Gemma tried the key one more time, but it only elicited the same empty clicking sound from her car. Sighing, she leaned forward and stared out at the moonlit sky through the cracked windshield. It was getting late, and even if she left on foot right now, she wouldn’t get back from her swim until almost midnight.
That wouldn’t be a huge problem, but her curfew was eleven. Starting off the summer being grounded on top of having a dead car was the last thing she wanted. Her swim would have to wait for another night.
She got out of the car. When she tried to slam the door shut in frustration, it only groaned, and a chunk of rust fell off the bottom.
“This is by far the worst three hundred dollars I ever spent,” Gemma muttered.
“Car trouble?” Alex asked from behind her, startling her so much she nearly screamed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She turned around to face him. “No, it’s okay,” she said, waving it off. “I didn’t hear you come out.”
Alex had lived next door to them for the past ten years, and there was nothing scary about him. As he got older, he’d tried to smooth out his unruly dark hair, but a lock near the front always stood up, a cowlick he could never tame. It made him look younger than eighteen, and when he smiled, he looked younger still.
There was something innocent about him, and that was probably why Harper had never thought of him as anything more than a friend. Even Gemma had dismissed him as uncrushworthy until recently. She’d seen the subtle changes in him, his youthfulness giving way to broad shoulders and strong arms.
It was that new thing, the new manliness he was beginning to grow into, that made her stomach flutter when Alex smiled at her. She still wasn’t used to feeling that way around him, so she pushed it down and tried to ignore it.
“The stupid piece of junk won’t run.” Gemma gestured to the rusty compact and stepped over to where Alex stood on his lawn. “I’ve only had it for three months, and it’s dead already.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Alex said. “Do you need help?”
“You know something about cars?” Gemma raised an eyebrow. She had seen him spend plenty of time playing video games or with his nose stuck in a book, but she’d never once seen him under the hood of a car.
Alex smiled sheepishly and lowered his eyes. He had been blessed with tan skin, which made it easier for him to hide his embarrassment, but Gemma knew him well enough to understand that he blushed at almost anything.
“No,” he admitted with a small laugh and motioned back to the driveway where his blue Mercury Cougar sat. “But I do have a car of my own.”
He pulled his keys out of his pocket and swung them around his finger. For a moment he managed to look slick before the keys flew off his hand and hit him in the chin. Gemma stifled a laugh as he scrambled to pick them up.
“You okay?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m fine.” He rubbed his chin and shrugged it off. “So, do you want a ride?”
“Are you sure? It’s pretty late. I don’t want to bother you.”
“Nah, it’s no bother.” He stepped back toward his car, waiting for Gemma to follow. “Where are you headed?”
“Just to the bay.”
“I should’ve known.” He grinned. “Your nightly swim?”
“It’s not nightly,” Gemma said, though he wasn’t too far off base.
“Come on.” Alex walked over to the Cougar and opened his door. “Hop in.”
“All right, if you insist.”
Gemma didn’t like imposing on people, but she didn’t want to pass up a chance at swimming. A car ride alone with Alex wouldn’t hurt, either. Usually she only got to spend time with him when he was hanging out with her sister.
“So what is it about these swims that you find so entrancing?” Alex asked after she’d gotten in the car.
“I don’t think I’d ever describe them as entrancing.” She buckled her seat belt, then leaned back. “I don’t know what it is exactly. There’s just . . . nothing else like it.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked. He’d started the car but stayed parked in the driveway, watching her as she tried to explain.
“During the day there are so many people at the bay, especially during the summer, but at night . . . it’s just you and the water and the stars. And it’s dark, so it all feels like one thing, and you’re part of it all.” She furrowed her brow, but her smile was wistful. “I guess it is kind of entrancing,” she admitted. She shook her head, clearing it of the thought. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a freak who likes swimming at night.”
That was when Gemma realized Alex was staring at her, and she glanced over at him. He had a strange expression on his face, almost like he was dumbfounded.
“What?” Gemma asked, beginning to feel embarrassed at the way he looked at her. She fidgeted with her hair, tucking it behind her ears, and shifted in her seat.
“Nothing. Sorry.” Alex shook his head and put the car in drive. “You probably want to get out to the water.”
“I’m not in a huge rush or anything,” Gemma said, but that was sort of a lie. She wanted to get as much time in the water as she could before her curfew.
“Are you still training?” Alex asked. “Or did you stop for summer vacation?”
“Nope, I still train.” She rolled down the car window, letting the salty air blow in. “I swim every day at the pool with the coach. He says my times are getting really good.”
“At the pool you swim all day, and then you want to sneak out and swim all night?” Alex smirked. “How does that work?”
“It’s different.” She stuck her arm out the open window, holding it straight like the wing of a plane. “Swimming at the pool, it’s all laps and time. It’s work. Out in the bay, it’s just floating and splashing around.”
“But don’t you ever get sick of being wet?” Alex asked.
“Nope. That’s like asking you, Don’t you ever get sick of breathing air?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. Sometimes I think, Wouldn’t it be grand if I didn’t need to breathe?”
“Why?” Gemma laughed. “Why would that ever be grand?”
“I don’t know.” He looked self-conscious for a minute, his smile twisting nervously. “I guess I mostly thought it when I was in gym class and they’d make me run or something. I was always so out of breath.”
Alex glanced over at her, as if checking to see if she thought he was a complete loser for that admission. But she only smiled at him in response.
“You should’ve spent more time swimming with me,” Gemma said. “Then you wouldn’t have been so out of shape.”
“I know, but I’m a geek.” He sighed. “At least I’m done with all that gym stuff now that I’ve graduated.”
“Soon you’ll be so busy at college, you won’t even remember the horrors of high school,” Gemma said, her tone turning curiously despondent.
“Yeah, I guess.” Alex furrowed his brow.
Gemma leaned closer to the window, hanging her elbow down the side and resting her chin on her hand as she stared out at houses and trees passing by. In their neighborhood, the houses were all cheap and run-down, but as soon as they passed Capri Lane, everything was clean and modern.
Since it was tourist season, all the buildings and trees were lit up brightly. Music from the bars and the sounds of people talking and laughing wafted through the air.
“Are you excited to get away from all this?” Gemma asked with a wry smile and pointed to a drunken couple arguing on the boulevard.
“There is some stuff I’ll be glad to get away from,” he admitted, but when he looked over at her, his expression softened. “But there will definitely be some things that I miss.”
The beach was mostly deserted, other than a few teenagers having a bonfire, and Gemma directed Alex to drive a little farther. The soft sand gave way to more jagged rocks lining the shore, and the paved parking lots were replaced by a forest of bald cypress trees. He parked on a dirt road as
close to the water as he could get.
This far away from the tourist attractions, there were no people or trails leading to the water. When Alex cut the lights on the Cougar, they were submerged in darkness. The only light came from the moon above them, and from some light pollution cast off by the town.
“Is this really where you swim?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. It’s the best place to do it.” She shrugged and opened the door.
“But it’s all rocky.” Alex got out of the car and scanned the mossy stones that covered the ground. “It seems dangerous.”
“That’s the point.” Gemma grinned. “Nobody else would swim here.”
As soon as she got out of the car, she slipped off her sundress, revealing the bathing suit she wore underneath. Her dark hair had been in a ponytail, but she pulled it down and shook it loose. She kicked off her flip-flops and tossed them in the car, along with her dress.
Alex stood next to the car, shoving his hands deep in his pockets, and tried not to look at her. He knew she was wearing a bathing suit, one he’d seen her in a hundred times before. Gemma practically lived in swimwear. But alone with her like this, he felt acutely aware of how she looked in the bikini.
Of the two Fisher sisters, Gemma was definitely the prettier. She had a lithe swimmer’s body, petite and slender, but curved in all the right places. Her skin was bronze from the sun, and her dark hair had golden highlights running through it from all the chlorine and sunlight. Her eyes were honey, not that he could really see the color in the dim light, but they sparkled when she smiled at him.
“Aren’t you going swimming?” Gemma asked.
“Uh, no.” He shook his head and deliberately stared off at the bay to avoid looking at her. “I’m good. I’ll wait in the car until you’re done.”
“No, you drove me all the way down here. You can’t just wait in the car. You have to come swimming with me.”
“Nah, I think I’m okay.” He scratched his arm and lowered his eyes. “You go have fun.”
“Alex, come on.” Gemma pretended to pout. “I bet you’ve never even gone for a swim in the moonlight. And you’re leaving for college at the end of the summer. You have to do this at least once, or you haven’t really lived.”
“I don’t have swim trunks,” Alex said, but his resistance was already waning.
“Just wear your boxers.”
He thought about protesting further, but Gemma had a point. She was always doing stuff like this, but he’d spent most of his high school career in his bedroom.
Besides, swimming would be better than waiting. And when he thought about it, it was much less creepy joining her swimming than watching her from the shore.
“Fine, but I better not cut my feet on any of the rocks,” Alex said as he slipped off his shoes.
“I promise to keep you safe and sound.” She crossed her hand over her heart to prove it.
“I’ll hold you to that.”
An interview with Amanda Hocking
What inspired you to begin writing?
I’ve always loved characters – fictional or otherwise. I’ve always loved building my own worlds and my own characters, and then sharing them with friends and family (even if they didn’t always want me to).
Did anyone give you any advice about writing or did you read anything that helped?
I’ve gotten a lot of advice about writing over the years, but it’s hard to point at one example that’s been the most helpful. One of the best things I’ve heard is that it’s not enough to be passionate — to love writing you have to be willing to work at it, put in the time, take the criticism, and set aside your pride.
Looking back, what advice would you have given yourself as a teenager?
I would have told myself not to take myself so seriously. I spent a lot of time in high school worrying about what people thought of me, and I shouldn’t have worried . . . I should have just been myself, had fun, and enjoyed myself.
What was your first story?
The first story I remember ever writing was something about a group of wild animals who were friends, and a raccoon followed a unicorn and helped it solve a mystery. I’m thinking of publishing that one next.
Do you start off with a character in mind or a storyline?
I always start my ideas with the characters. To me, the characters are the most important part of the story, and the rest builds around them.
Where do you write?
I write in my office. Sometimes I unplug the internet to stay focused, and I have a picture of Christian Bale glaring down at me to keep me on task.
How long do you write for?
When I’m actually sitting down to write a book, that’s about all I do, so I would say I spend about 9–12 hours a day writing.
Do you have an idea of the whole story before you start writing or does it come to you as you go?
When I sit down to write, I have the whole story figured out. I spend most of my time brainstorming and outlining, so that when I’m writing I can just write.
How did you go about self-publishing your books? Was it easy?
Once I had researched information on self-publishing and figured out that that was what I wanted to do, it was fairly easy. Formatting the books and designing the covers can be tedious and getting it all ready can be hard, but the actual act of publishing a book is pretty simple.
Why did you want to have a publisher when your self-publishing did so well?
I wanted my books to be available to more people. The last I heard, ebooks are only making up about 20 percent of the market. I also wanted to spend more time writing, and less time formatting, designing covers, etc.
Do you find your writing has changed now you have an editor?
I’ve always had some sort of editor, but my official editor at St. Martin’s is outstanding. My writing still feels the same, but she really knows how to improve the overall feel of the book.
What advice would you give to anyone who wanted to start writing?
Go for it. Spend a lot of time reading, and a lot of time researching everything you can about writing and the publishing industry.
Praise for the Trylle trilogy
‘Her character-driven books, which feature trolls, hobgoblins and fairytale elements, and keep the pages turning, have generated an excitement not felt in the industry since Stephenie Meyer or perhaps even J. K. Rowling’
New York Times
‘A fast-paced romance . . . addictive’
Guardian
‘In terms of page-turning immediacy, they are unrivalled’
Daily Telegraph
‘Drew me in and kept me hooked . . . cracking pace’
Sunday Express
‘Well-told . . . You can have fun and get lost in a world’
Irish Independent
‘Amanda Hocking is one of the most experienced and successful first-time novelists around’
SFX
‘I ate this book up. I could barely put it down before bed, and was also trying to sneak time in my busy morning to read some extra sentences. This was an awesome first book in a series’
Midnight Glance
‘I started reading Switched in the evening one night and stayed up until 3 a.m. because I didn’t want to put it down . . . Yes, it’s that good’
A Tale of Many Reviews
‘I read these three books back-to-back-to-back on my Kindle. The story had me so engaged that I could not put it down. I was reading in the car, at school, on my bed, at the dinner table and in the media room. You could call it an obsession’
Reading Vacation
‘This series has a bit of everything – magic, myth, action, romance . . . ah, the romance! There is something so appealing about forbidden love . . . Of course, I won’t give spoilers, but the ending was perfect’
Diary of a Bibliophile
‘Switched was an impressive start to a series that was chock-full of excitement and attitude’
That Bookish Girl
>
‘I absolutely loooooveeed Switched. From the first pages I found myself totally caught up, stealing moments to read this book. Visually I “saw” this book so well in my head. Just an awesome read that makes you feel for the characters’
Novels on the Run
‘Full of adventure, tense moments – the sort of “what is going to happen next” moments, a romance and a great plot . . . I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the series!’
It’s Time to Read
‘[Switched] was a page-turner. I devoured the thing and stayed up late to finish it . . . I’ll be grabbing the sequels to read fairly sharpish just as soon as I can’
Bart’s Bookshelf
‘I couldn’t put this book down . . . The story gives an original spin to the Troll folklore and feels fresh and magical at the same time’
One More Page
Amanda Hocking lives in Minnesota, had never sold a book before April 2010 and has now sold her millionth. She is now ‘the most spectacular example of an author striking gold through ebooks’ (Observer). Amanda is a self-confessed ‘Obsessive Tweeter. John Hughes mourner. Batman devotee. Muppets activist. Unicorn enthusiast.’ Please see more at www.worldofamandahocking.com
By Amanda Hocking
THE TRYLLE TRILOGY:
Switched
Torn
Ascend
Trylle: The Complete Trilogy
THE WATERSONG SERIES:
Wake
Lullaby
Tidal
Elegy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I have to thank the readers and book bloggers. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating—I could never have gotten this far without all your support and encouragement. I want to thank you all by name, but if I did that, the acknowledgments would become a novel itself. So I just want to say thank you to every person who read Switched, told their friends about it, left a review, tweeted about it, blogged about it, or liked it on Facebook, thank you a million times over.
Trylle Page 77
