Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Ransom: I don’t lie. At least not to you. You’re ready.
Knowing he thought so helped. A guy I’d not seen in person in five years could text me, and my day would brighten. I’d feel more confident. Our friendship was odd but made sense, all at the same time. We’d become pen pals with a modern twist.
Me: I hope so. How are things in Madison?
There was a long pause, and I thought he must have gotten busy at work. That happened sometimes, and he’d get back to me hours later. I started to slip the phone back into the pocket inside my robe when it lit up again.
Ransom: Crosby was shot last night. He’s dead. Than was there.
I paled as I reread his words. I hadn’t known Crosby Cash personally, but I knew how close the Carver boys were to the Cashes. You rarely saw Than Carver without Crosby. My chest hurt. Several things ran through my head as a response, but I didn’t type them out. I settled on the one thing that I cared about the most.
Me: Are you okay?
Because I knew everyone in his family would be worried about Than. But he loved his brother. This would affect him.
Ransom: I don’t think any of us are.
Me: I’m here to listen (read) if you need to talk about it. Things. Or just vent.
I wanted to tell him he could call me if he wanted to, but we’d never taken that step. All these years, and it was just the texting. Even back when he’d gone to school with me, he would simply nod as we passed in the hallway. He never stopped and spoke with me or showed me any kind of attention. Some girl was always beside him, his arm draped over her thin, tanned shoulders most often. It had bothered me—no, it had stung. The constant reminder that I didn’t fit in his world of the beautiful elite. But once he’d graduated and the texting continued, I had let that go. Because he’d left all the others behind. Gotten bored with them. But me, he’d kept.
Ransom: Thank you.
Noa
Age Twenty-Four
My fingers hovered over the screen of my phone as I stared at the text I hadn’t written yet. Unsure if I was going to. This was a big deal, and most of my successes and lows I shared with Ransom. But this time, I was afraid to because what if I failed? I didn’t want him to know.
The phone began to ring, and Jellie’s name appeared on the screen. I’d texted her the news only moments ago, and she was already calling. Smiling, I hit Accept.
“Yessss.” I drew out the word.
She began to squeal the way that only Jellie could. It was a giddy, ecstatic sound that made my mouth spread even wider across my face. She might possibly be more excited than I was.
“OH-MY-GOD! OH-MY-GOD!” she cried out with glee. “How are you so quiet? I mean, this is what you wanted! Dreamed of! And you’re getting it at only twenty-four years old!”
I chuckled softly. “Not necessarily. The book could bomb. Then the publisher will have given me this advance, and it will never make their money back. What then? I’ll never get another publishing deal.”
That was my greatest fear. I’d put years into that manuscript. It had been rewritten and edited so many times that I had lost count. I loved every word … but what if no one else did? What if Arden was wrong? What if he was biased because of how he felt about me? My stomach turned with anxiety.
“Shut UP! You are brilliant! You have always been incredible with words. How many times did you save my ass, editing slash rewriting my papers for classes? A bajillion. You’re the rock star of words!”
Her enthusiasm helped ease my worry some, but it was still there. I knew it would be until it was released and had some moderate success.
“I just want to at least sell enough to make back the advance they gave me. I still think it’s too much, but Arden is adamant that it isn’t.”
“Only you, Noa. Not taking money that is being handed to you. When are you going to stop, look in the mirror, and see the woman you have become? It’s like you missed your transformation, and all you see is the girl you were when you walked onto campus freshman year. Even with that Hottie McTottie senior-editor boyfriend who adores you! That should be enough right there to see yourself clearly. You are a gorgeous, badass genius with words, and the world is about to find out! GOD! I wish I could be there when Ella and Bindie see your name on books in store windows! Bitches gonna be green!”
Ella and Bindie had been the mean girls in college. At least for me. They’d singled me out on day one and made it their mission to make me miserable. Having a roommate who became my best friend that was a powerhouse like Jellie had put a kink in their plans of destruction.