Noah is dead and in their vicinity all the time, and they don't behave that way around him. But they're different kinds of dead with different scents, so maybe it's Kieren's possession of an actual body that sets him apart.

"Sure," he says, feeling his gut tighten with anxiety to have to explain. For now, while they go to the bus stop, he turns the subject away from that. "Hey, whatever happened to that boy you kissed?"