all of a sudden , it feels perfectly normal to sit with her like this , with her hand in my lap . `` i guess she would know , would n't she ? '' she ran as fast as her legs could take her to the south gate . i do n't know how things got this way . its only a week before her birthday celebration of turning eighteen . their silence moved ahead of him like a wave . he got up again , walked over to the window , and looked at his car . 