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school even knew that she'd been sick.
     
    I knew that Eli would be there to walk us to school once we finished our breakfast, and wasn't surprised a bit when we came outside and found him standing there leaning against the tree in my front yard. He smiled and then cocked his head to the side as we made our way to him.
     
    "Is it opposite day and I didn't get the memo?"
     
    "Nope," I answered and reached up to kiss him. "We're just trying some different things."
     
    "Well," his eyes took me in, toe to head and back again, "you both look very pretty, and I'm not just saying that."
     
    "Thanks, babe," I said. He looked at me as he grabbed my hand and smiled at my endearment.
     
    "Anytime, love."
     
    I bit my lip.
     
    Ariel starting making gagging noises so we both turned to look at her. "Ugh, don't make me barf on my new shoes before we even get to school," she said and laughed as I almost tripped over her ridiculous boots.
     
    "Whoa," Eli spouted as he grabbed my arm, "careful."
     
    "I can't believe you wore these every day, Ariel," I grumbled.
     
    "It takes a learning curve," she replied happily.
     
    As she walked a little ahead of us, Eli leaned over to me. "So, how do you feel this morning?"
     
    "Great. You were right."
     
    He sighed, like he'd been worried about it. "Good. That's good."
     
    We walked, slightly swinging our arms as we crossed the quad at school. I didn't need to go to my locker, so after I waved to Ariel, and gave her a brave smile to encourage her, we went and stood in front of my homeroom. Eli leaned in to me, forcing me to the wall.
     
    "So what's really going on with the getup?" he asked as he eyed my boots once more.
     
    "I just wanted Ariel to feel comfortable. She wanted to try something new…or old, I should say." He frowned, his eyebrow piercing twinkling under the lights of the hall, so I went on. "She hasn't always been like this, but she got sick. Leukemia."
     
    "Oh," he said as if that explained it all. "Well, things like that change people."
     
    "Yeah. So, she wanted to try to be her old self again."
     
    He nodded and said, "And you dressed like this to make her feel more comfortable. I get it." He leaned in and kissed my cheek, speaking his words against my skin. "Wow, that was really sweet of you."
     
    "For a girl who was so self absorbed and concerned about what others thought before, right?" I said begrudged. Eli hadn't said it, but I thought for sure he was thinking it.
     
    "Nope. Just sweet." I sighed and looked around the hall. A few people gave me weird looks or sneers even, but for the most part, no one seemed to care.
     
    "That's the thing about forgiveness…and redemption." His smile said he knew what he was talking about. "What you did before doesn't matter anymore, right?"
     
    He looked at me and waited for me to disagree. If I did, that meant that I thought that all of the things that he'd done - all the things I said didn't matter - that the forgiveness was moot.
     
    "It's not moot," I muttered.
     
    "What?"
     
    I grabbed his face in between my hands. "It's not moot!"
     
    He smiled, while bunching his brow in confusion. "All right. It's not moot."
     
    "You're right. Thank you."
     
    "Ok," he agreed reluctantly and let me pull him to me. I kissed him like the sun would boil us into oblivion as any moment. I kissed him as if this was my final breath. I felt his hands slam into the wall behind us to keep us from falling as I breathed him in deep, and when I pulled away he stood with a stunned and all too familiar needful expression on his face.
     
    I let his face go from between my hands and wanted to smile as I turned for my class, but instead just watched him watch me as I slid into my classroom, leaving him in a stunned stupor in the hall.
     
    I giggled silently all the way to my seat.
     
     
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
     
     
    I met Ariel at her locker before lunch. She was anxious and fidgeting with the buttons of her vest as she stared into her locker. I