devyn

I just run faster and hit the slowest of the lead boys. I wink and race by him. He smells like onions and he has big, wet circles in the pits of his shirt. He speeds up, but can only stay with me for a tenth of a mile before he drops back. Then it__ Nick.I cruise next to him. He__ some sort of running god, because he isn__ close to being winded. His stride is long, powerful, and quick.__i.__hy I said this, I do not know. He__ cute. Okay. I am a sucker for cute boys and he was nice to Issie. Plus, he has good hair and he isn__ as pale as most Maine males. He looks like he works in the sun, or at least has seen the sun once, maybe many weeks ago. Plus, life is all supposed to be about making love, not war. My dad listened to John Lennon; I know this stuff.__ou__e fast,_ he says, easy. No huffing. No puffing. No blowing the house down.__o are you.__e run together, keeping pace. The only one ahead of us is Ian, who is loping around the track as if it__ nothing.Nick shrugs at me while he runs, which is really something, because when I__ running full tilt it__ hard for me to speak, let alone break form to shrug.__ou can go faster, can__ you?_ I huff out.He just gives a little smile again and then his eyes shift into something cold, like gravestones with just the barest information about a life etched onto them.__ara,_ he whisper-says.I lean in closer to hear him. __hat?__y voice is not a whisper. It matches the thudding beat of my heart, the bass of the music that blares out of the speakers.__wesome job, new girl!_ Devyn yells, clapping.

Nick spreads cream cheese on my bagel for me because it__ hard to do with one hand. You need to hold the bagel and everything.__ou are the nicest boyfriend ever,_ I tell him and kiss his cheek.__ag,_ Devyn says.__ou__e just jealous,_ Nick teases him and points his plastic knife at Devyn. __hich is ridiculous because you are the star of the school now that the wheelchair is totally gone. Everyone is talking about you.___tar of the school?_ Devyn asks. He takes a swig of Gatorade.__ll the girls._ Nick gestures to the girls giggling behind them. __hey like miracles. It__ sexy. Remember how much play Jay Dahlberg got when he came back from being abducted?_ He does not add by pixies because he does not have to.__eally?_ Devyn does this cheesy and really fake eyebrow wiggle thing so he looks like some sleezy porn dog.

We all line up except for this guy in a wheelchair, Devyn. He smiles at me when I line up, introduces himself. He has a movie star smile, just white teeth and charisma, big eyes, dark skin. He__ be perfect looking if he didn__ have such a large nose, but the truth is it looks good on him, natural and powerful. He winks at Issie, who blushes.__ou can do it, Is,_ he says.She rolls her eyes, twists her lip, and says, __s long as I don__ pass out.___f you pass out, I__l put you in my lap and wheel you across the finish line,_ he says, and it somehow isn__ sleazy because you can tell by his eyes how much he cares about Issie. I instantly like him.She blushes worse. Her face looks like she__ already sprinted a mile.

So, I__ a bear,_ she explains, eyeing us all. __ait? Is Issie something?___ope,_ Issie pouts. __ll human. All the time.___he coolest human ever,_ Devyn says, reaching down and ruffling her hair.