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Lance gave Hector the address and then ventured off again.

Garovel floated over his shoulder. ‘Looks like you’re going to be a busy man from now on.’

‘I, ah...’

‘This is basically what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it? Having friends to spend time with and so forth?’

Hector glanced at the reaper, then back down at the address. ‘Y-yeah...’ He couldn’t help smiling. ‘I just never thought it could actually happen...’

‘Heh.’

Ms. Trent poked her head out of her office. “Hector,” she called out. And he thought he was in trouble until she added, “Glad to see you’re back.”

He gave a blushing nod.

And then he was alone again. He looked across the other club members, wondering if any of them were going to approach him, but when none did, he decided that he had satisfactorily fulfilled Garovel’s request to make an appearance. He started for the exit.

‘Hector,’ said Garovel. ‘You said you’d tell me your history with these people.’

‘Fine...’ He took a breath as he entered the hall. ‘Basically, ah... well, one thing you have to understand about the kids in the club is that, uh... they’re very... well, they’re very close-knit. They, um. I mean, I wouldn’t call them a clique, exactly, but... they have some of those qualities, I guess.’

‘Go on.’

‘And, uh... there’s this couple. Katrina and Jamal. They’re sort of like the group’s leaders. The alpha couple. And, um. One day, I, uh... I kinda... I mean, I... ah, man, this is... just...’

‘Hector, c’mon. Spit it out.’

‘I, uh... I saw them having sex in the clubroom.’

Garovel stared at him a moment. ‘Uh. Huh.’

‘Yeah... I mean, I just walked in on them and... yeah...’

‘What did you do?’

‘I ran away. Which... probably wasn’t the right thing to do. They’d seen me. So... maybe I shoulda just talked to them, but... I... that... there was just no way...’

‘I can imagine.’