Openly Straight

by Konigsberg, Bill

  So I quietly tapped my foot to the beat, like I did anytime I went to a concert at Red Rocks and wanted to move a little. And I watched my best friend as she got her groove on, and she loved it, and I loved her.

  We were dancers and drummers and standers and jugglers, and there was nothing anyone needed to accept or tolerate. We celebrated.

  All the schools in this novel are fictitious institutions set in real towns. I have tried to remain as true as possible to the actual geography of Natick, Massachusetts, and Boulder, Colorado, two towns with which I am familiar from my own travels.

  I’m extremely grateful to my family and friends, who stuck with me through everything. I’m also eternally grateful to Cheryl Klein and the wonderful folks at Arthur A. Levine Books, who believed in this book and helped me improve my own vision.

  Special thanks to:

  Chuck Cahoy, my life, perhaps the only person who would put up with me when I’m in creative mode; my mother, Shelley Doctors, for always being my best cheerleader; my father, Bob Konigsberg, for his love, support, and (occasionally painful) wit; my sister, Pam, for her love and kindness; my boss/brother, Dan, for being my friend, employer, and Boulder liaison; my excellent agent, Linda Epstein of the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, who may actually be me; Debbie Schenk, my Montana savior; Melissa Druckman, for taking the time to talk to me about PFLAG Boulder; Rose Lupinacci at Fairview High School for helping me understand the Boulder high school scene; Kriste Peoples, for responding to Rafe’s weird emails; Lisa McMann, for telling me to stop talking and start writing; Jim Blasingame, for being Jim Blasingame; Chuck Wright, for his wisdom and friendship; Phyllis Hodge, for her wisdom and friendship; ditto Steve Feinberg; Jim Wink, for making me smile and also for coming up with the best ever fake marijuana dispensary name; Craig Neddle, for Mwah!; Bob Nogueira, for putting up with me at my most selfish and loving me anyway; my wonderfully talented writer friends Liz Weld and Beth Staples for their friendship, feedback, and impromptu therapy sessions; Greg Watson, for all his questions; Terry Buffington, for his intricate orders at restaurants throughout the Phoenix area; Mabel, for her constant ear licks; and never least, my fans, who have helped sustain me when it felt like this was all too hard. I love you and appreciate you always.

  Bill Konigsberg’s many identities include (not in order of importance): full-time writer, part-time candy-maker, former sports journalist, pretty decent softball player, injury-prone racquetballer, exasperated Labradoodle-wrangler, adequate karaoke performer, and occasionally cloying husband. He is the author of Out of the Pocket, which won the Lambda Literary Award for young adult fiction. Bill lives in Chandler, Arizona, with his longtime partner, Chuck, and their dog, Mabel. Please visit his website at www.billkonigsberg.com or follow him at @billkonigsberg.

  Text copyright © 2013 by Bill Konigsberg

  All rights reserved. Published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and the LANTERN LOGO are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Konigsberg, Bill.

  Openly straight / Bill Konigsberg. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Tired of being known as “the gay kid,” Rafe Goldberg decides to assume a new persona when he comes east and enters an elite Massachusetts prep school — but trying to deny his identity has both complications and unexpected consequences.

  ISBN 978-0-545-50989-3 (hard cover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-545-50990-9 (e-book) 1. Gay teenagers — Juvenile fiction. 2. Homosexuality — Juvenile fiction. 3. Identity (Psychology) — Juvenile fiction. 4. Preparatory schools — Massachusetts — Juvenile fiction. [1. Homosexuality — Fiction. 2. Identity — Fiction. 3. Preparatory schools — Fiction. 4. Schools — Fiction. 5. Massachusetts — Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.K83518Ope 2013

  813.6 — dc23

  2012030552

  First edition, June 2013

  “The Hukilau Song” by Jack Owens is reprinted by permission of Owens Kemp Music Company. All rights reserved.

  Character art © Sabri Deniz Kizil used under license from Shutterstock.com

  Cover design by Natalie C. Sousa

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-50990-9

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication 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 the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.