Chapters (37)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
But that was still over a week away.
And right now, I had this moment. With this boy. Which was all I needed.
My heart was full.
So, I kissed him again.
Acknowledgments
Well, this is new. When you write a screenplay, there is no place for acknowledgments, unless you happen to win an award and even then the music cues tend to rush the anxious winner off the stage, lest the audience grow restless while waiting for the next set of movie stars to glide into view.
But books are different. Clearly. Though I’m not quite sure the reader doesn’t have the same feeling about the acknowledgments section as the television audience does for the winner of best adapted screenplay. It feels like a bunch of names of people you don’t know. And yet, without these people, the book in your hand could not exist, so acknowledgments must be given and given with boundless gratitude by yours truly.
I dedicated the book to my parents. For obvious reasons, they are the first step in this story’s creation by their creation of me. After that, they did all they could to raise me well, in good health, and with as many opportunities as two middle-class people in the middle of the United States could conjure up despite the obstacles they encountered. Chiefly—as it relates to my writing—my mom and dad (Mary and Mayo, to be exact) taught my three brothers and me to love two pastimes that ultimately planted the seeds for my eventual career: the love of reading books and the love of watching movies. Basically, the love of storytelling. It’s an invaluable lesson, one I wish for everyone everywhere, because to learn to love stories is to learn to place yourself in the point of view of someone else, and that is a sorely needed skill set, always, but especially of late. If you’re reading this, chances are quite high that you feel the same. Good. We need more people like you in the world. Make sure you pass on this lesson to those in your care, if possible. Even if it seems it’s not possible: try. The world will be a better place for your efforts.