Chapter 78

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Age 18

“Beebub! Hurry up!” I yelled out the window, honking my horn for good measure. I was driving my dad’struck, which I kept idling in front of the sheriff’s house. The front door was open, so I knew the idiotcould hear me. It took forty-five minutes to drive to the nearest cinema, and the movie would start in an hour.

“Hold your horses,” I heard him shout back, and glanced out the passenger side window, almost chokingat the clothes he wore. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, though I should have been used to my best friend’s dramatic flair by now.

“You expect me to be seen with you in public, dressed like that?” I asked as he sat in the truck and put on his seatbelt.

“You’ve survived this long,” he replied, and from the corner of my eye I caught a smirk as we took offdown the road, gravel spraying behind us.