Eager hands pulled buttons and belts and zippers before long. Maybe she’d even let him. Deliberately turning her back on the tree, she began to pack. Daniel raised it a few inches and smiled. “What about you?” she said. The thought made her smile. That meant secrecy. Not for himself, but for her, as if he’d put her into some kind of compromising position. The cat jumped onto the sill of a certain first-floor window. As for her, she went to the closet and found her old suitcase, the one she hadn’t used since the class trip in the 6th grade. If you want to, you can stay and be initiated. He followed, and then they were inside. Then he sighed. Daniel throbbed. Carol-Anne peered in and Daniel (after a second) joined her. “There are laws,” her father said.
