We'll Fly Away: List 3

by Bryan Bliss
Before he was convicted of a terrible crime, Luke and his best friend Toby dreamed of escaping their small town. Moving between Luke's letters to Toby from prison and flashbacks to the boys' senior year of high school, this novel explores the challenges and choices that led Luke to death row.

This list covers Chapters 11–15.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 9 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cavalier
    showing a lack of concern or seriousness
    It probably looked cavalier, almost cocky. Or maybe it would come across as confidence, portraying a mystical belief that the scale wouldn’t betray him.
  2. determination
    firmness of purpose
    He was trying to create a base, pushing back against Luke with an unexpected determination.
  3. recede
    become faint or more distant
    The anger drowned out everything else. And even sitting here now, he couldn’t calm down. He couldn’t get it to recede.
  4. provocation
    a means of arousing or stirring to action
    He could be sitting alone, watching television, and a shadow would settle on him without provocation.
  5. bashful
    self-consciously timid
    He ran all the way to Annie’s door, pausing only right before his hand raised to knock—suddenly optimistic that they could figure it out. Bashful for the kiss.
  6. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    Annie reached for his hand, and he flinched. When she saw it, bulbous and bloody, she bent down.
  7. reciprocate
    act, feel, or give mutually or in return
    He didn’t mind being the one who showed them how to grow up. But he always expected that she’d reciprocate when he needed it.
  8. diminutive
    very small
    Whether it was Luke’s unchecked momentum, or Ricky’s diminutive stature, Luke lost leverage almost immediately.
  9. leverage
    strategic advantage; power to act effectively
    Whether it was Luke’s unchecked momentum, or Ricky’s diminutive stature, Luke lost leverage almost immediately.
  10. notion
    a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
    Toby had a vague notion he should respond.
  11. sobriety
    the state of being unaffected or not intoxicated by alcohol
    And as sobriety creeped up on him, the sickening feeling of betrayal returned.
  12. leer
    look suggestively or obliquely
    Toby watched her, hoping she wouldn’t suddenly open her eyes and catch him leering.
  13. missionary
    someone who attempts to convert others to a doctrine
    “Calm down, cowboy. You’re covered in puke. There’re some clothes in the spare bedroom, left over from a missionary family my dad hosted. I’ll leave them by the front door. When you get dressed, come inside and I’ll make us something to eat.”
  14. impromptu
    with little or no preparation or forethought
    He grabbed the hose and gave himself an impromptu wash.
  15. meticulously
    in a manner marked by extreme care of details
    Everything inside was meticulously arranged.
  16. afghan
    a blanket knitted or crocheted in strips or squares
    An afghan was folded across the headrest of a plastic-clad recliner.
  17. breach
    make an opening or gap in
    Toby clamped his mouth shut. If he opened it, he would throw up again. But the walls had been breached.
  18. exertion
    use of physical or mental energy; hard work
    Usually he would sprint to the plane and knock out fifty, sixty push-ups before the exertion slowly siphoned away the anger.
  19. siphon
    convey, draw off, or empty by or as if by a tube
    Usually he would sprint to the plane and knock out fifty, sixty push-ups before the exertion slowly siphoned away the anger.
  20. indiscriminate
    failing to make or recognize distinctions
    Unfazed, she turned around and began stalking the aisles, indiscriminately pulling candy bars and bags of chips off the shelves.
  21. exacting
    severe and unremitting in making demands
    On the mat, he was polished and exacting.
  22. innocuous
    not causing disapproval
    With Annie—if he was being honest, any girl—he second-guessed even the simplest movements. The most innocuous words.
  23. sheer
    complete and without restriction
    She had candy and potato chips, a bottle of soda and a large water. The clerk looked baffled by the sheer amount of junk food on his counter.
  24. liability
    something that holds you back
    Music worked you up. It brought you down. He saw it with the guys on the team, hip-hop or metal blaring, and it felt like a liability.
  25. keel
    one of the main longitudinal beams of the hull of a vessel
    He wanted to stay flat and even keel.
  26. intimate
    marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity
    She pulled away briefly and put her forehead against his, a move that felt strangely intimate to Luke.
  27. harbor
    maintain, as a theory, thought, or feeling
    But he didn’t want to leave Annie, still harboring vague fantasies that she would wake him up in the middle of the night...
  28. quandary
    state of uncertainty in a choice between unfavorable options
    It left Toby in a bit of a quandary.
  29. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    Toby walked in sheepishly, not saying anything until Lily noticed him.
  30. captivate
    attract; cause to be enamored
    Even Lily’s mock outrage captivated him.
  31. vintage
    a season's yield of wine from a vineyard
    And from a bag she had hidden from Toby, she pulled out a bottle of cheap strawberry wine.
    “Farm of the Boones,” Lily said, presenting the bottle. “A fine vintage. Bottled two weeks ago.”
  32. truant
    one who is absent from school without permission
    “So I’ve made you a truant, and now I’ve given you alcohol,” she said.
  33. extravagant
    unrestrained, especially with regard to feelings
    But really, I don’t smile that often. Whenever I do, it feels wrong. Too extravagant, maybe.
  34. reverence
    a feeling of profound respect for someone or something
    As Luke got the boys dressed, Annie made them pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse, a trick that Petey and Jack-Jack treated with the sort of reverence most people didn’t show for the dead, let alone breakfast food.
  35. hyperventilate
    breathe excessively hard and fast
    “Mo-Mo-Mom-isn’t-here,” Jack-Jack said, nearly hyperventilating as he sobbed out the words.
  36. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    Annie eventually snuck out of the apartment and returned twenty minutes later with two pizzas and a two-liter of soda. Even that didn’t coax the twins from Luke’s lap, at least not at first.
  37. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
    As they did, the adrenaline that had taken over for Luke started to slip away.
  38. tryst
    a date or meeting with a love interest
    They acted as if they’d been friends forever, as if this visit wasn’t the first, but the latest in a string of regular trysts.
  39. hull
    the frame or body of a ship
    Behind them, Lily sat down in the hull of the plane.
  40. gyrate
    wind or move in a spiral course
    Toby clapped once and started gyrating again almost immediately.
Created on Mon Oct 15 14:42:48 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Oct 16 10:40:40 EDT 2018)

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