Starry Eyes(104)

“That sounds suspiciously like a fifth route.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

For our one-month anniversary, he made me a picture map. It has all the milestones of our intersecting lives. Where we met. The night we played poker with his dad. Our first fight. Our first kiss. The homecoming debacle. The sequoia cathedral. The night we said I love you at the observatory.

A map of us.

It’s years in the making, and it’s messy and convoluted, some of it even tragic. But I wouldn’t change the route, because we walked it together, even when we were apart. And the best part about it is that it’s unfinished. Uncertainty isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it can even be filled with extraordinary potential.

“So what will it be?” he asks when the light turns green. “Old route, or new route?”

“Surprise me,” I say.

He smiles down at me, and I thread my fingers through his. We put one foot in front of the other. Clear head, steady steps. And we move forward.





Acknowledgments and Thanks-a-Millions


For their hard work: Laura Bradford, Taryn Fagerness Nicole Ellul, Lucy Rogers, Sarah Creech The entire Simon Pulse and Simon UK teams For cheerleading: Karen, Ron, Gregg, Heidi, Hank Brian, Patsy, Don, Gina, Shane, Seph For feedback: Aya Sharif

For inspiration: Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks City of Berkeley, California Nancy Grace Roman, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Carl Sagan Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata Kimberly Saul

For existing: Every single librarian

Every single bookseller

And you