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Comp. claim right there,” Dee said seriously then burst out laughing and the minions followed suit.
     
    “Yeah, Molls,” Mike yelled. “I’d watch it. You’re gonna flatten out that back side even more. We’ll have to change your name to no-butt.”
     
    I stayed quiet as I always did as they cackled like hyenas around me, and so did Eli. Molly got up, red faced and embarrassed and stalked behind the counter. When she came to give us our ticket, Mike asked her how her fall had been. It must have hurt, he said, because she had no padding to break it and then he tried to grab her butt…again. Molly just slammed the ticket on the table and left. They didn’t leave a tip, they never did.
     
    I threw a couple dollars down as I walked out but it wasn’t nearly enough for a group our size.
     
    Tate dropped me off at home and Eli got out as well, saying he could walk, it wasn’t far. Tate kissed me and then saluted Eli.
     
    “Go straight in the house, Clara. It’s late, ok?” Tate ordered.
     
    “Sure.”
     
    “Alright. I’m gonna run Dee home. See you tomorrow, babe.”
     
    “Bye.”
     
    Dee climbed over the seat to sit in the front with Tate as he drove off and I turned to Eli.
     
    “They’re fun, huh?” I said sarcastically, knowing he didn’t really have fun.
     
    “Yeah, a blast,” he said wryly.
     
    “Ok, well-”
     
    “So do you guys always hang out like that? Just sitting around different venues...making fun of people?” he said and I thought I heard a bit of an accusation in there.
     
    “Pretty much. That’s all they ever do. I hate it. I wish I’d never went with them at all once I’m there.”
     
    “Then why go?”
     
    “Something to do? Routine? Bored? That’s all I got. Take your pick.”
     
    “Hmm.”
     
    “So you and Dee?” I asked cautiously.
     
    “Nope.”
     
    I was confused.
     
    “But you let her hang all over you? She kissed you,” I said and groaned inside at sounding jealous even to my ears.
     
    “I was testing...someone. To see if they’d react to another girl showing interest in me.”
     
    That sounded cryptic and loony but it almost made sense.
     
    “Well? What did you find out?”
     
    “Oh, she reacts,” he said wryly, pushing his fingers through his hair.
     
    “Is it how you wanted her to?”
     
    “Not quite. She’s made a habit of making out with her boyfriend more often to ward off the attraction. It’s kind of backfiring actually,” he said with a little smile and crossed his arms over his chest.
     
    My mouth opened but no words came. He was talking about me. How had I not seen that one coming? Oh, I know. Because he was ruggedly handsome and exotic and different and he knew I had a boyfriend.
     
    I just smiled shyly and turned to go.
     
    “Bye, Eli. See you tomorrow.”
     
    “Bye, Clara,” he floated my name on his breath. “Sweet…dreams.”
     
    And sweet dreams was what I had. Even though I wasn’t asleep, when I closed my eyes it was like another world was waiting behind my eyelids. Tonight, the dark boy and I met in the school cafeteria. I should have been scared. The last time we’d met I got a feeling of being terrified but had no reason to be and didn’t understand it. I wasn’t scared now.
     
    I found myself just walking around the dark dreary room, completely pitch black except wide streams of moon and streetlight beaming in. It was funny how our perception of everything changed by just the time of day changing. At night everything seemed so much more mysterious. I was in my sleep clothes this time; a pair of sleep shorts with little penguins on them and a black off the shoulder t-shirt.
     
    I didn’t see him anywhere yet, but I had a feeling he would be here, so I just walked around, thinking about all the times I’d eaten there and all the stupid things my ‘friends’ had done.
     
    “What are you thinking about?” I heard him say behind me. “You’re concentrating pretty hard.”
     
    I turned to