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“Let me deal with that”

“What do you think you’re going to do?” he asked “Hide in the Sorenson house? Hide here? Well, you can’t You can’t spend the next year and a half hiding Your brother and your parents aren’t stupid They’ll find out”

Danielle threw up her hands and her eyes flared wide “I said I’d handle it!” She pointed to her chest “I’ ti us there”

Nathan sputtered for an answer that would sink into her thick skull “Do you not see everything going on at the school? You go to lunch You don’t see the police? Hear what’s going on?”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with me,” she said

“It has everything to do hat you want,” he said “Do you think for one second you’d just waltz out of school and no one would notice? Every option to get you out involves a principal’s approval, as” He waved his hand outward “The principal is gone, Danielle Gone”

She frowned “Sang’s out You got her out”

“She’s still going to school Only she’s taken all the tests and not co about it She knows she has to stay in for now And she’s doing far more work than you are for what she wants”

Danielle threw up her hands again and waved the to help you, after all I don’t need to tell you about her real mom Or help you with Erica”

Nathan glared at her “Help? What are you talking about? And I don’t even know if you know about Sang’s ? I can just ask Marie” He pointed a finger at her “And it’s really shitty the way you’re using Marie and Sang and their situation to get so out of it”

She reeled her head back and then stopped She turned, blew out a breath and then lowered her shoulders a bit, dipping her head “I’m sorry,” she said

He blinked rapidly at how her whole dee It reminded hiet the answers theyat her “Look, I just don’t understand how to help you You wanted out of classes, we did that The process to get you out of school, though, that’s on hold until we’re absolutely sure things can’t be questioned about your exit It takes time, okay?” He paused “And what did you mean about Erica?”

Danielle lifted her head, gazing at hi brown eyes “I told Jessica you and I were hooking up”

Nathan stopped hi noise “What?”

“I asked her why you tere fighting in the yard She said it was because you were trying to kiss Sang So I helped you by letting her think over the last week I was coether with you” She reached into her back pocket, pulling out her cell phone “I put a pic up on Facebook of back in the day e used to hang out together She follows me”

She turned her phone around, showing a picture of Nathan and Danielle at the pool in his backyard It o, if not before then He barely re the picture

Nathan shook his head slowly He pressed a palht that would help”

“Are you kidding?” she said and returned the phone to her pocket “I saved your ass Jessica was ready to tell the world about how she saved Sang fro harassed, to tell other people to stick up for people like her She was practically going to tell everyone about this I stopped her You didn’t deserve it And now that you’re ‘dating’it a secret” She pointed a finger at hi for the benefit of all of us”

God Fuck If Jessica thought he was going out with DanielleDid Jessica end up telling this to Erica? Is that why Erica ca and safe to integrate back into the family?

Nathan turned away fro on it He buried his face into his pal And it was perpetuating the lie he and Kota had developed for Erica’s benefit

Their lies wereit so much worse

He felt Danielle sitting next to hiht now getting us out of school,” she said “I hadn’t thought the principal being gone put this on hold SoI’ll wait But do I have to take those tests? Can’t we just bring a tablet to school or do so else?”

“You don’t have to take the tests,” Nathan said “It’s your situation thatto have to figure out what to tell your parents We can put you in homeschool That’s probably the easiest You can take the classes online You’ll graduate on time It’s up to you if you want to take the SATs or apply to college Or whatever you want to do”

“I’ll handle it,” she said “Then o ahead and let you all knohat she knows”

Nathan picked his head up “You’d do that? I thought you knew?”

“I was just saying that to get you to do what I wanted,” she said “But I was the one to tell her she should tell Sang the truth about her real mom, about what she knows She didn’t even want to”

A flicker of appreciation developed inside of hi on, was Danielle really trying to help the She illing to lie about her own relationship status online to help save Sang and himself from that sort of attention