Walking toward Bubby, I wonder if he really likes me or if it’s just another cliché: boy wants girl because girl doesn’t like him. Girl decides she does like boy, so boy no longer likes girl. What if it’s all a game to Bubby, just like it was with Rider?
But you can’t live life on the sidelines, so I saddle up next to Bubby, and I pull a key chain of Manhattan’s skyline out from my purse. I bought it at the touristy “I Heart New York” airport shop.
Dangling the chain in front of Bubby’s eyes, I say, “Here’s a charm of Manhattan from your good luck charm, Manhattan.” When he takes it from me, I add, “And you owe me big for leaving New York early to come to the game.”
Bubby admires the key chain before he slips it into his pocket. “Thanks, Corrinne. How exactly can I make it up to you?”
“You can answer a question: Why do you like me? Is it because you are used to getting what you want?”
“No, Corrinne,” Bubby says. “That’s you. And who says I like you?”
“You like me,” I say. “I know that. But now I want to know why.” And I silently add, To make sure you aren’t using me because my friend’s dad has front-row Giant tickets.
“If someone were to like you, Corrinne, I think it would be because you surprise people. You turned out to be not who I thought you were, and I like that.”
“So you do like me?” I say, and step toward him. “How about a kiss?”
Bubby gives me an are-you-serious? look but then moves closer.
He takes my left hand in his, raises it to his lips, and he kisses it softly. I feel more like a princess than I ever have, including the six consecutive Halloweens I dressed up as one. Finally: a true gentlemen.
In front of nearly all of Broken Spoke, I kiss Bubby. As Waverly always says, public displays of affection should be left for the big moments, only the ones that change your life, like your wedding. I figure this one has to count.
Everyone, including Kitsy with her pom-poms, cheers.
“So, Manhattan,” Bubby says, “is this how the story ends? Girl gets smart and finally picks the right boy?”
“Bubby,” I say, “I have no idea how this story ends, and that’s okay.”
Acknowledgments
To my readers, thank you for taking this journey with my characters. I encourage you all to construct something to put into the world—be it a story, a picture, a song, whatever. There’s no better feeling out there.
I want to especially express gratitude to everyone who helped make a little girl’s dream into an (almost) adult woman’s reality. In my opinion, all great artistic endeavors are collaborations. There are many people whose names deserve cover space just as much as mine.
To my mediabistro class and Carla, thank you for being the spark.
To Leigh Feldman, your offer to represent me is the greatest gift I’ve ever received. And I was a pretty spoiled kid, so that says a lot. I am forever in your debt for your generosity, support, and talent.
To Catherine Onder, my amazing editor extraordinaire. You took a manuscript, which showed at best promise and heart, and you breathed life into it. I can’t ever thank you enough for the time, talent, patience, and dedication you gave to my novel. Your name deserves big billing—in bright, illuminated marquee lights—for everything you did for this book.
To Maggie Herold, my copy editor, I’m sorry. I know I didn’t make your job easy. Thank you for polishing my rock into a gem. I wish I could somehow grant you the recognition you deserve for your role in my novel.
Thank you to all my friends. In the words of Brian Andreas, the inventor of the beautiful StoryPeople collection, “Don’t you hear it? she asked & I shook my head no & then she started to dance & suddenly there was music everywhere & it went on for a very long time & when I finally found words all I could say was thank you.”
And Leah, I like to think that somewhere you are enjoying this at least 1 percent as much as you liked Harry Potter.
And finally, thanks Mom, Dad, and Aliceyn. You dug me a foundation of concrete, but you also helped me build wings as light as feathers. Please know that wherever I fly to, I will always return home, which has been many physical places but is always with you all.
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About the Author
Gwendolyn Heasley is a graduate of Davidson College and the University of Missouri–Columbia, where she earned her master’s degree in journalism and studied why humans like celebrity gossip so much. When she was a little girl, she desperately wanted to be the next Ann M. Martin, so she’s grateful that the recession rendered her unemployed and made her chase her nearly forgotten dream. She now lives in New York City and eats too much mac and cheese for an adult.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Credits
Cover design by Alison Klapthor
Cover photograph © 2011 Mark Tucker/MergeLeft Reps, Inc.
Copyright
WHERE I BELONG. Copyright © 2011 by Gwendolyn Heasley. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. 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 HarperCollins e-books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heasley, Gwendolyn.
Where I belong / by Gwendolyn Heasley.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: When sixteen-year-old Corrinne Corcoran’s father loses his job, she is forced to give up her privileged Manhattan lifestyle and move to Broken Spoke, Texas, where she discovers that life is more than shopping sprees and country clubs.
ISBN 978-0-06-197884-5 (pbk.)
[1. Self-Actualization (Psychology)—Fiction. 2. Moving, Household—Fiction. 3. High schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Grandparents—Fiction. 6. Family life—Texas—Fiction. 7. Texas—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.H3467Whe 2011 2010017847
[Fic]—dc22 CIP
AC
FIRST EDITION
EPub Edition © January 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-206965-8
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