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CHAPTER TWOHi,” someone said to Ernesto. The voice was as soft as satin and girlish.
Ernesto turned to see Naomi Martinez. He was shocked.
“I just wanted to apologize to you for how Clay acted,” she explained. “You were nice enough to pick up my stuff, and he was a jerk. He’s not really like that. I’m sorry. I need to apologize.”
Ernesto stared at the girl. “That’s okay,” he mumbled. How could such a nice girl like Clay Aguirre? Why was she apologizing for what that jerk did? Why was she lying and saying he wasn’t really like that? Of course he was.
“You’re new here at Chavez, aren’t you?” Naomi asked. “I haven’t seen you except in the last few days.”
“Yeah,” Ernesto replied, “we just moved down here from LA. My dad, he’s uh . . . a history teacher here at school.” He looked ar
