Give the step-by-step reasoning process and then the final answer. Steve has 2 boxes of pencils with 12 pencils in each box. He gave Matt 3 more pencils than he gave to Lauren. If Steve gave 6 pencils to Lauren, how many pencils does he have left?
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Steve started with 2 * 12 = 24 pencils. He gave Matt 6 + 3 = 9 pencils. After giving away the pencils, Steve will have 24 – 9 – 6 = 9 pencils left.
The final answer: 9.
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