“Ha ha. And no. I’m just curious, I guess.”
“I think—” I hear someone call my name and see that the camera guy is trying to get my attention to come back for filming. “I think it doesn’t really matter,” I tell her. “I think once you start, you just have to learn how to keep going.”
“That sounds about right. Or, at least, for as long as they’ll let you keep going, anyway.”
“Well, yeah, there’s that.”
“Have fun in Greece and try not to spread too many diseases to the natives, will you?”
“I’ll see you next week, you BFF-co-dependent drama queen.”
She laughs and says goodbye, and then she’s gone.
I head back to where Pelin’s sitting with our breakfast, the sun shining on her perfect, camera-ready skin. “Let’s get this party started. I need to get into that baklava already.” I offer myself to be mic’d up, then take my seat back at the table. “Lights, camera”—Pelin smiles at me before taking a tiny bite, then licking the honey off her lips—“and my personal favorite: action.”
Acknowledgments
Sometimes it’s hard to remember when and how a book began. In this case, there’s no forgetting the text message from Patricia Riley that said, “What if that imaginary Josh sequel wasn’t so imaginary?” Thank you, Patricia — my editor and friend — for setting this story free and loving every turn it took along the way. (Except Liam. I’m sorry about Liam. I swear, that never happened.)
Huge thanks to Lauren Meinhardt for setting the course of this book by asking for Vanessa’s story. I had no idea then who she was or that she’d completely own this book once I figured her out, but it’s been my favorite writing journey thus far, and I’m endlessly grateful for that challenge and all your editorial guidance and support.
To Maggie Hall — I don’t even know how to begin. I don’t think I ever would have finished this book with my sanity intact if you had not been with me every step of the way. And then, after everything you did for both the story and for me, you went ahead and made the most perfect, beautiful cover I could ever have imagined. Thank you, for everything.
Endless gratitude to my critique partners, Gina Ciocca, Marieke Nijkamp, and the aforementioned Maggie Hall, for figuring out all the ways this story was broken and helping me glue the right parts together. I’m forever awed by your skills at saving what I think is hopeless, and so in love with how far we’ve all come together. Best year ever? Best year ever.
Huge thanks to Lyla N. Lee and Audrey Coulthurst for incredibly helpful, insightful, and encouraging early reads, and to Christina Franke, for brainstorming me out of a tough spot and being generally fabulous. Thank you to my wonderful line and copy editors — Asja K. Parrish, Sarah Henning, and Becca Weston — for helping make my twisted little book as coherent as possible; Jenny Perinovic, for the lovely internal design; and to my kind, patient, wonderful publicist, Patrice Caldwell, for all her hard work.
Much love and gratitude to all my wonderful author friends who are there for the millions of non-writing parts of the process. Lindsay Smith, my amazing accountabilibuddy — I don’t know what I’d do without you (drink less?) and I never want to find out. Thank you for always pushing me to my limits and beyond. Sara Taylor Woods, Katie Locke, Emily Henry, Paula Garner, Ami Allen-Vath, and Candice Montgomery — handsy hugs to you all for ensuring I always had both the proper subtext-y inspiration and people to crack me up or hold my hand when I needed it most. Love to my wonderful pub-sisters, especially Kelsey Macke, Megan Whitmer, and Michelle Smith, for kindness, companionship, and inspiration. Thank you, Leah Raeder, for much-needed pep talks and instilling in me the determination to nail the whole shebang, and the YA Misfits, OneFour KidLit, and the Binders (especially my amazing, beloved co-mods) for guidance and commiseration. Finally, heaps of appreciation to the incredible bloggers who supported both this book and Behind the Scenes.
To my family — whether Adler, Fisch, or Croog — thank you for unflagging love and support. Very special thanks to Eyal, for helping me out with some tough LA research questions, and to Julia, for being my biggest fan even though your mom won’t let you read my books until you’re sixteen.
Yoni — you are above and beyond the love interests of stories, even the ones whose abs have their own fan clubs. You are more than I knew a partner could be. Thank you for being by my side through everything, always.
This book is for those who love fearlessly, and those still trying to. Thank you for being exactly who you are.