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I take a deep breath, pausing on the dress I think I want to wear tonight Pulling it intothe soft fabric, breathing in once h my nose before I dive into ood No…" I pause, letting the dress slide throughMy body feels a--it’s oal! Ty has been training me, and he pushesoff of it! But it’s not justhard I forgot orking for so like this felt like--and I think I need this…my soul needs this!"

"Your…soul…needs this?" she scoffs at h as she speaks "Cass, Mo Dad until he makes you stop, or worse--she’ll make you come ho Paige to keep a secret This is where things between us have always been raw Paige was the one who told the school about nosis She didn’t do it to beto talk about with her friends She wanted to talk about how hard life was for her, because everyone was doting over me Then, when I slept with Jeff and Noah, and neither of theain once they took what they wanted, I turned to Paige, devastated and confused To her credit, I honestly believe all she wanted to do was defend me, but she confronted them…in a crowd

And then it was out there Cass Oas the girl who slept with two best friends, only weeks apart When the boys practically fored My reputation spread fast, and for the most part, I kept up--all the way until the end

I never said it aloud, but it always hung out there between Paige and me This lack of trust--it runs deep So deep, that once I ask Paige to keep this secret, this new secret, the one that is bringinghas in months, she doesn’t kno to answer I can see the redness fighting to take over the whites of her eyes I’ve hit a nerve, but Paige Owens doesn’t cry She never shoeakness And she doesn’t rabs her purse and keys and walks away, careful not to slam the door in her wake--always under control, even when she wants to stab one She finally turns her iPod off and looks around as she wraps the cord up neatly "Paige left?" she asks

"Yeah, she had so a football player now," I respond, quickly returning o with it It’s not a total lie--I think Paige really is into a football player But who the hell knows about the party I just know she’s not co with twins You fight enough--you start to really understand the idiosyncrasies of your ain until she can lookunreasonable And when she does, her face will alht

Chapter 12

Ty

When Kelly looks at her phone, she’s going to think I’m a crazy man Scratch that--a crazierup a dozen times I know it records every oing to seeup her phone screen about ato piss hi Not directly, at least So I dial again,over the END CALL button while I force s this tih, like I’ve passed so finishes, I almost press to end the call, but Kelly’s voicemail picks up

Hey, it’s Kelly I can’t talk now, but I’ll be sad I e

And then there’s the beep

Fuck! I’ve already let two or three dead seconds pass before I stutter into talking

"Kel, hey," I start This is weird--this whole thing is weird She had to know this would be weird And she had to know that there was no fucking way I would be able to wait until Thanksgiving--al

"I’ there with that e I was just worried about you So, uhm…yeah Give me a call when you can I’d love to talk"