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Energized, I ju tomy bare skin, I put on my playlist of choral pieces and selected my clothes It didn’t really o out but also because I’d decided to try and avoid Augustus He was, no doubt, wondering what the heck was going on but let him wonder It was a small price to pay

Soood to blainal sin Except that would have required thinking clearly Which I absolutely was not The sweet sounds of thanks to the Lord were joined by the jangling ofthe playlist, I picked up the phone, still swaying gentle as I put it to my ear

“Rachel? Have you picked up or is this your voice with me?”

“Hey, Jenna,” I sang, deliriously happy

It was a bit strange I knew but the relief was irrepressible I was already developing a plan that would keep me safely in my room as much as possible Which seemed to be what the administrations, both campus and national, seemed to want anyway I was always the type to follow the rules Dadan apartment with a boy

I’d actually wondered how that had happened but desperate times and all that It was likely they hadn’t even noticed Dad likely would have co who the boy in question was but, in a funny way, it was more or less what he wanted Me cloistered away in , with occasional bathing thrown in, when the coast was clear I starteda mental inventory of all the foods I liked that didn’t need to be refrigerated and I could keep in my room

“Yes, I’m here,” I said

“Oh, good, I thought you ”

“Why would you think that?” I asked, the fear creeping back

“I dunno, paranoid, I guess I always think people are dead or going to leave uess”

It took a ot used to Jenna and her oddities In a way it was nice to have so to distract e or pity her Just listen to her and her concerns and give her the best advice I could

It eird She was at least two years older thanto advise her as I saw it Despite the fact I hadn’t really lived yetChapter Eight - AugustusThe best laid plans soon turn to shit That’s not quite how it goes but certainly seemed to be the trend inplans when I was still in elementary school

There was really no point in it Not least because it bought into the ideas of success and how it could be achieved We hardly did anything the ‘expected’ way but still got stuff done That’s e still had soeneht

The whole encounter lasted less than a minute, but it stayed etched in listened as the sunlight fro it look as though it were aflaine what she looked like under her towel

It s Seeing sex as a good and wonderful thing Essential forthe species, as well as one of the things thaton with A conviction only affiraboos have tried to stifle it

The hu of both function and beauty Like a finely crafted earthenware bowl hand painted before it went into the kiln I wanted Rachel soI had never felt, which was how I kneas real and not just so lust It was up to her to decide if she was open to it or not In the meantime, all I could do ait

There was a long pause after the door slanant with potential I half expected to see her running past thea break for it It ca from her bedroonore it and focus on my book It wasn't the first tiotten all the way through The critic was onto soes of good material The critic actually said fifteen but I like to be a bit more charitable