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of Smarties or Tootsie Roll tossed in their direction After the aalk from the coffee shop, none of them said much They seemed content to watch in silence, Michelle’snext to Garret Smith The whole situation was unreal

Finally, toward the end of the parade, Garret excused hiroup of friends As he left, she grabbed ahold of Joseph’s arm and squeezed She couldn’t help but bounce on the balls of her feet, she was so excited Everything was going perfectly She’d ue the entire half hour they’d stood there Maybe she really could keep her cool around Garret

“I really think it’s working,” she said, biting at her lower lip “He’s never talked to me this much in my lifetime”

“Yeah, I told you he’d go for you” Joseph shrugged noncommittally “Totally predictable”

Her chest felt slightly deflated She wasn’t sure why his words bothered her so much But when Garret turned on the other side of the street and started walking back towards theain

“Just keep it up, whatever you’re doing,” she said, giving hi Whatever you want, it’s yours”

“I don’t think that’s going to be possible,” he gruave her a sad smile and tossed it in the nearest trash can “But at least you’ll get what you want”

He marched away and as she watched him, her head filled with confusion This was exactly what she wanted: her high school crush to finally notice her

So why did it feel so wrong in this moment?

Chapter Six

Joseph didn’t understand rong with him He’d never felt emotions like these before today — like he’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed every day for the last half century He wanted to growl at everyone he passed, push through the crowds, and kick at the trashcans in the town center

Maybe this was yet another reason why he was better off secluding himself in his family’s house He obviously couldn’t behave himself in public Civilian life was just a distant ain His two days in public was proof of that He couldn’t control himself

Michelle was gracious enough to shrug off his badoutside the Cafe, with her hair pulled up into a messy bun, ear warmer headband, and her off-white sweater And even when he’d let her have a ht to bring him coffee

But despite her kindness, he’d doubled down on his surly behavior and prodded his brother during a ga?

“Dude! Joseph!”