lt it in the way the staff moved-quieter, more watchful. Charles Sinclair

being polite to the girl. But don't

his heart wasn't

orchard, he spotted something stuck between the slats.

g of a boy leaning on a rake, swea

a single w

. But he did

la. She wasn't looking at him, not directly-but her hand lingered on the railin

erous, foolish even, but he no longer cared. Someone like her noticing someon

orchard when Daniel arrived. She was sitting b

ay," sh

away, starting to clear weed

something," h

, her eyes da

m his pocket and held i

good," h

ing modesty. "I jus

he soil. "You shouldn't leave things lik

said. "I left it

serious this time. "Your

n't c

e like me don't end up in stories li

him. The scent of her shampoo, light an

te a different

rt hammered

't even

ere. You speak with truth. You listen more than you talk.

, unsure whether

razy," he

a grin spreading.

dirt-covered hands. "Y

choose what I want instead of what I'm t

, the breeze gently stirr

book and tore out another page. She fo

," she said. "Wait

hers. She stood and brush

tomorrow?

swer. He did

wn at the ground, trying to slow the

acy of his tiny room, h

it wasn'

as a

prove of us. But let's

Reyes allowed himself to believe that maybe, ju