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Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Abbi Waxman and her novels
  3. Berkley Titles by Abbi Waxman
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Summer
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. Fall
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  55. Readers Guide
  56. Questions for Discussion
  57. About the Author
  58. What’s next onyour reading list?

“Jesus, Laura. You could have gotten a PhD and come up with a cure for cancer or something, and instead you’re playing games and becoming a personal trainer?”

“It’s not—” Laura couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

“I bet you come home and put on pajamas and watch sports on TV, right? I blame your grandmother, she always encouraged the basic side of you.”

“Hey,” said Laura, “leave my grandma out of this.”

Nick was now red in the face, and everyone else had gone quiet. “I bet you sit on your ass and talk about boring things with your boring friends instead of applying yourself.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’m starting to think I dodged a bullet. I came here to offer you a second chance, hoping you would come to your senses, but apparently you left them in New York.” He looked around. “This is what you’ve sunk to? Retail workers, gardeners, therapists . . . Psychotherapy is a pseudoscience, it might as well be astrology!” He stood up, furious. “Honestly, Laura, we could have achieved so much, but you’ve always settled for so little.” He finished his new glass of wine and put it down on the table a little too firmly. “I thought I could bring you up a level or two, maybe let you help me with my research, but I guess not.”

Laura took a deep breath. She couldn’t pretend this wasn’t happening anymore, she couldn’t pretend it was acceptable to be talked about and over like an object, and she certainly couldn’t pretend Nick hadn’t insulted everyone and told them she was an emotional basket case. Her cheeks were flaming, her eyes were smarting, and she could hear her mental clock ticking down to an implosion. She was determined to get the words out while she could.

“Nick, stop talking and listen to me. I’ve found something I actually want to do, not something other people think I will be good at. I like playing sports, I like my new friends, and I like trivia. You and I may have been friends since we were kids, but you don’t know me at all. You’re being incredibly rude and it’s time for you to leave. Please go back to New York and break the news to my parents that I really am, one hundred percent, in every way, lost to science.” She pushed her chair back, worried she was about to burst into tears, ashamed of not being able to control herself. “You can also tell them I’m very happy, not that any of you really care about that.” She stood up and smiled tightly at her landlady.