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“Oh Well, yeah Uh …” His face blushes worse than it ever has He starts dru teain “I’ll see you in chemistry tomorrow” And with that, he takes off

And I’o

What was he going to ask me at first?

That night at hoe creature, then realize with a start that I think it’s the winged-deotistical, athletic, has a chip on his shoulder, and doesn’t look like a very pleasant conversationalist That notion inspiresto work on a deed-deht rolls around, I realize that my version of Danny didn’t couy—cute-faced, see fro in his eyes, like he’ll dare to go wherever the deht, then fall asleep withfroers

Everyis a silent e and stare at a bike that’s not mine (for another month, at least) while I wait for my mom She coet into her car She drives me down to the school while I stare out theNo words are exchanged, except for the occasional clearing of her throat Yes, even aftermyself to school after she took awayher up on the offer—which feels more like a sentence She drops me off at the end of Main Street instead of at the front of the school, because it’s easier for her She’s still playing out the silent treatment, like I’ve deeply wounded her with my words

That’s fine Two can play, and I’ll outlast her in this silence I’ll stay silent until her next words are either “I’ve decided to give you back your bike, which I shouldn’t have taken in the first place” or “Here is the first ticket out of this town, I’ you here, please enjoy your freedom” Since one set of words seems as unlikely as the other to fly out of her ame for the rest of the school year

Silence is your friend at a new school, too

Every class, I sit in the back, silent and alone My first period English with Ms Bean speeds by as she proceeds to cover the first few chapters of a book I’ve read literally three times between the schools I’ve been tossed out of It’s perfect, because it gives me ti Kingsley-Deht Who needs an arts progra crap you aced two years ago? Every class is art!

Second period is world history with a lady named Ms Jones histles unintentionally with every “s” she says The class is at the far back corner of the school, lined across the back by tall s, and the harshto stay focused on the board as she drones on about so else

The s, I’h, for the first ti wooden ay that leads to our classroo between cheery and cool-dude He’d be fine if he tried less, the poor guy He goes in first, then holds the door open for me When we take our table in the back, I pull out sley-Dehs The lued to ,” I s like they don’tto me, like I make a million a minute Yet Toby treasures each one with his eyes, areat for really … consistent with your art Your demon dudes,” he adds in a funny voice

Then the bell rings, and ht is stolen by the teacher, who starts today’s lesson on covalent bonds Once I deduce that I know everything he’s covering today, I go right back to sketching, and Toby, who I believe was taking notes a second ago, is back to peering distractedly at my work, too curious to look away