since he as well as the people around him considered him as socially handicapped , there was no doubt he would struggle making friends with a girl of his age . '' no . of course not , '' he replied , sounding defensive . '' oh ! for school ? '' tiago asked rather disappointed . santi shook his head . he took the flyer for the poem reading competition that lay laconically on his bed , and handed it to tiago

'' not that i mind vlad being here , but it did n't occur to me to invite him since he was n't one of the people screaming for my head . '' '' keep your voice down , '' bones hissed , tugging me none too gently toward an alcove near the front door . i did n't know what he was so angry about . had it really been such a big deal for me to leave the line and say hello to vlad

we 're taking things slow , even if you feel i 'm pushing things . '' '' that 's right . one thing i thought about a little bit ago , when we were on our blind date you mentioned you had divorced parents . was that just a tale you made up ? '' '' as i mentioned , i was the first of our kind born , so i 've never had parents

the women 's perfumes were no better and really did nothing to mask the other smells as a matter of fact , their sick sweetness probably made the others worse . the waitress banged jason 's plate on the table and then slid it to him with her hip . her other hand balanced a tray filled with beer bottles . '' i 'll be back with your soda . '' jason was almost finished the burger by the time she brought the
soda