Meet Cute Diary

by Emery Lee

  And though Becca makes a fuss about the whole thing, I know they’re both honored to be part of the team. It’s different than when I dragged Drew into the fold. This is a three-way, equal partnership, and not only has it made the blog feel more real and alive, but it finally gives me a chance to focus on other things in my life, like preparing my wardrobe for a whole new school year in a new city.

  “Okay, you’re both going to have to take notes,” I say.

  Devin rolls eir eyes. “Great. Let me go look for a pen.”

  E gets up to start digging through boxes, so I feel kind of bad about that. E’s moving to San Francisco next week, and e promised to come down and see me before the school year starts, but for now, e’s stuck in Denver, living out of boxes.

  “Just use your phone,” Becca says.

  “Nothing like a good ol’ pen and paper!”

  “Is this meeting really necessary?” Becca asks. “I thought the whole point was to step back from the Diary and let people explore their own stories.”

  “It is,” I say, “but we still have to keep it organized. Also, I’m wondering if maybe we should let people tell their romances even if they aren’t meet cutes. As you both know, some of the best relationships bloom without meet cutes involved.”

  Devin nods as e sits back down on eir mattress. “Yeah, I get that impression too.”

  Becca groans. “If you two don’t stop being cute, I’m ending the call.”

  Devin grins. “Sorry. Honestly, Noah, it’s your blog. You should do what you think is best.”

  But it’s not really my blog anymore, and I’m okay with that. I mean, I’m hardly the same person I was when I started it, and now, more than anything, I want it to be a resource—something people across the world can turn to and learn from. You know, so they don’t make the same mistakes I made, but also so they can have a chance at finding what I have.

  And really, I like knowing that Becca and Devin are part of the team. It means they can help steer me back to shore the next time I almost run us off a waterfall, and what better way to curate my internet space than sharing it with the two people I love the most?

  “Okay, but you better not call it the All Relationships, Even If They Aren’t Meet Cutes Diary,” Becca says.

  I laugh. “No, definitely not. I don’t think the name has to change, really. I just think we should expand it so it’s not limited by this weird idea of what romance is supposed to be, you know? I want people to be able to celebrate whatever relationships make them happy. I think that’s the spirit of the Diary, anyway.”

  And really, I’m not entirely sure how to define the feeling I’m looking for, but it’s there, I know it is, and however long it takes me to figure it out, I know I’ll have the people I love supporting me, every step of the way.

  Acknowledgments

  There are more people I could thank for helping me reach this point than I have the breath or words for, but I’ll try.

  Thank you to my amazing, wonderful, too-good-for-words agent Beth Phelan for your support, your wisdom, your guidance, and your brilliant gif usage. Noah wouldn’t be the character he is today without your help, and frankly, neither would I. Thank you to the entire Gallt & Zacker team for all your support, and thank you to all my agent sibs (#Beoples) for being so welcoming and supportive. I couldn’t have asked for a better literary family.

  To my team and support at HarperCollins, especially Alexandra Cooper and Allison Weintraub—thank you for taking me through this process and supporting my work (all while deep in a global pandemic no less). It’s been an honor to work with you, and I’m so grateful for all the support you’ve given this little pink book.

  To Erin Fitzsimmons, who designed the cover, and Mariana Ramirez, who illustrated—thank you both for creating such a beautiful rendition of this story and its characters. To the marketing team, sales team, and everyone else at HarperCollins who helped this book along its journey—thank you so much! I’m eternally grateful for everything you’ve done, and I’m so fortunate to have had you all in my corner.

  Thank you to John Cusick for being the first person to see the potential in this book. You changed my life, and I’ll always be grateful for that! And thank you Stephanie Guerdan, Mabel Hsu, and Alyson Day for opening the door to me.

  To Gabby and Martha—thank you for all the love and support over the years. It means the world to me to be able to share this book with you now.

  To my Twitter family, for giving me somewhere to find myself and helping me develop into the person and author I am today; thank you all so much.

  To Claribel Ortega, for giving me my first taste of the world of traditional publishing and constantly providing support and advice. Thank you for being my publishing tia.

  To My fellow 21ders (and queerever 21s), thank you for going through this wild journey of stumbling through the dark with me. It’s been a hell of a ride, but we’re here. We made it.

  To all my fellow author friends—Ryan La Sala, Aiden Thomas, Jonny Garza Villa, Sonora Reyes, Becky Albertalli, Camryn Garrett, Julian Winters, Jo Ladzinski, Becca Mix, Blake Farron, Ashley Jean, Claudie Arsenault, RoAnna Sylver, Gabriela Martins, and Amparo Ortiz—for cheering me on, providing me constant inspiration, and reminding me of all the reasons I love being an author. And to all the authors I didn’t name, I love y’all, I just didn’t want to make it weird by including you if you don’t consider me a friend, I’m sorry :/.

  To my beta readers—A.Z. Louise and Shelly Jay—thank you for putting your time and heart into this book.

  To Peter Lopez, ily bitch.

  To my sister and Nicole, thank you for buying a copy even though I know you’ll never get around to reading it.

  To my grandmother—I love you, and I miss you. You’ll always be my sunshine, and I’ll always be my brightest for you.

  To Susan, Judy, Alex, and Derek, thank you for being my family.

  And, of course, to Kelpie, thanks for being my ideal reader and best friend. The ideas are for me, but I write them for you, so where should we go next?

  About the Author

  Courtesy of Emery Lee

  EMERY LEE is a kidlit author, artist, and YouTuber hailing from a mixed-racial background. After graduating with a degree in creative writing, e’s gone on to author novels, short stories, and web comics. When away from reading and writing, you’ll most likely find em engaged in art or snuggling cute dogs. Find em online at www.emeryleebooks.com.

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  Meet Cute Diary

  Praise for Meet Cute Diary

  “How lucky are we that this sweet, subversive, utter delight of a book exists? Meet Cute Diary is here to flip tropes and flip hearts.” —Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

  “Meet Cute Diary is the rom-com of my dreams! I’m over-the-moon excited for any and all readers, but especially those who are young, trans, and nonbinary, who’ll get to discover this hilarious, poignant story and fall absolutely in love. With a fast-paced, well-crafted plot that’ll have you itching to read the entire book in one sitting and a voice that’s chef’s kiss immaculate, this is truly one of my new favorite books of all time.” —Kacen Callender, National Book Award–winning author

  “Don’t say perfect romances don’t exist, because there’s one right in front of you!” —Mason Deaver, bestselling author of I Wish You All the Best and The Ghosts We Keep

  “Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee unpacks how complicated and ever-evolving exploring gender can be against a fun backdrop of your favorite relationship tr
opes and teenage mishaps. The diverse cast of characters, pronouns, and gender expressions creates opportunities for readers to finally see themselves represented in a book. It’s abundantly clear that Lee wrote this story with love and tenderness for eir community. Meet Cute Diary is both about, and for, helping transgender youth feel connected, seen, and worthy of not just an epic meet cute, but a happily ever after.” —Aiden Thomas, author of New York Times bestseller Cemetery Boys

  “A poignant, heartfelt story about the complexities of identity, growing up, and defining ourselves.” —Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures

  “Full of warmth, love, and hope, Meet Cute Diary is a groundbreaking book that we’re all lucky to have.” —Camryn Garrett, author of Full Disclosure

  “The perfect balance of adorkable and affirming, Meet Cute Diary is a sincere, uplifting debut. Emery Lee delivers a story bursting with joy, identity, friendship, humor, and the unexpectedness of first love. A necessity for rom-com fans everywhere.” —Julian Winters, award-winning author of Running with Lions

  Copyright

  Quill Tree Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

  MEET CUTE DIARY. Copyright © 2021 by Emery Lee. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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  Cover art © 2021 by Mariana Ramírez / @motekill

  Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons

  * * *

  Digital Edition MAY 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-303885-1

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-303883-7

  * * *

  2122232425PC/LSCH10987654321

  FIRST EDITION

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