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I smile tentatively at her She frowns, suddenly spooked, then turns back to Hoyt “Will you play dolls with me?”

Hoyt shoots me a quick self-conscious look, clears his throat, then lowers his voice to a whisper “How about … you go play with soin’ out with my buddy, and I’ll let you play Candy Castle on my fancy Xbox all day tomorrow?”

Ges “‘Kay Bye, person,” she says on her way out

“I told ya his nahs He hops off the bed and shuts his door, then returns to his spot “She’s a firecracker sometimes”

I lift an eyebrow “Dolls …?”

Hoyt burns me with his eyes “One word of that to anyone and you’ll be the one wettin’ yourself next”

I crack a smile, then face the TV, too

Later, Hoyt’s mother calls out that food’s ready, and I see deal that there’s another mouth to feed I just assuh that it’s never a probleot dried paint stains all overthat no onelooks in this house, except for maybe Hoyt himself His mother is short and stocky with a round, featureless face Her wavy blonde hair frareets me in a drone when Hoyt introduces et the fast impression no one in this house waits up for him, whoever he is

The sun has long since fallen and crickets are chirping outside his cracked-open bedroo side-by-side at the foot of his bed playing a first-person shooter on his Xbox that Hoyt insisted on introducing me to, he finally asks, “So you want me to take you home after this round?”

I don’t want to overstay ht I never drea in relation to Hoyt Nowak “Sure Or I can just walk”

“Nah I’ll drive you” When both of our in-ga the round pre soht, so I don’t wanna —”

“If you have to pree with that …”

“—but do you want to just crash here for tonight?”

I can’t help but wonder if I ically su that I could find a place to disappear for a while to collectspecial A place to get away froers of the town A place no one would find me

This is exactly that place And while Hoyt isn’t a hero by any stretch of the definition, he’s the last person anyone would expect me to be with

“I take the weird silence as a ‘yes’,” announces Hoyt, hopping off the floor and heading over to his closet “I got an air mattress folded up in here and a set of sheets Y’know, for when the boys stay over,” he throws in, like I need an explanation Our two dead characters lie side-by-side next to a half-destroyed wall on the TV I watch as the ca us to press A to start the next round “And look, if you want to avoid your fa as well, that’s fine, but don’t expect any kind of impressive spread over here Also iving, he’ll probably behave He gets weird and quiet around people he doesn’t know He’s like a large, dimwitted cat Also, you can take a shower if you want to finally get those paint stains off of you I take it you got clothes in that backpack of yours to change into …?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask suddenly

Hoyt puts the mattress on the floor and attaches a small pump to it “Nice? I’ve always been nice to you, Toby-Tobes” He starts inflating the mattress

“But you’re being actually nice,” I clarify “At school, in front of people, you’re … kind of a pompous asshole Sorry And you put me down all the time, or demean me, or toy around with ain You’ve been doin’ stuff like that to rade because I …” My eer corade because you and your friends kept picking onhell”