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“Yes”

“So very e And only you can do it”

“I…I have to think about…”

“No, Jack It’s right now Right now, or never”

She turned and began to walk away Jack stood there, hesitating But she knew She had seen it in his eyes

“Hey So down the stairs at a run

Hunter Lefkoas splayed out on the couch, one leg up on the back, one leg touching the floor, both ar a DVD of Superbad He’d watched it at least ten times before He knew every joke

“How can you tell,attention

Zil came around and hit the power button on the side of the TV “Not finding that real funny, freak Soed to me”

Hunter shared the house with three other boys, Zil, Charlie, and Harry They’d been friends back before the FAYZ They were all seventh graders, and the thing that had united them was their love of the San Francisco Giants Perdido Beach was definitely Dodgers territory, with els fans But Zil and Charlie had moved here at various times from the Bay Area, Harry had come from Lake Tahoe, and Hunter just plain liked the Giants

So they had banded together to irritate other kids at school by ostentatiously dressing up in the orange and black They’d gotten together on suames

But there were no pro sports in the FAYZ No TV, either The four of theer had the one shared interest that had bound theether

And lately distance had grown between Hunter and the other three for a reason unique to the FAYZ: Hunter was a freak The other three were norether, like, no big deal, they’d probably all get powers eventually, it was just that Hunter was first

But as the weeks had worn on, none of the other three had changed at all, whereas Hunter was rapidly beco a potentially powerful mutant That had bothered Zil

It had bothered hi day