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" When they reached the table, Hannah started to introduce them. “Layla, this is Joe. Joe, this is—”
“We’ve already met,” said Joseph, extending his hand and smiling.
“Have we?” asked Layla, baffled.
“Have you?” said Hannah. This was news to her.
“Yeah, we have,” continued Joseph. “A couple of hours ago. On the road into the village. You tried to kill me, remember?”
“Kill you?” gasped Layla. “You’re the biker? The one I knocked over?”
“You knocked him over?” repeated Hannah in horror.
“I didn’t mean to,” explained Layla quickly. “It was an accident. I was going to tell you about it. I just haven’t had the chance yet.”
Turning to Joseph, Hannah asked, “Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?”
“Well,” he replied somberly, “apart from my right arm, which I’m not sure is going to be of much use to me ever again, I’m fine.”
As Layla’s jaw dropped open, he added quickly, “I’m joking. Really, it’s just a joke. I’m fine.”
“Right, well, in that case,” Hannah continued, “as I was saying, Layla, this is Joseph Scott. Joe, this is Layla Lewis, your would-be killer, next door neighbor, and my best friend. She’s house-sitting whilst Lenny’s in Scotland.”
“Next door neighbor, huh?” replied Joseph, taking a swig from his pint glass. “That could prove interesting. "
― Shani Struthers , The Runaway Year (The Runaway Series, #1)
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" ...I think I saw something orange pass beneath a streetlight. That means she turned the corner on Pecan Street. Wait right here, and I’ll get my car.” Stella grabbed Mona’s arm. “There’s no time. Follow me and keep your mouth shut.” Instead of going to the street, Stella crept through a yard. “This is crazy, I can’t see a thing. Stella, we could break a leg.” “I told you to be quiet. I know these yards as well as I know my own. Stay behind me.” She led Mona behind a large azalea bush close to the sidewalk. They hid there as Rusty approached, and she was almost on top of them when Mona sneezed. Rusty stopped, put her hands on her hips, and said, “I know you’re in there.” Neither Stella nor Mona made a peep. “I think I understand why you feel the need to watch me. I’m new around here, so let me introduce myself. My name is Rusty Martinez. I’m a businesswoman, and I have no intention of breaking into anyone’s home. I’m simply out for exercise, so you have nothing to worry about.” “Okay, well, you have a nice night,” Mona said cheerily. Rusty recoiled at the response. “Um…you too,” she said quickly and jogged away. Stella groaned. “Your mother obviously didn’t teach you how to properly conduct a mission, did she?” “If you mean how to hide in a bush, then no. "
― Robin Alexander , Rusty Logic
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" I am sorry to have to introduce the subject of Christmas into these articles. It is an indecent subject; a cruel, gluttonous subject; a drunken, disorderly subject; a wasteful, disastrous, subject; a wicked, cadging, lying, filthy, blashphemous, and demoralizing subject. Christmas is forced on a reluctant and disgusted nation by the shopkeepers and the press: on its own merits it would wither and shrivel in the fiery breath of universal hatred; and any one who looked back to it would be turned into a pillar of greasy sausages. "
― George Bernard Shaw ,