Countless nights she had tossed and turned thinkingabout him, how he'd sweep her off her feet as he declared his undyinglove with a kiss. But never in...a million years did she think it wouldactually happen...Alex was the star quarterback of the Cougars and she'd been his bestfriend and neighbor for years. Always there to support him no matter whathappened. She'd watched while the prettiest girls in town captured hisattention and was there to comfort him when the romances ended. Shealways had his. "I mean the ones we live with. Sean, Rachelle, Mary and Walt did, too? I mean, Mary is a freakin' genius, too. I figured she would nail it perfectly." Mary is very smart in the area she is studying," Adam pointed out. "In general knowledge and retention of that knowledge, she is somewhat average. Walt is the same way. The math and science section he killed. I mean an almost perfect score in both. On English and social studies, he was in the 70s. The writing section? Forget it. He would have had. "Really, John? Let's examine that scene, but let's start at what was happening before she even went on that trip. You yourself admitted that your relationship had been deteriorating. Esther was deeply involved in a major contract, a project that had career enhancing implications. Perhaps she allowed her home life with you to suffer, to take second place to it, and you took the brunt of that. You tried to be understanding because you know how important this was to her. You had always known how. He replaced it with a large shiny black collar that was at least six inches high. Julie had seen one before; it was called a posture collar. It buckled around her neck and ensured that her neck was held in place, extended with her face looking forward and slightly up; she could neither turn her head to the side nor lower her head to look at the ground. He buckled it firmly into place, and then carefully checked that it was firm enough to hold her head still, but not so tight as to restrict.