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"Oh no, Robert Never Don't even talk about it," I said and he saw the terror in my eyes He nodded

"Well, what should I do?"

"There's nothing to do at the moment," I said "Except"

"Except what, Laura?"

"Except stay away fros calm down," I added quickly He stared at me a moment and then shook his head "What's a while?"

"A while," I said, shrugging "We've got our finals to think about anyway"

"You think I care about my finals now?"

"You have to, Robert You want to go to college If you did poorly because of rass and put it between his teeth "I' to joke "You rass"

He stopped chewing and smiled Then he shook his head slowly

"I don't think you understand how much I love you, Laura It's easy to say we should keep away from each other for a while, but it's nearly i to caht"

"Robert--"

"Seeing you in school will be like torture What am I supposed to do, stay away from you here, too?"

My lips started to tre

"I' only ofyou in a difficult position" He stood "All right, I'll try to cool it, as they say For a while," he added "But Laura Logan, you mark my words You will be my wife someday You will be the worandmother, no overprotective brother, no one can stop it fro"

I nodded, pressingthe lump in my throat Robert smiled one last time before he turned and walked back into the school, his shoulders slumped, his heart as dark and as broken as my own