Paradise Lost (Private 9)

Noelle was just standing up on the other side of the bed. She had my bag of birdseed in her hand. "He knocked this over. There's birdseed all over the floor behind the table."

My chest constricted. The seed reminded me of what the bird had meant to me. How I had provided for him and had wanted to take care of him. Fab job I had done of that.

"At least he got one last meal," Noelle told me brightly. "That's something."

"Sure. That's something," I replied.

I just wished that everyone around me would quit dying.

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CHAPTER 32 PARANOID

As always, when we arrived at Shutters, Noelle's parents split off to hang out with the other parents, while Noelle and I joined Kiran, Taylor, Tiffany, and Amberly, who already were seated at a table in the center of the patio, a few spots away from the Ryans & Friends table. I was starting to think that the reason most of these families came down here for the holidays was so that they wouldn't have to spend time with one another.

As Marquis led us to our table, I noticed that all of my friends were in zipped hoodies and huge sunglasses. Kiran looked slightly more put-together than the rest--her hair was actually combed--but Tiff, Taylor, and Amberly looked as though they'd tumbled in a clothes dryer for half an hour before leaving their houses. Hangover, party of four?

"Hi, everyone!" I said brightly, loudly scraping back my chair.

They all groaned and shifted position. Taylor folded her arms on

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the table and dropped down her head with a bang that caused all the silverware to clatter.

"Hey, Reed." Tiffany attempted a smile. "I hate you."

"Pardon my perkiness. It's totally fake," I replied, slouching down along with them. "I may not have been drunk, but I didn't have a good night either."

"And her bird died this morning," Noelle said.

"What? Oh, no!" Taylor said, lifting her head slightly.

"Poor birdie!" Amberly added.

"That sucks," Kiran put in. She lifted her juice glass. "To Reed's bird. We hardly knew you. Actually, we didn't know you at all. Rest in peace." She took a swig of her juice. Everyone else made sympathetic sounds. It was all they could muster.

"You can all visit his ocean-side grave if you want," Noelle said, signaling for a waiter. "It's got quite an exquisite view, for a bird cemetery."

"I'll get the waiter for you!" Amberly announced, recalling her duties as Noelle's slave. "What do you want? I'll order it."

"Down, girl," Noelle said firmly. "I'm giving Reed the day off, so you may as well kickback, too. Have some coffee. You look like someone hit you in the face with a frying pan."

Amberly dropped back into her seat, looking like a kicked puppy. But she reached for the coffee like a good lackey. I realized that, compared to everyone else at the table, Noelle was curiously hangover-free as well. I wondered if some of her drunkenness the night before had been an act. An excuse to get so flirty with Dash, perhaps? Maybe

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when he'd driven her home they had finally sealed the deal. He had yet to arrive at Shutters that morning, and I made a mental note to watch him and Noelle when they first saw each other. The look exchanged between them would tell all.

"Well, I don't know if this is good news or bad news, Reed, but my father wasn't able to sharpen up that image," Tiffany said, reaching for the silver coffee carafe at the center of the table. "All anyone can tel

l is that it's a person and that the person is blond."

My heart squeezed. "So it could be Poppy."

"Reed. We've been over this," Noelle said. She placed her order with the waiter and handed him her menu. He looked at me expectantly.

"I'm not hungry, thanks," I told him. Noelle rolled her eyes and sighed.