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“Addie, you can’t punish so”

“It’s notto shove his tongue down my throat and his hand up my dress,” I whispered

“I know, and I’o with him But he didn’t actually do that”

“But he would’ve” I nudged the highlighter It rolled over the glass surface of e ofback to safety “That’s who he is, and I can’t look at hi that Search”

“Do you want me to Erase it?”

“Have I asked you to Erase so before?” Every time she offered to Erase a memory, I asked her that question

And every time she always answered, “If you did, I wouldn’t tell you”

I made a face at her “You’re a brat”

She began painting her nails with a black Sharpie “So, do you?”

“No Because then I’ll forget what he’s capable of and his puppy-dog eyes o out with hireasy brown hair and holey jeans meant he was ain, I’d believe a good shampoo would wash the appearance of creep out of him

“That’s true”

“Hey, can you give me a ride home today?” I asked, ready to move past the Bobby subject

“Sure, your car didn’t start again this ?”

I scrolled through the diagran”

“Ah, of course” She didn’t need further explanation My s She turned toward herthe rows Up on the screen was a diagra innards “Where is the kidney?” she asked

I pointed, and the bean-shaped organ blackened as the heat froer touched the screen Mr Caston passed our desk

“So, back to Duke,” she whispered when he was out of hearing range “Tell me all the details”

“There’s nothing to tell His football knocked ized”

“And you said?”

I thought back “I said, ‘Yeah, I heard you, Duke’” A look of horror caed

“Addison Marie Coleet handed an opportunity to flirt with Duke Rivers and you blow hiThat was your chance You could’ve acted like he hurt you and made him walk you to the nurse’s office”

“He did hurt me But he annoyed me more He let a football hit my head”

“How do you know he let it?”

“Hello? Because he’s Telekinetic He could’ve easily knocked it out of the way”

“Come on, Addie He can’t use his powers all the time Give him a break”

“He let a football hit my head,” I repeated slowly

“All right, all right, perhaps he’s not the uy in the world, but he’s Duke He doesn’t have to be”

A loud sigh escaped irls like you who let guys like Duke get aith their behavior”

She laughed “First of all, I’d like to see you try to hurt me, Miss Skin-and-Bones Second of all, if I ith Duke, he’d be cut down to size in seconds” She leaned back and let out a dreah her mind “Hotlicious”

“What?”

“It’s hot and delicious combined In the dictionary it would be listed as a noun and wouldn’t even have a definition attached, just a picture of Duke Rivers”

“Please There are plenty of real words Duke’s face is probably already attached to in the dictionary … conceited, egocentric, arrogant And besides”—I smiled—“hotlicious would be an adjective”

“Girls,” Mr Caston said, “I don’t thinkon in your corner”

Laila pointed to the monitor “We’ve located the kidney, Mr Caston”

When I got ho room They sat on opposite couches, hands folded in their laps, looking grim My cheeks numbed as all the blood in them suddenly left

My house hat Laila always described as old-fashioned cozy—overstuffed, mismatched furniture; plush carpet; honey-colored walls The kind of house that was easy to curl up and relax in I had the opposite feeling at the moment as tension spread across my shoulders

“Is Grandma okay?” I asked It was the only reason I could co ho so somber

The s and iuard “Yes, honey, Grandma’s fine Everyone is fine Why don’t you take care of your backpack and then come sit down? We need to talk”

I went to my room and wondered ould happen if I barricaded lanced at the tall bookcase next to the door as if the idea were actually a valid one If I never came out, they wouldn’t be able to deliver whatever news had etched worry onto their faces I paced for a few , then walked back out My mom pointed to the lair (so dubbed because it was sainst the wall between the couches, and I lowered myself into it