Everything I Thought I Knew

by Shannon Takaoka

Jane pretends that Ruby annoys her, but I know better. They are secret soul mates.

  Jenna, the girl Tyler introduced me to at the party on Taraval Street, is meeting us here. We’ve gone surfing together a few times recently and, as a result, I may be able to claim a little credit for reconnecting her and Jane. At least I hope so. It seems like their story isn’t over yet. I think Jane hopes so too because she’s uncharacteristically jittery today. She tried on about twenty outfits before I had to drag her out the front door.

  I’m lucky to have met Jenna — she’s an incredible surfer. Better than me. Maybe better than Kai. And it’s nice to have some female energy out in the water, because the surf community here is pretty much what Jane has dubbed it: a “dude fest.” Jenna was telling me that even the local pro women surfers have to fight to be included in big competitions like Mavericks. And if anyone will make it there someday, it’s her. Despite her sweet personality, she’s a total badass — she surfs the biggest waves, often spraying the guys who shoot her the you-don’t-belong-here look right in the face. I can’t quite keep up with her yet, but I’m going to try.

  Today the surf looks good. Rideable. The swells are big but not scary. There’s a barely-there offshore breeze and the peaks sweeping to the right are clean and just about perfect.

  Jane chucks a tennis ball for Ruby, who races back and forth on the sand as I make my way down to the ocean’s edge.

  I stand there for a minute. Feel the icy-cold water washing over my toes. Inhale the sea, the sky, the sun, everything.

  I fasten the collar of my wetsuit.

  Then I lift my board and run for it, pounding heart to pounding waves.

  I can’t help but think of my own heart as I write these acknowledgments, and how full to bursting it is with gratitude for everyone who played a part, no matter how big or small, in helping to bring this book into being.

  First, to my agent, Nicki Richesin, whose steadfast belief in my story from early on gave me the confidence to keep going. Nicki, I so appreciate your spot-on editorial instincts and your ongoing support in navigating all things publishing. Being a debut author can be overwhelming and even intimidating at times, and I’m thankful I can pick up the phone and call you anytime I have a question, an idea I want to brainstorm, or a worry on my mind. Thank you also to Wendy Sherman and the entire team at Wendy Sherman Associates, as well as to Jenny Meyer.

  To my wonderful editor, Kaylan Adair. Where to start? Kaylan, I feel so lucky that this story brought us together. Thank you for all the love and attention you have given to this book. Your thoughtful ideas and insights, your kind encouragement, and your willingness to hop on the phone whenever I’ve needed to talk something through has truly enabled me to make Everything I Thought I Knew everything that I hoped it could be. For all of this, I am eternally grateful.

  To the entire team at Candlewick Press: you all have been absolutely lovely to work with. Thank you to Matt Roeser for creating such a dreamy, beautiful cover. To Nathan Pyritz, for not only designing the super-cool interior art, but also for catching a very important motorcycling detail during the proofreading stage. And speaking of details . . . thank you, thank you to copyeditors Maggie Deslaurier and Debbie Sosin and to proofreaders Lana Barnes, Martha Dwyer, and Emily Quill. I am in awe of your eagle-eyed attention to every paragraph, line, word, and punctuation mark. I’m so grateful you all had my back! And finally, thank you to Anna Abell and Stephanie Pando in publicity, and to everyone in marketing and sales for your efforts in introducing this story to the world.

  To Mindy Urhlaub and Dorothy O’Donnell, my longtime writing critique partners, who were there for me from the moment this book was just a germ of an idea. Thank you so much for everything — for reading multiple drafts, for talking through every possible idea, for running away with me on writing weekends, for being there through every up and down of trying to finish a book, and most of all for your friendship. I couldn’t have done this without you.

  Thank you also to Richard Kenvin, my friend Dorothy’s brother and a longtime surfer/author/surfboard historian, for giving my surf passages a read.

  On the research front, I’d also like to thank the following authors, whose nonfiction work inspired and informed me as I worked:

  Joshua D. Mezrich, MD, author of When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon.

  Rob Dunn, author of The Man Who Touched His Own Heart: True Tales Of Science, Surgery, And Mystery.

  Brian Greene, author of The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos.

  Thanks also to Scientific American, where I turned for inspiration around parallel universes/quantum mechanics. Thank you as well to countless surf blogs and research hospital websites. Hopefully I’ve been able to build a believable world — at least as believable as possible for a work of speculative fiction — and that my readers will be forgiving of anything I missed.

  I’m so glad to have met so many talented and generous writers through the #Roaring20sdebut group. A special thanks to early readers Jenn Moffett, Liz Lawson, Shana Youngdahl, Tanya Guerrero, Andrew Sass, and Anuradha Rajurkar. Your kind words have meant the world. Thank you to Shannon Doleski for helping me with graphics and social media advice and for inspiring my son to build a cool submarine during the pandemic lockdown. Jenn Moffett, it’s been so great to share work and conversations with you, and I hope by the time you read this, we will have made that trip to NYC.

  To all of my dear friends and family, who have cheered and supported me as this book has taken shape: the Shahs, Hunts, Blauvelts, Landes, Yanaris, Julie Maples, the Kickstart crew and, last but not least, my Lucas Valley village. (A special shout-out to Kala, who introduced me to my agent, Nicki, and to Nimish, for checking the math in my tutoring scenes!) I couldn’t be luckier to have such a great group of friends — some of whom read early chapters (Hi, Mer!) and all who have celebrated every milestone with me and listened to countless updates about “the book.” It’s finally here!

  To my mom and dad, who’ve always encouraged my love of reading and indulged my creative pursuits, even when those pursuits might have been a little half-baked. I love you both with all my heart.

  And finally, to the three most important people in my life. Scott, you are my biggest champion. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for never once questioning why I wanted to write a book in the first place — you just found ways to help me make it work and believed in me every step of the way, even when I sometimes doubted myself. Love you. Emi and Evan, being your mom is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Thank you for keeping me grounded, for making me laugh, for giving me lots of hugs, and for never letting me forget what’s most important: the here and now. You both make me so proud.

  One more: to my readers—thank you for choosing my story. I hope you enjoyed it!