“Please. I give it two weeks before you’re dancing alone with your roommate. What did you say his name was? Henry Hipley? Yeah, you two are going to need all the help making plans you can get.”
“I know this is just your way of showing your insecurity about long distance. But don’t worry, I’m not like Arjun. I know you’re worth a little effort.”
Denver had nothing clever to say to that. He let his smile speak for him, and the two of them ate for a moment in the kind of comfortable silence that could only come with two truly compatible people. His dad said it was clear watching Sam and Denver that they’d been friends first and something more second. But Sam and his mom quickly corrected him—for Sam and Denver, the magic was that they’d been friends and something more from the very beginning.
“Amber and I were talking about recruitment for next year’s Fascinators,” Denver said.
“Already?”
“Well, that’s the thing. With all due respect to your poster campaigns, we were thinking we should start the recruitment process early, especially since the briefs for next year’s convention categories come out in March. Why not start practicing then? We thought we might even make a trip to the middle schools, like the Atlanta magnet schools do, so the freshmen aren’t playing catch up.”
“You really think you’re going to find that many new members in Friedman?”
“We might. None as cute as you, though.”
“You better not.”
It was absolutely wild—flirting like this in Mary Ellen’s. Mary Ellen herself kept looking over the counter and smiling at them, then pretending she hadn’t been looking when Sam caught her eye. Friedman hadn’t magically transformed into a liberal mecca overnight, but for the first time in a long time, Sam felt like he was hopeful about the future, instead of trying to freeze the present or lose himself in the past.
He remembered his dreams now.
He was living them.
Acknowledgments
Books are high-level group spells indeed, and this one would not have been possible without the combined magic of . . .
Heather Alexander, my first reader and this book’s first champion. Heather is the reason this book is not merely a series of conversations in coffee shops.
Sara Crowe, my brilliant literary agent. A world of thanks to Sara, Holly McGhee, and the whole team at Pippin. Their hard work and commitment to excellence is a continual source of inspiration, and Sara’s love for these characters got me through many a dark night of the soul with this book.
Rosemary Brosnan, my peerless editor. Rosemary asks questions that point you in the direction of truth without ever making you feel judged for missing it in the first place, and if that’s not real magic, I don’t know what is. I am forever grateful to Rosemary, Courtney Stevenson, and the whole team at HarperCollins who helped make this book a reality.
Mary Auxier and Shona McCarthy, who made sure that Sam’s (and my) hypotactic way of talking was never at the cost of clarity.
Corey Brickley and David Curtis, whose cover art and design, respectively, are unreal good, like something out of a dream.
Will Walton, who generously confirmed that my memories of Georgia still held after fifteen years of my living in other places.
Nick, my husband, last but never least. Nick listened patiently while I reimagined plot points and read entire scenes of this book out loud, often at the same time; he is both string to my kite and kite to my string.
About the Author
Photo credit DIRTY SUGAR LLC
ANDREW ELIOPULOS is a children’s book writer and editor. Originally from Georgia, Andrew graduated from the University of Chicago and now lives with his husband in Brooklyn, New York. His debut novel, The Spider Ring, was a CBC Children’s Choices Reading List Pick and a Grand Canyon Reader Award nominee. Andrew may or may not believe in magic.
www.andreweliopulos.com
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Copyright
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE FASCINATORS. Copyright © 2020 by Andrew Eliopulos. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Cover art © 2020 by Corey Brickley
Cover design by David Curtis
* * *
Digital Edition MAY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-288806-8
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-288804-4
* * *
2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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The Fascinators Page 24