Allison leaned in, dropping her voice to a staged whisper. “Is she avoiding me?” Stevie herself had told me nothing about Allison, so I was well within my rights to pretend I had no idea who she was. “She didn’t say anything. Do you guys know each other or something?” Allison had to laugh. When my face didn’t break as she expected, she went quiet. She couldn’t read me, which made me feel wild with power. I’d never tried to be anything but nice to a complete stranger before. This wasn’t me being mean either. I didn’t know what I was being, but it worked all the same, unsettling her in the exact
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