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God, she was tired of being lonely

"So, kiddo," she said to Caleb, "what do you think about global therreenhouse effect?do you believe in that?"

He burped a little and spat up

For a split second there, she'd thought he was going to answer

She was cracking up Her scientist-sharpslowly, irrevocably, tostark, raving mad

The last feeeks had been almost unbearable She hadn't had an honest-to-God discussion with a hu some unknown rule In retrospect, that little tete-a-tete looked pretty good

She couldn't live like this She'd tried She'd told herself to simply melt into the ork, do as expected of her, and everything would be fine

The proble Everyone walked around Ahted stick of dyna back She felt like a ghost, unwanted and invisible

Tess couldn't stand it Here she was, a healthy, hearing wo southern drawl, and she had no one to talk to And nothing to hear Just as before, she lived in a world of aching silence and isolation

They ignored her Completely

Oh, Savannah ca a tray of food and a pile of folded towels for Tess's "you knoomanly needs" She nodded silently to her "?that was a very good day in Tess's book?but

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She set the tray down on the bedside table, plucked up Tess's small bucket of used towels, then spun away from the bed and disappeared

Tess wouldn't see another soul until dinner Then Savannah went through the saain Jack and Katie hadn't even peeked their heads in to say hello

Seeing a single person, and no one else, for over a month, especially when that person looked at you as if you were Typhoid Mary, just didn't cut it