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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

At least then I wouldn’t have to finish this goddamn presentation.

10

ADAM

“—so, yeah, um, on the fate side, we have the actions of the—the Three Witches…”

Oh god, I hate this. He looks so uncomfortable and I can hear the nerves in his voice and it makes me want to both run away and hide and also go up there to give him a hug. Caleb isn’t the type of guy who swaggers through the school like the hotshot that he easily could be, but he’s confident. He has every reason to be: rising football star, reasonably good student (or at least, he used to be), nice guy, solid family, crazy good-looking. How could he not be beloved?

Seeing him like this—anxious and unsure of himself—is like seeing a bird with its feathers plucked clean. There’s something naked and vulnerable and wrong about it. I don’t get why he’s so scared. English is the easiest AP by far, and we all know that oral presentations don’t count as much toward your grade as the essay assignment. I know a lot of students hate giving presentations, but he seems freaked beyond reason.

Caleb keeps clenching his hands, making his already crumpled notes wrinkle even further. He’s barely looking at the pages, his eyes darting around the room like he’s expecting someone to leap out from the shadows and attack him at any moment.

“As for Lady Macbeth, we can see, that, uh … we can see…”

His eyes widen and he looks frantically back at his paper—oh god, he’s lost his place. This is like watching a slow-motion car crash, except the person behind the wheel is the cutest guy in your class, who can raise the temperature of the room a few degrees by lifting the corner of his mouth in a smile, and watching him crash and burn is maybe the worst thing anyone could witness.