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Great. Embarrassment had her cheeks going hot. She tugged at his hand.
“I’m hungry, Grumpy Bear.”
“Wait a minute. Citizenship award. Compliment champion. Sweetest smile. Best friend in the world. Kindest person ever. These are real awards?”
“No,” she whispered. “They’re things my friends sent me when I . . . when I needed cheering up. I kept them all these years. They’re silly, I know.” She reached up to grab one. She should have put them away, instead of keeping them out on display.
But then, she’d never expected anyone else to ever see them. She should have known that Gray wouldn’t just ignore them.
Gray took hold of her hand, pulling it away. “Leave them. They’re not stupid, girl.”
She sighed. Not stupid, no. Not at the time, anyway. She’d desperately needed them. But now . . . maybe they were.
She was older. She was supposed to be tougher and smarter. Wiser, right?
Yeah, she was still waiting on that to happen.
Then he pointed to a photo of them all dressed up. The three girls wore dresses, the four boys in suits as they did a silly pose for the camera. “Prom?”
“Sort of,” she said in a croaky voice. “If you can still have a prom after leaving school.”
“What?”
“I didn’t . . . I didn’t go to my prom.”
He just waited patiently.
She sighed. “Breakfast will be getting cold.”
Gray just stared down at her.
“In case it wasn’t glaringly obvious, I’m kind of . . . I’m kind of different.”
“So?”
“So, in high school being different is wrong, right?”
He frowned. “What?”
“Kids don’t like different. Or at least not in my small town high school.” The place had been filled with judgmental kids and the parents they’d learned that from.
“You didn’t all go to school together?” he asked.
“No.”
“I just assumed that’s where you’d met. So you met in college?” he asked.
“No.” She bit her lip. “This is a long story.”
“Just as well we have a long drive together then, huh?”
She sighed, but nodded. Although, maybe she should get started now. “I was bullied in high school.”
“Because you were different.”
“Yeah.”
“Fucking assholes.”
