Chapter32:

After all these years, I’m not fully convinced that he suddenly saw her as something more. She’s the female version of him and not exactly shy about her past conquests. Dane strikes me as a loose and fast lothario who would only settle with a girl he saw fit to marry when the time was right, or never at all. He doesn’t scream the relationship type, especially not with the Pamela Anderson of our school. I watch him put the frame back where it was and move along further to pick up a stuffed animal he starts messing with between his two hands. Standing there, he seems awkward and nervous, yet he isn’t inching toward my door to leave. His refusal to deny anything for me is giving me a burning hope that the real reason is fear and nothing else, and something brave is growing in my depths. Despite his anger that day in the kitchen and his reaction to the kiss today, he’s here. He always tries to smooth over shit that goes on between us after the fact. He’s dodging my questions, yet he isn’t