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She hadn’t realized how much Jamie disliked Seb She also hadn’t noticed when Jaht about it, they ell past due for his next hopeless crush
Nick looked at Mae before he followed Jamie down the school hall, eyes unreadable as ever He leaned down and said soh drifted back to the door where Mae and Seb were still standing
Mae said, as lightly as she could, “That ell”
“It wasn’t anything you did,” Seb told her, scowling into the shadows of the hall “He ca all that purple”
“You could tell?”
“Um, yeah,” said Seb, as if it was obvious “He never dresses that way normally”
Seb saw that as well as the way Ja He was observant in a way she wouldn’t have expected of soh and careless as he so to consider
They had better all be careful
She liked that Seb didn’t know anything about the ic She didn’t want to upset Ja normal, a boy who really liked her and a place in the normal world, a space where she had some control
“You have to keep trying,” she said, and Seb nodded, as if that ithout saying She sether She didn’t hold his hand, but she walked a little close
“Where were you this weekend?” he asked “I looked for you in all the usual places”
Mae sht of sword fights on the Millenniue, the Goblin Market on the cliffs of Cornwall, and dearden
“I was in some unusual places”
That day at lunch Ti by Erica’s side and sliding his arm around her waist
“Hey,” Erica said She was always torn between her boyfriend and her friends, wanting everyone to be happy and nobody to be left out She looked relieved when she saw Seb hovering by the table, and gave Mae a ful smile
Mae raised her eyebrows at Erica and nodded at Seb to sit down
Glancing up frootten to pack a lunch today He was standing in the cafeteria looking a bit lost, as if he was there so seldootten where they put the food Mae raised a hand to signal him over to their table
Jamie didn’t see her, since Nick had just appeared at his side Nick walked on and then looked back and jerked his head, in an impatient and peremptory way that indicated Jamie should follow him
Jamie hadn’t had someone to sit with in the cafeteria for almost two years
“Look, isn’t that Nick Ryves?” said Rachel “I thought he moved Or went to prison”
“Rachel, he did not go to prison,” Mae said, glaring
“He could’ve gone to prison,” Rachel told her “Hazel toldonce”
“I find that extreh she hoped everyone else found convincing
“I don’t,” Erica offered in her soft voice “He does kind of look like a serial killer”
“A hot serial killer, though,” said Rachel
“Uh, I have no opinion on that,” Tih,” he added thoughtfully He darted a look over at Seb for approval, obviously having received the Jamie memo, and said, “Maybe we should ask him and your brother to sit with us?”
Mae looked over at Jamie, who had certainly spotted her by now and had deliberately turned his back on their table, shoulders hunched up in two sharp, defensive points, as if he was trying to grow spikes like a hedgehog
“Jamie wouldn’t be crazy about the company,” she said “He’ll come around”
“He shouldn’t be hanging out with Nick Ryves,” said Seb, speaking for the first ti at the apple on the table before hierous”
“Hey,” Mae said in her most authoritative voice She saw Rachel and Erica both sit up and take notice “Nick’s a friend of mine And Jamie’s”
She picked up her sandwich and, in the sudden silence, began to eat Across the roo too To her enor, but at one point, when Jaht off the table, Nick caught it before it hit the ground
Jaet over his crush, Mae knew But she fell silent anyway, leaning against Seb, who seemed a little quiet hi it flow her way
When she went up to buy a Coke, Nick cornered her against the vending machine
Trapped between the hu red box and his body, Mae couldn’t actually tip her head back far enough to see his face without thu an eyebrohat she could see, which was basically Nick’s shoulder, the faded black-to-grayout of shape at the collar, showing the bare lines of collarbone and throat
Mae closed her hand tight on the damp metal of her Coke can
“About yesterday,” Nick said, and stopped
“Forget it,” Mae told him
Nick braced hi machine with one hand over her head
“All right” He pulled away, her Coke can gleaht Come by and read to me”
p>
She hadn’t realized how much Jamie disliked Seb She also hadn’t noticed when Jaht about it, they ell past due for his next hopeless crush
Nick looked at Mae before he followed Jamie down the school hall, eyes unreadable as ever He leaned down and said soh drifted back to the door where Mae and Seb were still standing
Mae said, as lightly as she could, “That ell”
“It wasn’t anything you did,” Seb told her, scowling into the shadows of the hall “He ca all that purple”
“You could tell?”
“Um, yeah,” said Seb, as if it was obvious “He never dresses that way normally”
Seb saw that as well as the way Ja He was observant in a way she wouldn’t have expected of soh and careless as he so to consider
They had better all be careful
She liked that Seb didn’t know anything about the ic She didn’t want to upset Ja normal, a boy who really liked her and a place in the normal world, a space where she had some control
“You have to keep trying,” she said, and Seb nodded, as if that ithout saying She sether She didn’t hold his hand, but she walked a little close
“Where were you this weekend?” he asked “I looked for you in all the usual places”
Mae sht of sword fights on the Millenniue, the Goblin Market on the cliffs of Cornwall, and dearden
“I was in some unusual places”
That day at lunch Ti by Erica’s side and sliding his arm around her waist
“Hey,” Erica said She was always torn between her boyfriend and her friends, wanting everyone to be happy and nobody to be left out She looked relieved when she saw Seb hovering by the table, and gave Mae a ful smile
Mae raised her eyebrows at Erica and nodded at Seb to sit down
Glancing up frootten to pack a lunch today He was standing in the cafeteria looking a bit lost, as if he was there so seldootten where they put the food Mae raised a hand to signal him over to their table
Jamie didn’t see her, since Nick had just appeared at his side Nick walked on and then looked back and jerked his head, in an impatient and peremptory way that indicated Jamie should follow him
Jamie hadn’t had someone to sit with in the cafeteria for almost two years
“Look, isn’t that Nick Ryves?” said Rachel “I thought he moved Or went to prison”
“Rachel, he did not go to prison,” Mae said, glaring