She resembled a long-ago crush of his who’d worn a bright yellow headband to hold back thick brown hair. Brandi. She’d said yes to Empire of the Sun and they were boyfriend and girlfriend for three weeks after that, kissing for the first and only time in the stairwell between second and third periods. He’d have been all right to die then, standing in the hallway watching Brandi walk to her geology class after that kiss, but not later that year when he found out he would get to play drums in the school band. He wouldn’t have wanted to die before learning to keep a rhythm. There were so few
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