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"Then that would be wonderful, Paige But…" her brow pinches as she sighs "But you are young And I know frorows up way too fast You may fall in love many times in your life, but if you fall this ti your mind pretty hard"

We stare at one another for a few seconds Neither of us is upset; there’s a strange sense ofinstead, maybe even appreciation I do appreciate her Ason in her head right now, I knew I had to hear it Iton in my own head Joyce and I are a lot alike, it’s just when she’s blunt with her words, they coher purse to her shoulder "Leah should be down soon She likes it when you draw faces on the pancakes with the blueberries"

I nod as she leaves, and as soon as the door closes, I search for the blueberries, because that task is so much easier than the other one she laid out for s and my heart

Houston

We haven’t talked about it, but I’m sure she’s seen it too I checked as soon as I woke up to see if the story about Chandra had posted It had, and there were no less than fifty coe’s photos in the story It wasn’t a long piece; -news item really There was a quote from the coach about her official disue statee within sororities and fraternities

The pictures were out, though I’m not sure if it was soe sent the the photos By the tiame, a simple search for Chandra Cae

Paige was right This shot--it was indisputable It’s clearly her, and the things around her are pretty intense--pipes, crystals, and lots of powder

In a rush, we left the house for Nate’s ga to talk to her about the story and the pictures Nobody on the outside would ever know she’s the inside source h on the inside to know

We’re sitting in a section by ourselves when Ty and Cass coe hears the her ar herself off It’s pretty clear we’re not sharing us with Cass today--and that disappoints h, because there are other things on herwith, and as anxious as I as for her from a rooftop, I know it can wait

"Houston, ood seats with e, and she’s staring in her lap at her phone, sifting througheye contact This is weird; this whole thing--feeling--is weird

"Yeah, sure," I say, leaning into Paige I notice she leans a little away, to the left, as I coht back"

"Sure," she says, her eyes never h I follow Ty down a raout His brother steps out and shakes both our hands

"Hey, Houston Thanks for co that one," Nate chuckles, nodding in Paige’s direction

"Well, it was hard to get the rope around her, but she caly after that," I joke They both look at hter

"Dude, for a second I thought you e can be stubborn," Nate says, kicking the ainst the brick wall between us

I turn back to glance at her, watching her talk--yet very much not talk--to her sister and Rowe "Yeah…she can be stubborn all right," I say, letting er on her until she looks up andwith that expression--but fuck if I knohat it is Maybe she’s just tired I slept, and she never took a nap

"So what’s the plan?" Nate asks Ty, the rest of the teaather behind him to stretch and throw