She Drives Me Crazy(71)
Her eyes dance. “I really am, huh?”
“Shut up.”
I pull her close by the fabric of her trench coat and kiss her again. When the song starts to fade away, Irene holds a hand to my mouth, spins around, and restarts the track. I laugh out loud.
“Have to set the mood?”
“Obviously,” she says, and she kisses me again.
You would think, based on the fact that I’ve watched the Say Anything … boom box scene a million times, that I wouldn’t have bumblebees in my stomach when my cheerleader girlfriend reenacts it for me in the school parking lot.
You would be wrong.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I had so much fun writing this goofy, campy, ridiculous book, and I couldn’t have done it without a whole community of support.
Mekisha Telfer, you deserve a trophy for being the best—and most patient—editor on the planet. Thank you for pushing me to make this manuscript the best it could be. Thank you especially for loving “sweet baby Irene” as much as I do.
Marietta Zacker, this book wouldn’t exist without your initiative. Thank you and I love you.
To the whole team at Roaring Brook Press, including Avia Perez, Veronica Ambrose, Christa Desir, Susan Doran, Lindsay Wagner, and Morgan Kane: Thank you for your careful, attentive work. Aurora Parlagreco, thank you for your beautiful cover design.
Steffi Walthall, your cover art is better than anything I could have imagined. Thank you for being so intentional and compassionate with these characters. Thanks for talking through ideas with me. You’re a truly special person.
To my family: Thank you for carrying me through the writing of this book, especially with everything else we had going on. Mom, Dad, Freida, Sean, Michael, Annie, and Quinn P, you are my whole world. I love you guys.
Shout-out to my godfather, Uncle Tommy, for inspiring the famous “Chuck Munny” cineplex. I hope this book brings readers even half the joy you bring our family.
Adrienne Anne Tooley and Jenny Cox-Shah: Where do I even begin? You are two of the greatest gifts in my life. Thank you for reading every draft and offering ceaselessly generous feedback. I love you and I think you’re both geniuses. So proud to be writing sapphic stories alongside you. Black hearts and sour beers for days.
Jasmyne Hammonds, thank you for your careful reading, thoughtful notes, and overall cheering. I’m honored to call you a friend—and now an editorial sibling!
Irene is one of my favorite characters I’ve ever written, and it was important to me to understand her family background, cultural context, and way of looking at the world. I am enormously grateful to my Indian and South Asian friends who were so generous with sharing their time, personal experiences, and perspectives as I sought to build Irene’s inner and outer world. Thank you a million times over to Nithya Amaraneni, Annie Jacob, and Jenish Joseph. Extra heapings of thanks to my always-frenemy and sometimes-lover, Sana Saiyed.
Andrea and David Alexander, thank you for inspiring Danielle’s family (and surname) and for generally being the best. Thomas Hicks and Ellyn Zagor(g)ia, thanks for braving the rain at that local high school football game. You are the best research buddies (And shout-out to Thomas and Todd for lending your names to Gunther and Kevin!). Kate Austin, thanks for letting me pick your brain about being a queer cheerleader (queerleader?) and for being such a light to the LGBT community.
Sarah Cropley, you are an extraordinary beta reader, librarian, and friend. Thank you for accompanying me through three books now! Claire Gibbs, my favorite teen beta reader, thanks for your careful and thoughtful feedback on early drafts. Kathleen F. F. Rhoads, thanks for keeping my basketball references tight and for being my person. (Eessababiesss!) Meaghan Quindlen Hanson and Jessy “Bubba” Quindlen, thanks for being test readers and fangirls. Rima Salloum, I already know I’m gonna ask you to draw Scottie and Irene based on how awesome your LTTP and HNITS character portraits were, so thanks in advance. Lisa Vincent, Cassie Gonzales, and Kimberly Hays de Muga, thank you for your feedback on my earliest drafts.
To all the booksellers, book bloggers, librarians, educators, readers, and writers who make this community so loving and rich: Thank you from the bottom of my heart.