Don't Read the Comments
Page 27
“If you aren’t still on your date, I am.” Rebekah laughs.
“You’re the worst,” I say. “Love you.”
“You, too,” she says. “Have fun.”
* * *
I rush downstairs, and there’s Aaron, in real life, waiting for me.
On any other Tuesday, I’d be preparing for my stream. Talking back and forth with Rebekah. Going over sponsorships, trying to figure out who we had to bring up, link to. What products to potentially show off. Where we might go raid, what the plan might be. It might have been in Reclaim the Sun, or any other massive multiplayer game. Destiny. Halo. World of Warcraft.
Today, I’m going out with a boy who likes me.
One who just took a bus across New Jersey to go on a date with me.
I grab his hand, and we walk away from my apartment building. The wind blows, and the warm sun shines down on us.
Reclaimed.
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
This book came to life during a strange time.
My wife and I had moved from our home of nearly a decade to a new city, in a new state. And then we did it again. So many of my friendships became virtual. In a way, this book explored that and what it meant to be so close to people who were far away.
So, first, to my Richmond, Virginia, friends.
To Bill Blume and Phil Hilliker, for that writing retreat. That’s where this story was born, a messy first draft written in a week full of writing with no cell reception. And to the rest of that Richmond crew: Rebecca Jones Schinsky, Bob Schinsky, Amanda Nelson, Gwen Cole, Sarah Glenn Marsh, Adam Austin, Beth Sanmartin, David Streever, Kristi Tuck Austin, Anne Blankman, Chelsea Washington, and Kelly Justice at the Fountain Bookstore. Thank you for making a new place feel like home, if only for a year.
To writer friends like Olivia A. Cole, Kelly Jensen, Sangu Mandanna, Samira Ahmed, Lauren Morrill, Lily Anderson (you were right about the title!), Kat Cho, Thomas Torre, Patrick Flores-Scott, Marieke Nijkamp, Blair “Two Sheds” Thornburgh, Ashley Poston, Sam Maggs, Heidi Heilig, Lauren Gibaldi, Summer Heacock, Jessica Conditt, Whitney Gardner, Sarvenaz Tash, Katherine Locke, and Jeff Zentner—thank you for your endless pep talks, late night brainstorming, and friendships.
Dear friends Preeti Chhibber, Swapna Krishna, Darlene Meier, Miguel Bolivar, Rob Perdue, Mikey Il, Tim Quirino, Brian Lim, Chris Urie, Dario Plazas... Your friendships inspire me every single day. My Michigan friends, who edited away with me in sleepy cafés and bookshops—Lillian Li, Erica Chapman, Darcy Woods, and Rebecca Fortes.
My colleagues and friends at P.S. Literary, especially Carly, Curtis, Kurestin, Amanda, David, and Maria. I don’t know how you deal with me.
Mom and Dad, for putting up with me as I dragged old computers into our basement as a teenager, frequently breaking them and our home computer in my pursuit of knowledge. That part of this book is very real.
My rock-star agent, Dawn Frederick at Red Sofa Literary. You were right. You knew we’d get here one day. Thank you for believing in me when I seldom believed in myself.
The entire team at Harlequin and Inkyard Press, especially Lauren Smulski, Gabby Vicedomini, Laura Gianino, Quinn Banting, Bess Braswell, Brittany Mitchell, Connolly Bottum, Stephanie Van de Vooren, and Natashya Wilson. And Mary Luna, for the gorgeous cover art.
And, as always, to my wife, Nena, and son, Langston. In a universe of trillions of planets, the only place I want to be is here with you.
ISBN: 9781489296702
TITLE: DON’T READ THE COMMENTS
First Australian Publication 2019
Copyright © 2020 Eric Smith
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher:
HQ Young Adult
An imprint of Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Limited (ABN 47 001 180 918), a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Limited (ABN 36 009 913 517)
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth St
SYDNEY NSW 2000
AUSTRALIA
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its corporate affiliates and used by others under licence. Trademarks marked with an ® are registered in Australia and in other countries. Contact admin_legal@Harlequin.ca for details.
www.harlequinbooks.com.au