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Annie couldn’t think of a word to say. She would sit in delight and awe as he spoke, then stumble over her words as he asked her questions about herself.
Everything he uttered she would capture in her mind, to save and replay later, as if prepping for a pop quiz.
A pop quiz that would show how good she was, at listening, at loving him.
His basic human decency was a novelty. She treated it as a prize.