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She flops down on my bed and dramatically drapes her arm over her head "Oh, Em, you are so naïve sometimes" She peeks out froave you? It has a lot of good tips about what goes where" She laughs

"I knohere everything goes" I feel like shit, but try to play it off, convincing myself that what happened with Farrah was just o…"

"Are you having second thoughts because of Asher?" She frowns "Because I don’t think you should date hies and then toss the phone on the dresser "At the library, you said the opposite"

"No, I said you should call him and find out if he likes you And obviously he doesn’t, since he hasn’t called back" Her lips twist to a smile as she peeks out from under her ar you"

"It’s just a date" I write the word solitude on my wall and then below it: Do you know me at all? Are my words just air? Is my heart easy to spare? "I don’t have him"

She slants up on her elbows and scowls atand circle the words: you, are, ?"

She leaps off the bed, steals the marker from my hands, and traces over the letters until the words transforel Then she clicks the cap on and hands the row silent and she gathers her purse fro to take off Call ood in bed as he looks… And wear so sexy that shows off your curves" She eyes my clothes and slips out into the hallway

I drop down on the bed and pick up the roe has , but at the cheesiness It’s a relief when rab my phone off the dresser

I yawn and stretch out my arms "Hello"

"Hey, it’s me," Asher says

I pause "Hey"

He hesitates "Look, E really important that I need to tell you"

"Ue Raven left you because that was all her"

"Kind of" His tone is cautious "But there’s also so I want to show you"

"Okay… What ti to be here?"

His somber tone doesn’t alleviate the tension "Can I pick you up in like fifteen oodbye I pull my black button up vest over my red and black top, and then slip on a pair of holey jeans, and boots I wait for Asher on the living roo him Ian’s not at home and I haven’t seen my mom since she told me I’d turn into a killer like my dad But that happens when she drinks a lot My dad wasn’t a killer He liked his bar fights, and did sorave

I turn on the TV, but the satellite’s been disconnected "Did she forget to pay the bill again?" I dialup and search the cabinet drawers for the bill There are stacks and stacks of papers, batteries, tacks, pens, but no bills

Suddenly the lights flip off and the house suffocates in darkness, except for the faint cast of the outside light filtering through the curtains

"Okay… did she forget to pay the power bill too?" I fuht I shine the light around the room as I walk toward the front door The floorboards creak under

I’ solid, I fall flat on ht flies out of le with so than if I felt their death

"Asher?" I squint through the dark down at ure slowly rises fro, and its body stretches to the ceiling A cape flows to the ground and armors its face Nope, not Asher

"E for me "Don’t be afraid You know I’d never hurt you"

"You stay the hell away fro out the table as I scraht I scoop it up and spin around, sweeping the light across the rooone

I back for the door, sliding my phone out of my pocket I dial Ian’s nus Startled, I drop , I snatch up the pieces and quickly throw open the door

Asher looks sexy as hell, and ht of hieous slate eyes and the sleeves of his black shirt are pushed up, showing off his lean arms My eyes stray doer, to where his jeans ride low on his hips, and I picture h his jeans like he did with me in the art roo with my head

He shields his eyes with his hands "Do you blind every guy that shows up on your porch?" he jokes

I click off the flashlight and toss it on the end table "Sorry, the poent out"

I shut the door behind et in Throughroom , the caped visitor watches me and I can’t seem to take my eyes off him

Asher turns the stereo down and rotates in his seat to face aze "What are you looking at? Did you forget to turn so off?"

I tear my attention away froood So what did you want to show rins as he backs down the driveway "It’s a surprise"