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Back The Infinite Noise Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. 57
  61. 58
  62. 59
  63. 60
  64. 61
  65. 62
  66. 63
  67. 64
  68. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  69. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  70. Newsletter Sign-up

“Hey” is what I say instead.

48

ADAM

The sounds of bodies hitting each other and cleats digging into the field mix into the noise of the crowd and it overwhelms me. It’s been a long time since I came to a school event. Everyone is dressed in red and white, even me—I pull Caleb’s letterman jacket closer around me and try not to look too smug that I’m wearing it.

“Wow, never thought I’d see you at one of these.”

I look to my right to see Caitlin shuffling into the bleachers to stand next to me, her arms laden with concessions. She grins around the straw of her soda and I grin back.

“Yeah, well, part of the job description now, I guess.” I shrug.

“He’s got you wrapped around his finger, does he?” she snorts, and I laugh. It’s been a couple weeks since Caitlin and I have said more than two words to each other—after the debate competition (which we won), we stopped having a reason to hang out and I got too caught up in Caleb and Atypicals and everything else to make the effort.

Not that I would have necessarily made the effort anyway. Without the built-in time of debate prep, I would have had no idea how to be Caitlin’s friend. I feel like she’s Technicolor and I’m black-and-white and that the two can’t mix together in the real world.

“Adam!”

A girl’s voice is calling to me but Caitlin is stuffing a pretzel into her mouth so I look around until I spot Chloe waving from one of the aisles. She makes her way through the crowd to me, wrapping me in a hug that makes it seem like we’ve been friends for ages. I tentatively hug her back and fumble through introductions to Caitlin.

As they shake hands, I start to have a total out-of-body experience. I’m standing in the school bleachers watching football, wearing my boyfriend’s letterman jacket, with a friend on either side of me. When did this become my life?

“Did Caitlin and Caleb used to date?” Chloe whispers into my ear as Caitlin cheers the Red Team on. The two other times I’ve been around Chloe were like this too—she just jumps into the middle of a conversation. If I’m two steps behind with Caleb, I’m twenty steps behind Chloe.

“Um, no, not really,” I whisper back. “Why?”

“She was just thinking about him and I wasn’t sure…” She cocks her head like she’s actually listening to something—like mind reading is just trying to hear a stereo in the next room—before nodding and jumping right back in.

“Ohhhh, gotcha,” she replies to no one. “Don’t worry, she’s not jealous of you. She’s happy for you guys.”