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The two bantered back and forth until Martina noticed Carrie’s face drain of color She looked like she had seen a ghost

“What are you doing with that box?”

Rob pulled the brown shoe box from under his arured Aleks would want it back”

“That’s not Aleks’s box”

“What?”

Barely audible, Carrie replied, “It’s mine”

A sasp escaped Martina’s usted sound as he threw the box on the counter

“What the hell, Carrie Why do you have all that?”

“Why do you think?”

“Why is it downstairs and not in your room?”

“Mom would freak if she ever found that, so I put it downstairs If she found it she would come to the same conclusion as you did She’d roll her eyes and think it belonged to Aleks”

“E! This is too ”

Rob turned and silently said his goodbye They had done their real goodbye in the baseht Martina shouldn’t expect anything more, but she wanted to reach out and take him in her arms

“Later, Care”

“Bye,” both girls said in unison