The Other Boy

She might as well have been speaking Swahili. “But we’re totally different! Lunch just proved it. Morgan was right. We should just forget it.” Maddy slumped back against the seat and crossed her arms.

Morgan threw the car into park and turned around. She turned the music way down. “Wait, what are you talking about, ‘Lunch just proved it’?”

Maddy stared at her incredulously. “Lunch was a disaster,” she said, speaking very slowly and clearly. “It was the most awkward experience ever.”

Morgan wrinkled up her face. “What are you talking about? Lunch wasn’t awkward at all. It was really fun. He clearly knows how to have a good time.”

“But—but you said it would never work out!” Maddy insisted.

“On the phone! I’d never even met the guy. Besides, aren’t I allowed to be wrong sometimes?”

“I guess,” Maddy said slowly. Morgan faced front again. 256

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“Don’t worry, Mad,” she said, turning the music back up and putting the car into drive. “Let’s just get started on our road trip! Woo-hoo!” She started to turn around in the driveway.

Suddenly, Maddy shouted, “Stop, Morgan!” She unbuckled her seat belt.

“What?” Morgan yelled back.

“Turn the music down! Stop!”

Morgan stepped on the brakes. “What is it?”

“I have to . . . I can’t . . .” Maddy looked around wildly. “Open your sunroof!”

“Are you cracked? What are you talking about?”

“Open your sunroof!” Morgan stared at her for a second and then buzzed the roof back. Maddy stood up on the seat, stuck her head and shoulders out the window, and looked toward the house. She couldn’t see the yard. Quickly, she hoisted herself out of the sunroof and onto the top of the car. She stood up carefully, her sundress hem fluttering in the breeze. Now she could see the backyard and the path ru

Hailey Abbott

trunk and then to the ground. Somewhere in the background, she was aware that the music had stopped and that Morgan and Kirsten had gotten partially out of the car and were watching her with avid interest. But she couldn’t think about them right now.

She ran around to the side of the house and collided full-on with David. He caught her and staggered but managed to keep his balance. He held her by the shoulders a little away from him. “What is it?” he asked. “Why were you on the car roof ?”

“I . . .” Maddy panted a minute, then got her breath.

“I . . .” Say it! “I was wondering . . . if you wanted to come back with me to San Francisco? With my friends . . . ?

She faltered a minute under his piercing gaze.

“What are you saying?” His hands gripped her shoulders tighter. She inhaled. “I’m saying I want you to come back to the city with me—I want us to go back together.” Her voice was clear now and the words felt right. His face lit up like someone had turned on a switch inside him. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. He gri

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“Oh, no!” Maddy stopped short. “What about all of your stuff? You haven’t packed or told your dad . . .”

David smiled. “Maddy, I’m a guy. ‘All my stuff ’

barely fills one bag. And my dad was going to drive to the city with me in a few days, anyway. I’ll call him from the road. Now, stop interrupting the spontaneous romance of this moment!” He kissed Maddy softly and squeezed the back of her hand as he pulled her toward her friends.

She opened the door and slid into the backseat again. This time, David slid in next to her. Two amazed faces peered around the middle of the front seats. “Girls,”

Maddy said, “is it okay if David comes back to the city with us?”

Morgan turned all the way around and looked right at him and then at Maddy. She studied them both for a long time and then gri

“Thanks for letting me tag along on your road trip,”

David told them.

“No problem,” Morgan replied. “I’m glad you could come.” Maddy gave her a look of thanks.

“Yeah, me too,” Kirsten seconded. Maddy reached forward and squeezed both of their hands. They squeezed back.

As Morgan sped down the driveway, Maddy settled back into the seat, her thigh pressed against David’s. He 259

Hailey Abbott

draped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her up against him. Outside of the window, the fields and trees flashed past and the road to the city uncurled before them. Maddy relaxed into David’s side, feeling safe and purely happy. She breathed in his fresh, soapy scent and it mixed with the pine-tinted Napa air. She and David fit together—here in this car, under the majesty of a Napa sunset, and in the bustle of city life. If this was what life with David was like in a place she was supposed to hate, Maddy couldn’t wait to see what the city had in store. 260

About the Author

HAILEY ABBOTT

grew up in Southern California, where she split her time between creative writing and creative beaching. She is the author of GETTING LOST WITH BOYS, THE SECRETS OF BOYS, THE PERFECT BOY, and WAKING UP TO BOYS, as well as the Summer Boys books and THE BRIDESMAID. Hailey now lives in New York City. Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Books by Hailey Abbott:

Getting Lost with Boys

The Secrets of Boys

The Perfect Boy

Waking Up to Boys

Forbidden Boy

The Other Boy

Summer Boys

Next Summer: A Summer Boys Novel

After Summer: A Summer Boys Novel

Last Summer: A Summer Boys Novel

The Bridesmaid

Credits

Typography by Andrea C. Uva

Cover art © 2008 by Veer

Cover design by Je

Copyright

THE OTHER BOY. Copyright © 2008 by Alloy Entertainment. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader January 2009

ISBN 978-0-06-183330-4

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