Hannah Smart, Operation Josh Taylor
Page 10
“Hi there. I’m Gabby, your next-door neighbour.” She comes into the house and closes the d
oor behind her. “Actually, my full name is Gabriella, but you can call me Gabby. You must be Hannah?” She flashes a huge smile with just about the cutest dimples I’ve ever seen.
“Hi Gabby,” I say.
“So guess what!” she suddenly blurts out. “My best friend used to live here, seriously, in this very house. I miss her like crazy. Actually, I’ve been super depressed ever since she left, but when I heard you were coming, I started feeling better, like way better, and I’ve been dying to meet you ever since.” She looks at me, her eyes sparkling, as her face breaks into another huge grin.
Suddenly, I desperately miss Rachel. Gabby’s grin is a Rachel grin, if I ever saw one. But Rachel’s back in Vermont and I really have to make new friends. Gabby seems nice; she’s a fast talker, but she’s friendly and she seems pretty excited to meet me.
“So, how do you like your new room? It’s awesome, right?” Gabby squeals. “I helped pick out t
he colours and I even helped paint it, which took a long time because it’s such a big room. Totally worth it though, right? So what do you think of the loft?”
“The loft …” I spit out as fast as I can. “It’s really cool! Do you want to come up?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” she says, yanking off her boots.
“So what do you think of the rest of the house?”
“I haven’t seen it yet; we just got here, like, fifteen minutes ago.”
“Oh yeah, right!” She opens the front closet and throws in her parka. “I’ll show you around. Come on!” she cries, motioning for me follow.
She whisks me in and out of every room in the house. The last stop is my bedroom. She swings open the door. “Oh my gosh!” she yells, stopping in her tracks.
What? What did I do? Is it the posters? Is she mad about the tape messing up the walls! It’s only been like ten minutes and she’s already mad at me. I just can’t win.
“Are you a Josh Taylor fan?” she says breathlessly, her eyes suddenly huge.
“Yeah.” I nod. Okay, I guess she’s not upset about the tape, but now I’m wondering if this girl has all of her marbles, because come on, it’s not too hard to tell that I’m a Josh Taylor fan. I mean … duh … hello, there are Josh Taylor posters plastered all over my walls!
“I don’t know if you know this,” she says, locking her eyes on mine, “but Josh Taylor just started his first ever American concert tour.” She runs over to a poster on the wall and presses her dreamy-eyed face against his cheek. “Anyway, he’s going to be here, in town, the day after tomorrow!”
I open my mouth to speak, but she starts again.
“So, me and my brother got tickets for Christmas, but he can’t stand Josh Taylor … I mean can’t … stand … him! He’s actually refusing to go! Can you believe it? He flat-out said no.”
“He did?” I shake my head in disbelief.
“Trust me, he did! So, we have an extra ticket.”
“You do?”
“Yes! And now that I know you’re a Josh Taylor fan, I would really, really, really love it if you would come with us. Please, please, please say yes. Please say you’ll come!”
Okay, so I totally take back my duh … hello comment and, I’m super glad I only said it in my head this time and not out loud.
“Are you serious?” I squeal. “Josh Taylor! But are you sure your brother won’t mind?”
“Mind?” she says, rolling her eyes, “He’ll be so excited he’s getting out of this that he’ll probably want to kiss you!”
“Well, if there is going to be a kiss involved, I guess I should probably know his name,” I say smirking.
“Oh yeah, I guess you should,” she answers with a chuckle. “His name is A.J.”
Acknowledgements
I want to send some love and thanks to a few people who helped me along the way.
Shannon Whibbs, my wonderful editor at Dundurn Press, for not only loving Hannah Smart as much as I do, but for believing in me and for helping me become a better writer.
The ever-inspiring Kat Kruger, for your advice, encouragement, and friendship.
Tom Cleary and his grade five class at Sir Charles Tupper Elementary for all of your kind words and wonderfully insightful comments and suggestions. Truth be told, I can’t thank you enough for unanimously hating my original title, and even more than that, for giving me a new one. You guys rock!
Anne Shea and her grade six class at Basinview Drive Community School for your constant encouragement and love.
My parents, Ruth and Jim Hartling, for teaching me to follow my dreams with courage and determination.
James Fitzpatrick, for begging me to write the next book, and for always understanding and hardly ever complaining when you hear me say, “Not now, Mommy’s writing!”
My husband, Tom, for your patience and love, and for always understanding and hardly ever complaining when you hear me say, “Not now, Mommy’s writing!”
And finally, I want to thank Erin Fitzpatrick and Emma Jerrott for your tireless efforts in making sure Hannah would be authentic and not a total loser.
AVAILABLE SOON
Coming in Spring 2016, Hannah Smart is On a Slippery Slope! Here’s a sneak peak!
Not too long ago, the mere thought of Maple Ridge would’ve caused my stomach to twist in knots, but now that I’m here I can see that it’s really not that bad. Actually, meeting Gabby, my new next-door neighbour, and going to the Josh Taylor concert (an incredibly amazing, dream-come-true experience) was the best start I could’ve ever imagined to the rest of my life. Yes, everything has been perfect so far — my new house is, like, crazy gorgeous, my new friend, Gabby, is awesome, and the concert was beyond wonderful. But even though everything seems great, I still have this niggling feeling that just won’t go away. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like it has all been a little too perfect. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but I’m worried about tomorrow. I hate feeling worried, I mean, it’s a dumb, useless emotion, right? But I can’t help it. What if Gabby isn’t in my class? What if the kids are all horrible? What if this move turns out to be the worst thing ever? I just can’t shake it … this feeling of doom. And then there’s the matter of A.J. I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve been obsessing over that wacky mystery.
Anyway, tomorrow, good or bad, I’ll know everything.
Copyright © Melody Fitzpatrick, 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
All characters in this work are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Editor: Shannon Whibbs Design: Laura Boyle
Cover Design: Courtney Horner and Laura Boyle
Cover Illustration © Evan Munday
Epub Design: Carmen Giraudy
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Fitzpatrick, Melody, author
Operation Josh Taylor / Melody Fitzpatrick.
(Hannah Smart)
Issued in print and electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-4597-3134-9 (pbk.).--ISBN 978-1-4597-3135-6 (pdf).-- ISBN 978-1-4597-3136-3 (epub)
I. Title.
PS8611.I8925O64 2015 jC813’.6 C2015-900593-0
C2015-900594-9
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