I preferred being alone, preferred the sanctuary of books to the company of others and I absolutely abhorred the society dos that were so much a part ...f my mother's and my sister's lives.I wasn't so much of a rebel, though, that I could defy my folks on where I went to school. So I dutifully trotted off to an exclusive prep school, where I did pretty well, just not well enough to get much attention in the uber-competitive academic environment the school fostered.So when my mom insisted that I. He remembered when they’d grown larger into the hands of a teenager, young and strong and growing even stronger, and by that time, they already bore a very few scars. Most of those had gone by now, but he could still see the deep one on the top of his right index finger. He curled that hand, looking for the other part of that scar — the one which had been across the back of his right thumb. But that one seemed to have disappeared somewhere back down the road. He’d gotten them because he’d held. But Emily Anne Shreve was cool with my lack of cool. She was probably somewhat accustomed to getting that kind of reaction.Walking to Alex' car, Emily Anne's limp looked as if it made walking somewhat painful. At least, the break in her gait was quite noticeable. She said nothing about it and didn't seem surprised that I, quite obviously, had been forewarned about The Limp.I was flooded with new concern about my barely acceptable outfit. I was worried that I might be giving off some sort of. They were nurses at the hospital, whom he’d met through his job as an EMT. The girls were dressed to kill as well, and the three of them had garnered a large share of male attention the whole evening. Their only competition sat at a table, celebrating the twenty-first birthday of one member of their foursome.Danielle said, “That guy over in the corner is checking you out, Natalie.”His voice pitched upward into the well-practiced tone of Natalie, Norm said, “So is the guy at the end of the.