Thank you so much to my authenticity readers Angela Ahn, Mey Rude, Meredith Russo, and others for their thoughtful feedback.

Also, a big thank-you to the readers who assisted me with high school and college swimming research, as well as other American school-life facts, so I could nail the setting: Don Zolidis, Amy Trueblood, Mel Beatty, Emma Lord, Harker DeFilippis, and Sammy Holden.

To the friends who read the earliest, roughest versions of Perfect on Paper, Julia Lynn Rubin, Cale Dietrich, Ashley Schumacher, Ash Ledger, Emma Lord, Hannah Capin, and Becky Albertalli: thank you all so much for your notes, wisdom, and feedback.

To my amazing friends, Julia, Cale, Claire, Jenn, Diana, Alexa, Hannah, Ash, Cass, Sadie, Astrid, Katya, Ella, Samantha, Becky, Ashley, and Emma: thank you for talking me off ledges and sharing joy and struggles with me from all over the world.

Special thanks to Emma Lord, Erin Hahn, Kevin van Whye, and Becky Albertalli for their early support of Perfect on Paper. You’re all amazing!

To Mum, Dad, and Sarah: Thank you for all of your endless support, encouragement, and love.

Cameron, thank you for learning hundreds of publishing facts and names and roles for me. And thank you for all the chocolate, and for always knowing when to say, “You stay there, I’ll go get dinner.”

And to the person reading this: thank you for reading my words. I may not know you, but for a moment we were connected through this story, across time and space. Wherever you are, and whoever you are, I wish you all the love and happiness in the world.

Excerpt: Never Ever Getting Back Together

They’re not here to make friends, but they just might fall in love … with each other.

Don’t miss Never Ever Getting Back Together, the next knock-out romcom from Sophie Gonzales!

For more information visit

ONE

Maya

The guy at the bar next to me is grinning at me intimately, as though he knows all my secrets but likes me anyway. It’s a little unsettling, mostly because I’m damn sure I’ve never seen him before in my life, and I’m good with faces. It is the sort of grin that’d instantly win over anyone with the ability to trust a man with a charismatic smile, though. I’ll give him that.

It’s a pity I’m not one of those people.

But as it happens, I want something from him, so I shamelessly mirror his silken smile, and wait. “I’m trying to figure something out,” he says as an icebreaker after a few seconds, raising his voice over the music. It’s a bass-heavy remix of a pop song, played about a dozen decibels too loud.

“What might that be?” I glance at the bartender as I speak, but he’s just started serving someone else. We’re gonna be here awhile.

Good.