ask your grandfather’s friend before you went ruht have been an easier place to start"

"Hht of that" He laughs and srandfather’s friend has already passed away himself, only days after the funeral ended"

"That’s weird" I’ the actual digging?"

His ser "You saw hier alarms me "He’s my uncle"

"You don’t like him?" I ask

He fiddles with the keychain and sadness hues eyes "He’s… tolerable" He turns into the crowded school parking lot and everyone stares The town has a very low population and an unidentified vehicle is big news I can alossipa movie star," he comments as he parks in an eoing to get a lot worse for you Trust uy--it will be the headline of the newspaper" I make aSomeone else just moved here today too"

He takes the keys out of the ignition "Do you knoho it is?"

"Yeah, I ht" I unbuckle the seatbelt "His naan"

A dark shadow possesses his expression "And you’ve already met him?"

"Yeah…" My eyebrows scrunch "At the party, like I just said"

He stares at the dashboard, jingling the keys with anxious energy, and then he opens the door and climbs out of the car

I hop out and meet him around the back "You said you don’t keep secrets," I say as we head for the bricked canopy entrance "But it kind of seems like you are"

"No, I said secrets were pointless unless they hurt someone" He picks up the pace and waves over his shoulder "See you around, Ember"

The whole feer up the sidewalk, practically drooling I roll my eyes and shift directions for the side entrance By this afternoon, he’ll probably be screwing Mackenzie Baker in the utility closet

The side entrance is the ht into whereas I walk down the hall, pull out my cell phone, and text Raven

Me: U at skool yet?

I wander down the hall decorated with fake spider webs and orange and black confetti, withfor an answer

Me: Hey, r u ok?

Again, no response I putand decide to check in the art roooes in there for fun, when the Professor doesn’t have a class going, because she says it’s the ht outside, along with the football practice field, where the guys run around with their shirts off

I pokein the far corner, so I begin to back out

"Euy calls out

"Asher?" I step into the classroo in here?"

He stifles a s"

"But how are you here… I didn’t know you could start class mid-semester"

"I’m not," he replies "The Professor islead to another" He raises the paintbush "I couldn’t help myself"

"So you have connections?" I say in a teasing tone "I see"

His grin illuminates his slate eyes that are shadowed by strands of his hair "I guess you could say that"

I grow flustered with the impulse to walk across the rooh his hair, yank hiue into my mouth

"Well, I’ll see you around" I wave and step back to depart the rooood?" He sets the paintbrush down on the tray andon a table and weave through the desks and his eyes never leave me the entire tiaze and the sexual tension building between us

He has a black hoodie pulled over his At the Drive-In T-shirt and his faded jeans are stained with little droplets of black paint, the same look Ian often sports He brushes his black hair out of his eyes and I notice a sht beneath his eyebrow piercing

He gestures at the canvas "So, what do you think?"