by Tracy Deebs
I settle down next to him, twisting the bottle nervously between my fingers.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Alika asks. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. I just…”
“You sure, Buttercup?” Owen asks.
My brows go up. “Buttercup?”
He smiles. “Yeah. We decided you needed a nickname too, and it was that or Casper the Friendly Ghost, so…”
“Casper?” I ask, my throat suddenly so thick I can barely get the word out.
“Yeah, you know, because of your handle? And because of how your code just ghosts,” Seth says with a crooked grin. “But we decided Buttercup from The Princess Bride suits you better. Everyone loves Buttercup.”
Tears well up in my eyes and spill onto my cheeks before I can stop them. Seth’s smile falls from his face, and Issa actually gasps. “It’s okay. You can be Casper if you want,” Seth babbles. “I mean, we aren’t as good at nicknames as you are, so if you’ve got something you’d rather be called—”
“No, no!” I sniffle a little, then wipe my eyes. “Buttercup is great. It’s perfect. Amazing. It’s just…”
“Just what?” Ezra asks, leaning forward in his seat.
“No one’s ever gotten close enough to give me a nickname before.” I give a watery laugh. “I’m sorry, that sounds totally pathetic. That’s not what I meant.”
Alika plops herself down on the seat next to mine and pulls me into a hug. For a second it feels strange, so strange that I can’t help but stiffen. But when she goes to pull back, I throw my arms around her and hug her back as tightly as I can. Seconds later, Seth is in on the action too, squishing me in his enthusiasm.
“Well, it’s too late for you to back out now,” Alika tells me cheerfully, when Seth finally lets go. “You’re stuck with us, whether you like it or not.”
The guilt that’s been weighing me down for days suddenly becomes suffocating, and I know that I can’t put it off any longer. I have to tell them what I’ve been doing.
“I’ve got something to tell you,” I say, making sure to look them all in the eyes as I do. It’s the last thing I want to do—I’d rather duck my head and hide, but they don’t deserve that. Any more than they deserve what I did.
“I spied on you guys. After L.A., I memorized your names from the badges. I looked you all up, hacked into your school files and a bunch of other stuff. I spied on you, and kept records, and made stupid assumptions about you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. I just wanted to know who you were, but then even once I got to know you, I kept doing it. I don’t even know why, and I don’t have any excuse, except…”
“Except it’s not easy for you to trust anyone,” Issa says quietly. “We get that.”
“What do you mean, you get it?” I ask, incredulous. “How can you not be mad?”
“We were when we first figured it out. But by then we knew you, and it didn’t seem like such a big deal,” Ezra says. “Not after everything you’ve gone through. Hell, if I had been in foster homes so bad I took myself out of the system at fourteen, you can bet I wouldn’t trust anyone either.”
“But I do trust you!” I tell him as I battle against the next batch of tears that want to fall. “That’s the thing. I didn’t at first, but then I got to know you, and… there’s no one in the world I’ve ever trusted as much as I trust you. And I’m sorry that I broke your trust and spied on you. It was a terrible thing to do, and I totally get it if you don’t want to be my friends anymore.”
“Have you been listening to anything we’ve said?” Owen asks. “If we didn’t want to be your friends anymore, we would have said something when we first figured it out.”
Suddenly what he just said, plus what Ezra said moments before, catches up with me. “Wait, what do you mean, you figured it out?” I ask. “You guys knew?”
“I think I figured it out first,” Seth replies, and he looks a little embarrassed. “Back at Ezra’s, the second day, before everything went crazy. You knew I’d been at Starbucks in the morning, but I never said anything. I didn’t put it together right away, but then by the time I did, some of them had also figured it out. We talked about it. We knew, Harper. It’s okay. We get it.”
“I found the camera you planted at the hotel suite,” Ezra added.
I put my head down, tears of shame falling down my cheeks. “So you guys knew this whole time and you were, what, just humoring me?”
Seth’s arm is back around me as Alika leans forward and forces me to look up at her. “You’re one of us, Harper. We’ve all got our weird stuff, but we trust you. You’re one of us.”
“The spying does have to stop, though,” Ezra adds. “I mean, if you ever want to watch me shower, all you have to do is ask.”
Issa shoots him a look, and without missing a beat, Ezra shrugs and says, “What? She’s asexual. Not dead.”
And just like that, I am laughing so hard I’m crying. We all are. And this time, I’m not even trying to hide my tears. I just let them roll down my cheeks.
“So do you like your nickname or what?” Seth asks after we all stop laughing long enough to take some deep breaths.
“It’s perfect,” I tell them.
“It’s really not,” Seth says. “We know that. But how cool is it that your nickname messes with Issa every time we use it?”
“I still say that paraphrasing counts!” she tells him. “You guys are just mean, right, Harper?”
She looks so hopeful that I want to agree with her, but… “No. Paraphrasing so doesn’t count.”
“Except in Die Hard movies,” Owen adds with a grin.
“And how exactly is that fair?” Issa demands.
“Who said anything about fair?” Ezra says, tugging on her hair.
“I did! I said something about fair!” Issa pouts.
“You guys really aren’t mad?” I ask one last time, just to make sure.
“Nah,” Ezra says. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Owen agrees. “You guys already know my secret.”
“My father is secretary of state,” Alika chimes in. “The whole world has access to my family’s secrets.”
“And I don’t have any,” Seth says. “So, yeah, who cares what you found out. It’s all good.”
“Besides, you know what they say,” Issa tells me.
“No. What do they say?”
“All’s fair in friendship and war.”
Ezra groans. “That’s not what they say.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, all wide-eyed innocence. “I was sure that was how it went.”
“All’s fair in love and war,” Owen tells her with a roll of his eyes.
“Oh, sorry.” She turns her head a little and winks at me. “How about this one, then. All’s well that starts well?”
“That’s it.” Ezra pulls her onto his lap and wraps his arms around her. “One more and I’m tossing you off the plane.”
“You guys wouldn’t toss me off the plane,” she says, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” Owen demands.
“Because,” I say, quoting one of my favorite movie lines ever, “this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
They all groan.
“Jeez,” Seth says. “Give a girl a nickname and she gets all sappy.”
“I was not being sappy!”
“You were so being sappy,” Alika tells me.
“Fine, would The Cutting Edge be better?”
“Yes!” Owen says emphatically.
“Absolutely!” Ezra agrees.
“Damn straight,” Seth tells me.
“Okay, then.”
“Toe pick!” five of us shout together.
Issa just shakes her head. “You guys really are crazy, you know that, right?”
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
Every once in a while, if a writer is really lucky, a project comes along that is truly the project of her heart. It challenges her, thrills her, makes her want to tear her hair out, and makes her so incredibly proud all at the same time. For me, Phantom Wheel is that project. I am so, so grateful to Kara Sargent, everyone else at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and The Gotham Group for giving me the chance to create these characters and write this story. It’s the most fun I’ve had doing my job in a long, long time.
We live in an exciting, fascinating, sometimes terrifying time, one where the power of the internet, and those who wield it, seems practically omnipotent. My goal in writing this story was to explore this idea, to play around with what that kind of power looks like when it’s unleashed and how easily people and corporations can be corrupted by greed and the desire for more—more power, more money, more influence. But I also wanted to examine what it means to stand up to that kind of systemic corruption—the strength and sacrifice it takes, but also the rewards that come from knowing you’ve done all you can to stop something that you know is wrong. I hope I’ve managed to do a little bit of both in Phantom Wheel.
This story wouldn’t have been possible without the help and guidance of so many, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them all.
Kara Sargent, who truly is the most extraordinary editor. Her ideas and enthusiasm for this project made my job so much easier. I feel so, so blessed for having the chance to work with her.
Daniella Valladares, who has been so helpful and sweet throughout this project, and whose ideas helped me bring the story, and its characters, to life.
Emily Sylvan Kim, who really is the best agent and friend a girl could ever ask for. Thank you for always pushing me beyond my comfort zone and for being there to cheer me on when I am certain that my vision is bigger than my talent and ability to execute. I can’t imagine trying to tackle the roller coaster that is publishing without you by my side.
Tom Sanderson, who has given this book the most amazing cover ever. Words cannot express how much I love it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Everyone at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and The Gotham Group, whose excitement for this project made working on it an absolute joy. You have all been so supportive of me and my vision for this story, and for that I am eternally grateful.
Emily Mckay, Shellee Roberts, and Sherry Thomas, for your unflagging support and friendship. I love you all more than I can say.
My boys, who enthusiastically contributed to so many discussions on viruses, worms, operating systems, fight scenes, and a variety of other topics that came up during the writing of this book. You guys really are the best sports, and I’m so grateful that I get to be your mom.
My mom, who is a great sounding board and who does such an amazing job of helping me keep my real life running smoothly even when I’m lost in a fictional world.
The six main characters in Phantom Wheel, all of whom taught me something during the writing of this book about the strength and heart that are so integral to the human condition. Ezra’s resourcefulness, Seth’s deep-down goodness, Owen’s bravery, Issa’s passion, Alika’s dogged search for truth, and Harper’s open-mindedness truly are, to me, the most exciting parts of being human—and our best shot at making the world a better place.
And most of all, thank you to my readers. I hope this story excites you as much as it has me.
All my love,
Tracy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tracy Deebs has written numerous young adult novels, including Doomed, which was a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers finalist and has been on numerous state reading lists. She’s the author of the Tempest mermaid series and the coauthor of the award-winning series The Hero Agenda. She is also the author of numerous New York Times and USA Today bestsellers for adults.
