Anything but Ordinary(68)
Bryce stepped as carefully as she could to Carter, fast asleep, and kissed him gently so as not to wake him. Would he be surprised to find her gone in the morning? Bryce wondered if he had started believing she would live, too.
As she made her way to the edge of the bluff, holding saplings for balance, Bryce said silent good-byes to her mother, her father, her little sister. She could picture them in their beds: her mother in her electric-pink bathrobe; her dad snoring in a sweat suit, a biography of a baseball player open on his chest; Sydney as Bryce had seen her the last couple of nights, her face buried in a book about music theory.
The buzzing was too loud now to make out any other sounds, and pain was bursting behind her eyes like a fireworks finale. With every inch of movement her muscles had left, Bryce crossed her hands in front of her in perfect form, bent her legs, tense and steady, and sprung off. A tuck in the dark, then toward the light, straight as an arrow. A last dive into forever.
Thank you to my hard-working parents, Brad and Sharon, whose simultaneous high standards and sense of humor have filled my world with purpose. And to my brothers, Wyatt and Dylan, who have been calling me on my b.s. since I was out of the womb, and will do so forever. I hope my extended family, the Rundes and the Averys, will see this book’s reverence for the American countryside, which has grown out of my time spent with them in their various home states.
Emma and Mandy, all the characters are you at some point. I hope your copies get covered in the dust from wherever you are. Rhett: for many more reasons than why I got to write this book, I’m glad our stars aligned.
Thank you to the staff of Nina’s Coffee Café of Saint Paul, who provided me with food, drink, and an office for days on end, and who didn’t judge my surly demeanor and haggard appearance too much.
An enormous debt of gratitude to my editor, Joelle Hobeika, for her guidance as I made my way through my first novel, and her patience, which allowed me to feel I was taking advice from a good friend. Another grateful nod to Laura Schreiber, Emily Meehan, and the whole Hyperion team. Their contributions brought this novel to another dimension, and they have taught me more than they know. Thank you to Southpaw Entertainment, for the inspiration and encouragement.
On that note, thank you to everyone at Alloy Entertainment for this opportunity. Truly, they have changed my life.