by Danika Stone
Mike’s expression wobbled before he crossed his arms and grinned. “I heard that you were sleeping naked in a cave out there. Gone full Neanderth—”
“Move!” Vale snapped.
Again, she tried to get past, only to have Mike step back in front of her.
“Heard you and Hashbrown were doing the nasty when that helicopter—”
“I’m leaving.” Vale put her chin down and started walking. “Move or I’m walking through you.”
Mike stepped in her way, only this time Vale didn’t stop, just slammed right into his shoulder and pushed past. Mike grunted and stumbled back against the wall. “What the…?!”
She kept walking. Not as heavy as a bear, she thought. Though he smells like one.
“I’m not done talking!” he yelled.
Vale didn’t slow down. Didn’t turn back as he shouted: “Valley Girl!” She was done with Mike and the rest of the jerks who’d spent the past years taunting her. She wasn’t backing down anymore. She didn’t care. Didn’t worry. Vale knew the truth.
She was tougher than the lot of them.
* * *
Ash was sitting on the bleachers in the gym, waiting for Ms. Holland to arrive, when he heard the whispers begin.
“Wondered if she was going to come back…”
“… seems pretty late in the semester.”
“Ash has been back for almost a week…”
He looked up from his new phone and followed the gaze of his classmates across the room to the doorway where Vale had just appeared. His breath caught. With her hair hanging in loose waves around her face and gym clothes on, she looked softer today. Less the tough-as-nails Vale he knew from the mountains and more the girl who was the last person chosen for every team, the target of relentless bullying.
The thought made his stomach hurt.
Ash stood and waved at her from the top of the bleachers, but Vale didn’t see. She continued across the gym floor toward Ms. Holland. She held a piece of paper in one hand—a doctor’s note, if Ash had to guess. Her chin was held high, jaw set.
A smile tugged the corner of Ash’s mouth. Such a badass.
Ash stood from his seat and limped slowly down the bleachers. In the time since he’d returned to school, he had fallen back into the same place he’d been before. Gamer, class clown, student voted most likely to live in his mother’s basement until thirty … Ashton Hamid, everyone’s friend. Only Ash didn’t know if any of that was real anymore. The mountains had changed something inside him, and the only person who understood this was Vale. She got him the way no one else did. Though texting was great, it was a relief to have her back at school again. His eyes followed her progress across the floor, but before he reached the bottom of the bleachers, another person reached Vale’s side.
“Oh crap,” Ash muttered. Mike. Seeing him, Ash’s stride doubled.
For a few seconds, Mike and Vale spoke in tones too low to be heard. Suddenly Mike laughed, and his voice echoed forward: “Bet Ash could tell a story or two about that night, huh?”
People around them snickered.
“It wasn’t like that,” Vale said.
“Well, what was it like, huh?”
Ash broke into a jog.
“A bear came after us at the cave,” Vale said. “Staying alive was kind of high on our priorities list.”
Mike snorted. “I bet staying alive wasn’t the only thing you two were doing.”
Ash pushed himself into a sprint.
“We were literally trying not to die,” Vale snapped. “Not that YOU would know a thing about survival.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Bet if I asked Ash about it, he’d tell me—”
Ash skidded to a stop at Vale’s side. “Exactly the same thing as Vale did. So back off.”
Mike laughed. “What’s your problem, Hashbrown?”
“Vale and I are friends.”
Mike smirked. “Friends with benefits. Am I right?”
“No,” Ash growled. “We’re friends, period. That’s it. Not everything has to come down to sex, you know.”
Mike laughed. “Only the important stuff.”
“It. Isn’t. Like. That!” Vale snapped.
Mike turned on her. “You know, Valley Girl, for such a stuck-up little know-it-all, you really—”
Ash’s hands rolled into fists. “Stop!”
Mike turned. “Stop what?”
“You call her Valley Girl again,” Ash said in a low voice, “and you’re going to have to deal with me.”
Mike’s smile faltered. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’ll call her whatever I—”
“I’m not kidding, Mike.”
“Jesus, Hashbrown. Don’t be such a prissy little—”
“Try me!” Ash snapped.
At that moment, Ms. Holland arrived, the purple Tupperware container tucked under one arm. Ash knew he’d be suspended if he started a fight, but he didn’t care. Vale had been his best friend for years. He owed her this, at least.
“Jesus!” Mike sneered. “Can’t believe you’re taking her side over—”
“Leave Vale ALONE!” Ash’s voice boomed through the gym. Students paused midconversation to stare. On the far side of the gym, Ms. Holland abruptly switched directions, making a beeline toward them. “You’re always going after Vale,” Ash yelled. “Always messing with her. Just STOP!”
“So what? She’s back, so you can’t take a joke anymo—”
Ash stepped forward so fast, Mike’s voice disappeared. Ashton Hamid was a foot taller than Mike, and today his happy face was flushed with anger. “Vale is my friend! All right? Leave her ALONE!”
“Or what?”
Ash stepped closer. “Or I’ll MAKE you stop.”
Mike smiled darkly. His stance widened. “Oh, you’re gonna regret that. Nobody tells me what to—”
“Mike Reynolds!” Ms. Holland roared. “To the office NOW!” She stepped directly between the two boys. “Go NOW!”
Mike frowned. “But Ash was the one who—”
“GO!”
Swearing, Mike stormed away, heading out of the gym. Ms. Holland took two steps to follow him, then glanced back at Ash and Vale. “You okay?” she asked.
“Fine,” Vale said.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Ash added.
Ms. Holland nodded, then followed Mike out of the gym. The curious onlookers scattered, leaving the two friends standing alone in the center of the gym.
Vale turned to Ash and grinned. “Well, that escalated quickly.”
Ash laughed. “Mike had it coming.”
“Oh, he totally did.” She bumped his shoulder. “Still pretty awesome, though.”
Ash winked. “I try.”
Vale giggled. “You succeed.”
For a few minutes, they chatted about mindless day-to-day things—the homework they’d missed and the TV shows they were watching—only stopping when a whistle blew. Ms. Holland had returned to the gym. Mike had not.
“All right, everyone!” the teacher shouted. “New unit starts today. We’re going to be doing paired fitness training. One person does the exercises, the other records times. Then you switch.” Moans of disappointment followed her announcement. “You know the drill,” Holland continued. She shook the box. “Toss your phones in the bin, then go find a partner. Doesn’t matter who. We’ve got to get moving.”
One by one, students dropped their phones into the box, then spread out as they fumbled to find partners. Ash set his phone into the purple container, his fingers twitchy without it warm in his palm. Vale did the same.
Ms. Holland paused next to them, and Ash’s heart sank. Am I getting sent to the office too? But the teacher lowered her voice and said: “If Mike does anything like that again—if he says anything rude, or provokes you—I need you to tell me. Okay?”
Vale and Ash exchanged curious glances. “Uh … okay?” Ash said.
“You too, Vale,” Ms. Holland added. “I’m serious here. That boy needs to stop. You tell me if he bothers you
again. All right?”
Vale nodded. “I … I will.”
“Good.” And with a nod, Ms. Holland headed off.
Vale giggled.
“What?” Ash said.
“Only took her two months to notice.”
Ash chuckled.
“So,” Vale said. “Anything new? I mean, besides not dying in the woods.”
Ash shrugged. “I’ve been doing a lot of gaming lately. Brian started a new D&D campaign. During our first adventure, I took command and—”
“You took my job?”
Ash stared. “Your … job?”
The corner of Vale’s mouth twitched. “I thought we agreed I was going to be commander.”
Ash’s eyebrows rose. “But…”
“I’ve been waiting for you to tell me when the next Dungeons & Dragons campaign is happening.”
“You have?”
“Of course I have. Thought I might try my hand at video games again too. So what’s the plan? Are we taking on Death Raiders tonight, or Immortal Defenders, or both?”
A bright grin broke across Ash’s face, and for the first time since he’d woken in the hospital, unbridled laughter overtook him. When he finally stopped, Vale was laughing too.
“Both would be fricking AMAZING!” he said.
“Then sign me up.”
“I will, but … what changed your mind?”
“Well, you kept asking me about it, for one thing. And I had fun on the last D&D adventure … even if we both died.” She laughed. “And I figured I ought to give video games a second chance. Got to level up somehow. Right?”
“Right,” he said, then smiled. “You know, Vale: It’s really good to have you back at school again.”
She grinned. “Never thought I’d say it, but it really is good to be back.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The writing of a book is a lengthy process, but I could not release Switchback without expressing my sincere gratitude to the many people who have shaped it along the way:
Thank you to my husband, my most enthusiastic collaborator, for reading every iteration of this project from beginning to end, so that I could make sure the language sounded “just right.” You are the most patient human on Earth. Thank you also to my children for tolerating long periods when I couldn’t play, as I wrote, rewrote, and rewrote again. A much-delayed thank-you to my late father for taking my siblings and me on any number of mountain “torture hikes” in a supposed attempt to build character. I think it worked.
A grateful shout-out to my fellow writers—far too many to name—who kept me going when my spark for writing was low. Thanks to Morty Mint, my agent, for his unwavering support and level-headed advice. An enthusiastic thank-you to Holly West, my editor, for her Minority Report–esque ability to see the larger structure of a story; she shaped this book into something worth reading. A heartfelt thank-you to the two sensitivity readers who went through each version of this book with an eye to details. My sincere gratitude and affection to the Swoon Reads publishing team, especially Emily Settle, Kelsey Marrujo, and Lauren Scobell, for their tireless efforts in bringing this project together. Switchback is yours as much as mine.
One final note of appreciation: For my grandfather, Frank Goble, who helped me to see the transcendent beauty of the mountains. In the 1930s and ’40s, he trapped in the valley where Ash and Vale are lost. Frank never lived to see any of my books published, but I like to think he’d feel at home in this one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Danika Stone is an author, artist, and educator who discovered a passion for writing fiction while in the throes of her master’s thesis. A self-declared bibliophile, Danika now writes novels for both adults (Edge of Wild and The Dark Divide) and teens (All the Feels and Internet Famous). When not writing, Danika can be found hiking in the Rockies, planning grand adventures, and spending far too much time online. She lives with her husband, three sons, and a houseful of imaginary characters in a windy corner of Alberta, Canada. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by Karin Goble
Emoji designed by Freepik from Flaticon
A Swoon Reads Book
An imprint of Feiwel and Friends and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
swoonreads.com
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018955610
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First hardcover edition 2019
eBook edition May 2019
eISBN 9781250221667