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PERRY ANSWERS ON THE SECOND KNOCK. “Oh, hi,” he says. A week ago, his emotionless greeting wouldn’t have bothered me. Now, it makes me feel like a wad of old gum on my shoe. “Never mind,” I say, turning to leave. “Wait. What’s up?” Perry looks sleepy. Wrinkled. His shirt smells like pop 86
corn. I want to bury my face in it and let him take me away. “I’ve escaped the asylum,” I say. “Can I hang out here until the white coats recapture me for dinner?” He laughs. That crooked tooth makes me weak in the knees. Perry’s mom works at the hospital in Dover. She’s a pediatric nurse. Her days are filled with sick children and crying parents. Which is why she saved so hard for Perry’s telescope. “There’s got to be something better out there,” she said when she gave it to him. “When you find it, will you take me away?” Mrs. Gould has the right idea. Perry opens the door wide and I follow him inside. “I’m watching Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars again,” he says. “You’ve seen it, right? He uses action figures and computer animation. Totally dumb, but funny.” I follow Perry into the den. The movie is paused on his TV screen. “Popcorn?” he asks, plopping down on the couch and tossing me one of the three bags of microwave popcorn that are puffed up on the couch next to him. “Sure,” I say and rip open one of the bags. Buttery steam drifts into my nostrils. It smells like Perry’s shirt. I wonder, from now on will the smell of popcorn make me feel in love? Will movie theaters now make me blush? Perry props his bare feet on the coffee table and hits the 87
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Mary Hogan
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15 IF AUNT MARTY WEREN’T SMACK IN
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SHE WALKS INTO CLASS TEN MINUTES AF
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“DUCK.” That’s the first word
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“Wasn’t the president’s daugh
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“If it isn’t P. Nerdy in his ga
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IT WAS DELICIOUSLY WARM OUT, ONE OF
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The two of us were trapped in a mat
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you see all four of them? They’re
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MOM HAS HER FEET PROPPED UP ON OUR
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Mom—her kinky reddish-gray curls
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ping powerhouse, Odessa, Delaware,
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when I’m in love with a boy who h
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four, but it felt like forty. We le
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a giant looping ramp. Suddenly, I s
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and Destruction” lectures. “Eve
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Before I could figure out what to s
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I laughed, too. Tried to look as ca
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“Do you have these in red?” she
Page 43 and 44: what everyone else did. “These cr
Page 45 and 46: sure they’d been ironed. Everythi
Page 47 and 48: in front of other males, about not
Page 49 and 50: “WE CAME ALL THIS WAY FOR A DAY ?
Page 51 and 52: “Who told you?” my mother asked
Page 53 and 54: The last thing I saw were Aunt Mart
Page 55 and 56: Far back in the corner of my closet
Page 57 and 58: emember it. Like the soft, warm com
Page 59 and 60: asking Aunt Marty for advice about
Page 61 and 62: un both hands down the front of her
Page 63 and 64: Mom is speechless. Her hair is a kn
Page 65 and 66: She slams the freezer door shut in
Page 67 and 68: WE’RE TOO LATE. BY THE TIME I BRI
Page 69 and 70: “We have company!” he exclaims.
Page 71 and 72: ack). He’d round a corner, wearin
Page 73 and 74: I’d say, “Sure,” without worr
Page 75 and 76: I wiggle my freshly painted toenail
Page 77 and 78: “Thanks,” I say, calling after
Page 79 and 80: But—and this is a humongous but
Page 81 and 82: Arthur turned into a puppy. I kept
Page 83 and 84: IF AUNT MARTY WEREN’T SMACK IN TH
Page 85 and 86: the wall that separates the living
Page 87 and 88: about your birth.” “What have y
Page 89 and 90: “She was the only member of my fa
Page 91 and 92: Quietly, she repeats, “There is o
Page 93: Swiveling, she turns her back on me
Page 97 and 98: “Check this out,” Perry says, s
Page 99 and 100: We sit. On the white couch. Like tw
Page 101 and 102: Aunt Marty steps back and watches o
Page 103 and 104: “I want my daughter to be prepare
Page 105 and 106: AUNT MARTY’S CAR SMELLS LIKE HER
Page 107 and 108: loop of their relationship going. I
Page 109 and 110: “I know.” Truth be told, it’s
Page 111 and 112: sunscreen, and something I can’t
Page 113 and 114: Only, when I see Frankie, she hands
Page 115 and 116: IT’S THE SMELL OF CINNAMON AND BU
Page 117 and 118: Aunt Marty beams. She races ahead,
Page 119 and 120: Lilah impatiently asks, “What siz
Page 121 and 122: “Nothing,” I say. “Good. Now
Page 123 and 124: Shop, the Gap, Tower Records, Banan
Page 125 and 126: Serrano is as excited to see Celest
Page 127 and 128: “A Cosmopolitan, please,” Aunt
Page 129 and 130: Celeste and Frankie excitedly bob t
Page 131 and 132: ultimate ego trip.” Caressing my
Page 133 and 134: oth heart and soul. Trust me. That
Page 135 and 136: “That’s why I’m here in Odess
Page 137 and 138: IT’S ABOUT NINE O’CLOCK WHEN WE
Page 139 and 140: fill my daughter’s head with garb
Page 141 and 142: “You don’t hate me, Fay. You ha
Page 143 and 144: My mother moves even closer to me,
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something in Wilmington, but the st
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I can barely breathe. “You busy S
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“Props?” “You know, setting s
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your nose, one eyebrow or the other
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“Tell your mother the truth.” M
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THROUGH THE BUS WINDOW, WE BOTH WAT
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“Let’s jam!” he shouts. The G
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scope out each mouth-watering possi
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“We’ll make it,” Perry says w
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appears on the pay line, an astrona
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“We can’t.” “We must!” I
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completely. My body jingles like a
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fantasies. The reality of it is . .
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that. Things are flying smoothly ag
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twenty minutes, then twenty-five. I
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the blood throbbing through my temp
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Aunt Marty brings my mother Little
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speaks to the coroner about Mr. Art
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emember most about Mr. Arthur. It d
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“Me?” At that moment, I realize
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of the talking.” Then she added,
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my head: For fourteen years, I’ve
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As I look at my mother standing the
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This year, three weeks after Mr. Ar
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last pool of syrup with my last for
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much smaller) head. “So do I.”
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WE HAVE ONE LAST FAMILY DINNER—TH
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makeup somehow remains perfect), Au
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in Dover Mall as often as Mom will
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“Hey,” he says to me, nodding a
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ETERNAL THANKS TO THE AMAZING Amand
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THE SERIOUS KISS PRETTY FACE
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Copyright PERFECT GIRL. Copyright
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