rinning；　drooling　muzzle。　It　was　like　they？d　bee　one　giant　dog…dreadlock　monster。

Before　Blair　could　answer；　Aaron？s　muffled　voice　continued。　？Remember　when　I　drove　you　up　for

your　interview；　and　we　stayed　at　that　gross　motel？？　？Oh　God？how　could　I　forget？？　Blair　laughed

bitterly。　At　the　time；　she？d　thought　her　luck　couldn？t　get　any　worse。　After　a　night　of　drinking　too

much　beer　and　eating　too　much　junk　food　from　their　motel　vending　machine；　she？d　overslept　for

her　Yale　interview；　which　had　wound　up　being　a　total　disaster。　Now　that　she　was　into　Yale；　she

could　look　back　and　laugh。　If　she　hadn？t　gotten　in；　Aaron　wouldn？t　be　alive　now　to　remind　her　of

the　story。　？Anyway；　how　was　your　road　trip？　Pick　up　any　interesting；　homicidal　hitchhikers？？　He

laughed。　？No　hitchhikers。　It　was　good？I　pretty　much　didn？t　want　to　e　back。　But　I　guess　I

should　probably　pack　up　a　few　things　before　I　leave　for　Harvard。？　？Yeah；　before　the　movers　e

and　we　bee　homeless；？　Blair　added　angrily。　She　kicked　the　trunk　at　the　foot　of　her　bed　for

emphasis。

？Well；　I　guess　that　tells　me　how　you？re　feeling　about　the　move。？　Aaron　inched　a　little　farther

away；　as　if　afraid　she　was　going　to　kick　him　next。　？What；　are　you　worried　you？ll　miss　all　the　good

sales　at　Barneys？？　？Yeah；　actually。？　Blair　crossed　her　arms　over　her　chest。

He　nodded　his　dreadlocked　head　sympathetically　and　took　another　puff　from　his　herbal　cigarette；

which　smelled　like　boiled　broccoli　and　Lysol。　？So；　how？s　everybody　been　while　I　was　gone？？　His

voice　was　muffled　by　Mookie；　who　was　practically　sitting　on　his　face　at　this　point。　？How？s

Vanessa？？　？Can　you　move　that　disgusting　mutt　so　I　can　see　you？？　Blair　pulled　her　newly