Boy
Page 24
I’d drive to the mall, the same one I’d been going to my whole life, and I’d buy some new socks or some underwear. I’d walk around looking at the people and thinking how different Los Angeles was going to be. No matter what adventures I had, or where I ended up, this mall would always be here. With these same people, eating their ice-cream cones and being content to live in the suburbs, where nothing ever happened.
My mom drove me to the airport. I mostly sat beside her, staring out the window. But it was good for my mom. She hadn’t been able to totally focus on my leaving with everything else that was happening. Now, though, for the half hour it took to get there, we talked. She said how she was proud of me for sticking to my guns. And not letting my dad push me around. And doing what I wanted to do. Which, even if it didn’t work out, she at least respected me for trying. She had loved the arts, in her way, which had led her to Echo Advertising. And here I was, doing it.
When we got to the airport, I got out and pulled my bags out of the car. My mom came around and gave me a long hug and I hugged her back and wished her luck with Henry Oswald or whatever. She told me not to think about her. And to have a wonderful time. And that I had a whole great life ahead of me. She said a few other motherly things that made me sad. I teared up a little.
But I got through that. And I went inside the airport. It was pretty busy in there, which forced me to focus. I got my boarding pass and checked my big bags, keeping my trusty Canon with me, and my carry bag. And then the security people got paranoid about the camera stuff. So they searched me again before they finally let me through.
I walked to my gate. I paced around a little bit, then settled myself by the big window and stared out at the tarmac. When they started loading the passengers, I hung back, like Richie used to do. I’m not sitting in some overcrowded plane any longer than I have to, he would say. So I let the other people go first.
When everyone else was on board, I went to the gate and handed the woman my boarding pass. She smiled and wished me a good flight. I slung my Canon over my shoulder and strode into the empty Jetway. It felt natural, that motion, that walk through the tunnel, to the waiting plane. I felt like I was in the right place. I heard a voice, my own voice say: Welcome to your life.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Big thanks: Liesa Abrams Mignogna, Jodi Reamer, Alec Shane, Bethany Strout, Jennifer Altshuler, Laura Locker, Melissa Locker, Jason Etemad-Lehmer, David Colton, Chelsea Hogan, Kevin Samuels, Celina Burns, and Mother Foucault’s Bookshop.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BLAKE NELSON is the author of many young adult novels, including Recovery Road (now a TV series), the coming-of-age classic Girl, and Paranoid Park, which was made into a film by Gus Van Sant. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Simon & Schuster, New York
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/teen
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Blake-Nelson
ALSO BY BLAKE NELSON
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.
* * *
Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON PULSE
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Simon Pulse hardcover edition June 2017
Text copyright © 2017 by Blake Nelson
Jacket design and illustration by Regina Flath copyright © 2017 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON PULSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact
Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com.
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.
For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Interior designed by Steve Scott
The text of this book was set in Palatino.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nelson, Blake, 1960- author.
Title: Boy / Blake Nelson.
Description: Simon Pulse hardcover edition. | New York : Simon Pulse, [2017] | Summary: Popular sixteen-year-old Gavin is happy spending his time with friends, dating, and playing tennis, until a mysterious girl named Antoinette transfers to his school and influences the way he views himself, his friends, and his relationships.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016033311 (print) | LCCN 2017006338 (eBook) | ISBN 9781481488136 (hc) | ISBN 9781481488150 (eBook)
Subjects: | CYAC: High schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Popularity—Fiction. | Cliques (Sociology)—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.N4328 Bo 2017 (print) | LCC PZ7.N4328 (eBook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016033311