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“You co?” he asked

I glanced toward the bonfire and i his arrin from here I couldn’t chicken out, not now I needed to man up and just deal

I put ame face on and followed Nate toward the bonfire

The night arht that I loved The sky was bright, lit to the heavens with stars, and the air felt alive, full of possibilities

It took a while, but eventually I relaxed a bit, old Everyone was in a good uys on the football team had speakers set up on the back of his truck, and an odd mixture of country and rock filled the air This was

Jackson Byers, a guy from school, had the balls to ask me about what had happened at the library Said he’d heard that I’d been taken to the hospital in an aive up

“But dude, an ambulance?”

“Do I look like there’s so my fists as I did so

“Nah You look as badass as ever”

Someone offered me a beer, but I shook rabbed a can so I could have so to hold and ward off any more offers

I was getting into soe Green Day—“Jesus of Suburbia” is epic—when soed my hip and tarht was Everly, which was crazy The girl had pretty led and stumbled into me, obviously loaded

“I’ve mad at chu”

Ah Jess

She circled around so that she was in front of h her ar you all week about this party”

Any other time, I would have been all over this Jess was cute, nice, and obviously ready to party But these days, Everly Jenkins was the only girl I was interested in, and even though I wasn’t sure she was interested back, I wasn’t going to take what Jess was offering