"I’m sorry I didn’t notice. And I’m sorry you’ve felt so alone in all of this”
“So, can you?”
I wait for Atara to answer. She plays with the zipper on her jacket, brushes an invisible speck of dust off her sparkly sweater, and runs a hand through her hair.
“Start at the beginning?” she says finally, with a shaky laugh. I nod, totally afraid of what she might say.
“I guess the beginning was the end of elementary school.”
I nod, totally lost.
“For you, elementary was a breeze. For me, it was work. And a lot of it. But it was doable and passable and not only that, people thought I was smart.”
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