You Were Here

by Cori McCarthy

  Mik’s arms wrapped around me.

  “By the way, Zach,” I said, “if I hear a Niagara Falls joke, I’ll twist your ear off your head with my teeth. Got it?”

  Zach held his hands up in surrender.

  Natalie laughed. “She really will, Zach.”

  “I believe you,” he said, grinning. “So what do you guys want to do now?”

  I took Jake’s map out of my pocket and looked over the worn creases and scribbled words. “I think we should get lost.”

  “What does that mean exactly?” Natalie asked.

  “We drive across the country without a map. Just winding up places,” I said. “There are some pretty amazing forgotten buildings on the old Route 66.”

  “Hell yes.” Zach stood up like we might take off right here and now. Natalie grabbed the edge of his shirt and made him sit back down.

  Bishop nodded. “I’m free next summer.”

  I looked over my shoulder at Mik. Ryan. He leaned into my ear to speak, and his words made me kiss him. And not stop.

  “Why do I have a feeling that they’ll still be doing that next summer?” Zach asked.

  I pulled from Mik’s lips and looked to Natalie. “What say you, Nat? A trip like that will need some serious organization.”

  “Organization but no maps? That’s a headache. That would require a hundred contingency plans. Think about the scale of packing alone, Jayce.”

  “True,” I agreed. “You up for it?”

  “I’m up for anything you’ve got.” She crossed her arms in triumph.

  I closed my eyes and tried to feel Jake’s presence like I had on the TB ward roof all those weeks ago. It didn’t happen. If he was still here like Bishop said, tangled up in time’s twist of past, present, and future, he wasn’t waiting around for me. And I knew it was finally time not to wait around for him.

  I started to reshape Jake’s map into a paper airplane, being careful with the balance of the folds just like he’d taught me a lifetime ago. Then I tossed it onto the wind. It sailed high above our heads for a spell before dipping. I leaned my cheek on Mik’s knee and watched the spot of white notebook paper disappear, caught on a current we couldn’t see.

  Acknowledgments

  Off the bat, I thank my bruders, Evan and Conor, for every adventure and misadventure. Also, a supermassive thank-you to my best friends, Missy and Amy, because every time I missed the boat, you ladies gave me a ride. Additionally, the Jaycee in me wants to thank the Weenies for a dramatic education in group dynamics and for all those lessons in falling for my big brothers’ friends.

  So much appreciation to the Sourcebooks team and my editor, Aubrey Poole, who trusted me to bring such an ambitious story together while encouraging all shenanigans. A huge thank-you to my wonder agent, Sarah Davies, and Sonia Liao, who magicked my characters to life and turned Bishop into a true artist. Also, I thank Modest Mouse for “Missed the Boat” and Wake Owl for “Gold,” two songs that were my constant soundtrack while writing this book.

  A special thank-you to Gwynnie and Mario Speedwagon for The Ridges and Moonville adventures. I’d also like to thank all the people who made my years in Athens eccentrically memorable. People like Maggie Tapia, Tina Elliget, Justin Braxton-Brown, Kerri Shaw, Misty Cole, Kim Corriher, and Minnesota Steve, as well as everyone at Trimble and Chauncey elementary schools. Another special thank-you to Jeff Riffo, Dr. Dyer, Missy Carignan, Andy Paul, Tom Bruscino Jr., and Erica Eckert for mining their memories for Zach’s Geauga Lake daydream.

  As always, I’m thankful for my family and friends who encourage this uphill career choice, particularly for Christian and Maverick’s support. And I’m eternally indebted to the brilliance and guidance of Amy Rose Capetta, officially the first person to fall for Mik.

  While I dedicate this book to Matt, this story is also for the Harmon Middle School Eighth Grade Class of 1997 and all of our teachers—because after almost twenty years, it still feels like we turned around, and he was gone.

  Like Natalie, I love the cracks in history. You Were Here came from my love of forgotten places. All of the urbex settings in this book are real, and I encourage you to look them up. Sadly, The Ridges’ TB ward was razed in 2013 and now only exists in Internet pictures and YouTube videos. Randall Park Mall has suffered a similar fate and was reduced to rubble a few days after Christmas in 2014. There is not much left of my childhood playground, Geauga Lake, although the Big Dipper may yet stand. The Moonville Tunnel and the Gates of Hell (Blood Bowl) are accessible to all ambitious urbexers. Remember that if you do go exploring, leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs. Oh, and Natalie insists that you bring a first aid kit and wear a headlamp.

  About the Author

  Cori McCarthy’s first job was as a zombie at Geauga Lake Amusement Park. Only slightly less strange, she now writes books for a living. Cori studied creative writing at Ohio University but mostly spent her time daydreaming about The Ridges. She also holds a postgraduate certificate in screenwriting from UCLA and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Find out more about her other books, Breaking Sky and The Color of Rain, at CoriMcCarthy.com.

  About the Illustrator

  Sonia Liao is an illustrator and comic artist with a BFA in illustration and a minor in creative writing from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She’s illustrated several comics, including “At All Cost” in Issue 5 of The End by Shawn Padraic Murphy and Helena Rose: An Intergalactic Fairytale by E. O. Levendorf. Sonia spends her free time watching crime procedurals and collecting Alpaca plushies at her home in Massachusetts. For more, visit sonialiao.com.