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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

“I’m not, I guess.” He shrugs, taking a swig from his iced tea. “At least, not most of the time. They’re idiots—no offense—”

“None taken. Like I said, I’m not exactly best buds with those two.”

“Right.” He narrows his eyes at me, like he still doesn’t quite buy that. “So anyway, most of the time I’m able to shrug it off. It’s not like some huge deal or anything.”

Bzzzzzt.

When I bother to pay attention, my Problem works like a flawless lie detector. There’s a little spike of anti-calm that pops up in people, and nine times out of ten it’s because they’re full of shit.

Adam is so full of shit.

“You’re full of shit,” I say.

Mouth, brain—what did we just talk about?

“What?” He jolts, every emotion in his body spiking again, and I want to slam my head into the table. The Great Amazing Feelings Boy totally face-plants. Again.

20

ADAM

“What?”

Did the golden boy just tell me I was full of shit? Yet more evidence that I’ve fallen into some weird Twilight Zone version of my life.

“It is a big deal,” Caleb says, his face set with determination. Determination to do what, I don’t know, and that sends a rush up and down my spine. “It sucks that they bother you. You shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

“What?” I ask again, mouth hanging open slightly. This lunch has been going surprisingly well so far—just the fact that it’s even going in the first place is a real shock to the system—but I keep feeling like I’m four steps behind in the conversation. That is not a feeling I’m accustomed to and it frustrates me, but also sort of thrills me, if I’m honest.

“Just—what did you ever do to them, you know? Justin and Bryce, I mean. Have you ever given them a reason to be mean to you?” He says it in a way that’s nonjudgmental, like he actually wants to understand the situation from my perspective. That’s new.

I finally close my mouth as he says this, put down my yogurt, and start in on my pizza. My stomach is too tied in knots for me to want to eat anything, but I need to focus on something that isn’t his stupid perfect face.

“I don’t know,” I mumble into my pepperoni. “I don’t think so. I’m just an easy target, I guess.”

This is mostly true. But Caleb is looking at me like he knows that isn’t the whole story. He’s got that stupidly enticing open expression on his face that says he knows I want to say more; that makes it feel like it might be okay if I said more.