"If all she wants is for me to keep my hands clean, I can promise that," Romeo vowed. "I know it's nothing, a promise, just air, but I can't make a situation happen until it happens."

"And I'm no smarter than you are. I've ten years at a school where my last name alone earned my good marks, a year and a half here, and a few words no one else uses. You at least can survive when things are against you."

"You don't have to go back. Please don't. I'll worry too much." He really hadn't wanted to put it quite that bluntly.