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“Must be nice,” Mr Black mutters with a chuckle, and she turns to him

“Oh, Lincoln’s a good kid too!”

“He is, he is Just… headstrong” He shakes his head in be a seat next to Mom

Huh I didn’t know they were getting that close

Then again, Mom’s personable with just about everyone she

meets I swear, she could beco her skeevednew; my mouys checking her out all the time

“I’ll knock when I get back,” I tell her, then cast aze between the two of them “Uh, have fun”

“We will! Sa to Arizona on a business trip in a few rins

Oh,That explains the conversation Although neither my mom nor I are the best people to ask about what to see and do in Arizona Weto survive

But I don’t steal her thunder, leaving them to it as I head for the e and slip into the newly cleaned and repaired car Instead of garbage, it suess that’s the better of the two options

The party is at a house as big as Lincoln’s, and it looks like at least half the school ca to a few people I recognize I’h people aren’t all being assholes to ht friends at this school yet I text Hunter pretty -women at parties from thousands of miles away

Therefore, drinks

I find the kitchen and grab the first thing I see—a fancy looking beer with a nah, dark, sweet, and heavy

Clutching it like a lifeline, I roup of kids I know from my Business and Economics class

I’ near the curved staircase that leads to the second floor, his back to the wall Lincoln, Dax, and Chase are nearby, embroiled in a deep discussion But I quickly realize that what drew my attention was the flash of white-blonde hair as Iris approached him She’s obviously a few drinks deep already, because she wobbles slightly as she drapes her ar seductively up at him