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then that I noticed how tight her shirt actually was. Maybe having her around wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.
    “I’m not…I don’t usually…” I started stammering like an idiot. I needed to just spit it out. “I’ve had a shitty day, too.”
    She seemed to laugh to herself and shake her head. I was beginning to wonder if Jillian Cross was having some kind of a nervous breakdown considering the flask, the tight shirt and the inappropriate laughter.
    “Don’t worry about it,” she replied softly shoving the flask into her back pocket. “But I’m pretty sure I have you beat in the shitty day department.”
    “You always carry a flask to school?” I asked, anxious to change the subject. She immediately stiffened and looked uncomfortable. “I’m just saying if someone catches you, it’s your ass.”
    “Don’t worry about my ass, Luke,” she drawled leaning against the building. “Anyway, I keep Joan tucked away when I’m inside.”
    “Joan?”
    She began to tell me this story about how she named her flask, and I didn’t know whether it was kind of endearing or just plain weird. It was then that I decided that Jillian Cross was, in fact, having some kind of a breakdown. But before I could continue questioning her about the flask, I heard the bell ringing inside the building.
    “Well, Luke, as heartwarming as this little chat of ours has been, I have to get to…some class,” she announced, her voice trailing off. She pushed off the wall and began to walk away again.
    “Hey,” I repeated. I didn’t know really what to say. Crazy or not, she was kind of amusing. “If you end up having another shitty day, there’s always another seat here.”
    She gave me a small smile and walked away. I watched her make her way back to the main building, still reeling from the bizarre conversation. Suddenly, the desire to jump on my bike and leave school was overwhelming. The day was getting weirder and weirder, and I felt like I should just take off before it got worse. Taking a long drag from my cigarette, I repeated the words that I knew would get me through the rest of the day.
    Twenty-two days.

CHAPTER 5
Jillian
    My head was still spinning as I walked back through the front doors of the school. I had tried unsuccessfully to calm my nerves and regroup before heading to see Danielle. The arrival of an obviously premenstrual Luke Chambers did nothing to ease the tension I was feeling. Luke was nothing at all like I had expected and I’d admit that I was more than a little disappointed. Just seeing him leaning against the brick wall with that ridiculous mess of hair, the worn motorcycle jacket and requisite bad boy cigarette caused my mouth to start watering. His attitude, however, left a lot to be desired. But despite his obvious annoyance, in the end he offered up an invitation to crash his hiding place again if I felt like it. Technically, I didn’t need his invitation, but the sentiment was there. He was trying not to act like a jerk. I just didn’t have the time or the energy to deal with him, so I decided I’d definitely stay away from his spot behind the gym from now on. I needed to focus on the task at hand. And my task was in Room 312 for World Lit.
    Danielle could never get over the fact that we sat just a few seats away from each other in World Lit but never spoke. I didn’t find it as hard to believe since I didn’t speak to anyone in any of my classes. She was also bitter because she felt she would have done a lot better in the class with my help. I remembered Danielle being pretty chatty in class and getting detention fairly often so I wasn’t sure my study guides would have really helped. Fortunately for me, all of Danielle’s complaining made it easy for me to retain some memory of this class—that along with my love for the works that we covered. Finding my seat two desks in front of Danielle wouldn’t be a problem. The problem was that my run-in with Luke didn’t leave me much