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I’h, or at least be really into it, like she was back in September e spent the full duration of a Harry Potter ure out if he had a secret Instagra her scarf around her neck and nodding toward the exit

“Co I want here”

“Okay” I follow her out onto the bustling rush-hour sidewalk; it got all-the-way dark while ere shopping, a raw, icy snap in the air “Who are you shopping for, anyway?” I ask her, tucking my hands in my pockets to warm them

“Nobody,” she says, and forges ahead of me into the crowd

Chloe’s weird h the hipster bookstore and the fancy coffee shop, though she perks up ander into the bigup in the sudden warmth She leads me up the escalator and directly into Sephora, her expression faintly beatific as she weaves through the rows ofh

“Thank you for that,” I say, sniffling a bit in a slightly suffocating cloud of vanilla and jasmine

“You’re welco the bottle back on the shelf Sephora is Chloe’s own personal happy place “Come on, I need new lip stuff”

“Speaking of lip stuff,” I say, following her through the crowded aisles, “you and Dean seem pretty friendly lately”

“Say what now?” She stops in her tracks beside a stack ofup like I’ve lost my mind “Me and Dean?”

“What?” I ask, kind of put off by her tone—after all, it’s not like I’ around her locker literally thisa fa with Dean?”

“Iinside her puffy black coat and turning toward the M•A•C display “And yeah, I guess he’s been sniffing around or whatever since ho”

“Okay,” I tell her “So?”

“So, nothing” Chloe turns toward the lipsticks

“Is this about Frank with the Sweatband from the Deli?” I tease Chloe broke up with Frank with the Sweatband from the Deli back in the suest she’s gone without having a boyfriend pretty much since we met “I mean, sure, he always kind of s The heart wants what it wants, et cetera”

“Oh od, he did not!” Chloe s, which was the whole point “And no, thank you, this is not about Frank with the Sweatband from the Deli I don’t know I just kind of feel like I’h school boys, that’s all”