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By the time I actually reach the table, the entire sound of the lunchroom has dropped to a dull murmur All eyes are on o fuck the them exactly the meltdown they want, so instead I keep h, is tell Daniel he can’t say what I’ht in the eyes as I approach the table and we have one of our quick, nonverbal conversations A nonverbal conversation in which I give hiht still be harboring

He grins mischievously and loudly slaps his pal shit!" he yells, cliestures wildly toward me "Look, everybody! It’s Dean Holder!" He proceeds to cli all the attention away fro it on hi at estures toward me "We have the Dean Holder here! The one and only!" When only a few people look away from him toward me, he throws his hands up in the air like he’s disappointed in the this moment for teeks no that he’s finally here, you all decide to shut the hell up? What’s up with that?" He looks down athis shoulders in defeat "I’ht today would be a littlefor a Q&A session to kind of clear the air, but I didn’t realize every single person in this school is a spineless dipshit" He begins to climb down from the table but then shoots his arer "Wait!" he says, spinning to face the entire crowd "That’s actually a very good idea!"

I look around and expect one of the cafeteriatheir way over to him to put a stop to his spectacle, but the onlyhi to see what he’s up to

Daniel ju on a few trays in the process He spills chocolate milk all over the table and aluy’s head and straightens himself back up The entire spectacle is pretty da, so I take a seat at our table and watch him like I’m not even the reason behind his whole outburst

He looks down at a girl seated at the table beneath his feet and he extends his arer down at her "What about you, Natalie? Now that we have Dean Holder here and live in person, would you like to ask him if your theory about why Les killed herself is correct?"

Natalie’s face reddens and she stands up "You’re an asshole, Daniel!" She grabs her tray and walks away fro on top of the table, but his extended index finger follows her across the cafeteria

"Wait, Natalie! What if Lesslie did kill herself because Grayson duinity? Don’t you want to know if you’re right? Don’t you want to knohat you’ve won?"

Natalie exits the cafeteria, so he immediately turns his attention to Thoot her hand over herat Daniel in shock like the rest of the cafeteria He points to Thoet to him "Thomas!" Daniel yells excitably "What about you? Would you like to participate in the Q&A? I heard your theory thisfirst period and it was a doozy"

Thorabs his tray just like Natalie did "Daniel, you’re being a jerk" He nods toward ht now"

I don’t say anything, but I actually hope Thoets away unscathed I don’t knohat rumor he started, but even so I’h, even though he’ll likely never know about it

"Oh?" Daniel says, pulling his hand up to his mouth in false shock He looks over at ht now? Are you like, inthat?"

I try not to s this shitty day upside down He steps fro back toward our table

"Do you not want to participate in the Q&A, Holder? I thought ht" He spins around and addresses the entire cafeteria again without waiting on an answer fro their trays up and exiting the cafeteria in fear that they’ll be pointed out next "Where’s everyone going? None of you seeht noe can actually get some honest answers? Maybe Holder could tell us all why Les really did it Or better yet, how she did it Maybe we could even find out the truth behind the speculation that he’s suicidal, too!" Daniel looks at ain and props his hands on his hips "Holder? Are the rumors true? Do you actually have the date set for when you plan to kill yourself?"

Now all eyes are definitely onto, Daniel holds up his arms and faces his palms out toward me "Wait! Don’t answer that, Holder" He spins around to address the quickly dwindling crowd again "I think we should open it up for bets! Soot dibs on next Thursday," he says, pulling his wallet out of his pocket

Apparently the cafeteria , because she’s noalking deter toward him, so he shoves his wallet back into his pocket "We’ll take bets after school, then," he says quickly, ju off the table

I turn and head toward the doors to the cafeteria and he follows behindshut behind us, the murmur of the cafeteria returns, but much louder this time Once we’re both back in the hallway near our lockers, I turn to face him

I can’t decide whether I want to punch him for what he just did or bon to hih

He runs his palh "Yeah I didn’t really o on like that I just couldn’t take another second of this shit I don’t kno you’re doing it"