   â ⌠a little, but⌠â a sigh. she    doesnât want what they have to    change, but she wouldnât mind    it if he acted NICER every once    in a while. after all, the other boys,    like peter dawson, donât act like    this towards her. maybe thatâs    because j.d doesnât a c t u a l l y    like her. she wouldnât be surprised.
   the twelve year old, from then    on out, has a change in demeanor.    she becomes quiet, pensive. sheâs    staring at his face to be able to clean    it, but sheâs not actually SEEING    anything. o d d how one little thought    can keep her locked in her mind.    it really would SUCK, though, if jason    dean didnât like her. what if he argued    with his mom every night;; told her    that it was high time he stops PRETENDING?
  he wasnât versed in the psychology of women, but   he figured her silence wasnât a good thing. it wasnât   anything against her, really. but heâd finally found a   relationship that he liked. somewhere in between the   one he had with his mother and father. slightly horrible   and borderline abusive - the slushie reigning proof of   the fact - but also kind of awesome and edgefully endearing.   the pressure of her fingers against his skin a prime example.Â
  and he just wasnât willing to give that up at the hand of chivalry.   but, if she was going to become a recluse in his presence, maybe   he would have to make a few changes. with a sigh, he reached   up to pull her hand from his sticky face and willed his glance to   move her direction. Â
  â  i GUESS, if you want, i could be a little     nicer.     just donât get your hopes up or anything.  â
