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“Losing your V totally changes your bod!”
I laugh. “Banning fast food and chugging my butt up a humongous hill every day helped, too.”
Jackie sniffs hard. “This was the longest summer of my life.”
“The shortest summer of mine,” I say.
“Have you heard from him?” she asks, drying her eyes.
“Yes,” I say, “but he doesn’t have a computer! I have to wait for him to go to the Internet café in town! It’s the middle of the night!”
“Hello! Just like I had to do all summer!”
We laugh. Hug each other again.
“I wish Drew could see you now,” Jackie says. “His jaw would drop.”
Drew. The sound of Drew Wyler’s name sends an unfa-miliar sensation through my body: Nothing. My crush on Drew is as far away as Lake Trasimeno. The only thing I feel right now is curiosity.
“What’s up with him?” I ask. “And you?”
Jackie sighs. “Drew got busted out of Pacific High.”
“No!”
“Yes. Somehow the school found out and he’s spending his senior year in Inglewood. ”
“Oh, no!”
“Oh, yes.”
“Are you bummed beyond belief?” I ask my best friend.
“Not really,” she says. “We never had a serious thing. I’m still saving my V for Wenty. Or Worthy. Whatever I’m going to call him. If only I could get him to call me.”
We laugh again. Suddenly, I realize how much I missed Jackie. Not until this very moment did I allow myself to feel it. She’s part of my life, just as Enzo is now part of my heart.
“Promise me you’ll never leave me again,” Jackie says.
“Come with me next time,” I say.
“Next time?”
“Honestly, Jackie, except for you, I’d do anything to go back.”
“Can’t you carry Italy with you in here?” She points to my heart.
“That’s what Enzo says,” I say. And I miss him all over again.
Forty-Two
Long-distance relationships suck. Especially if the distance is five thousand miles. And the relationship is your first ever, and the sex was truly making love, and you’re sure you’ll die if you can’t kiss him in the next twenty-four hours.
“Bella faccia,” Enzo IMs me.
I’ve come to love those two words: Pretty face. I can still hear his voice, feel the tickle of his breath on my ear.
“I’m here,” I write. It’s one in the morning. Where else would I be?
“Too much miles between us.”
“Sì.”
“When you come back?”
I sigh. School starts next week. Senior year. SATs.
College apps. Essays on the color red. Mom keeps bugging me to go to the Promenade with her.
“They’re having a sale at Abercrombie and Fitch!” she says, thrilled that they’ll now have my size. Yesterday was the first day I stepped on my talking scale. For the first time in forever, I liked what I heard. I missed my goal of losing thirty pounds by eating less than a thousand calories a day. Instead, I gained my soul by slowing down, tasting every bite, loving every flavor, and exercising more than a short walk to my car.
I’m still round, but I’m no longer fat. I’m in my own perfect house of me.
“I don’t know,” I write to Enzo. “When can you come here?”
Across the ocean, I hear his sigh. It took Enzo two years to save for his Vespa. His mother doesn’t have much money, either.
“Someday,” Enzo types.
“Yeah,” I reply. “Someday.”
I can still see Assisi glowing in its golden light. When I shut my eyes, I smell the flowers, hear the hawk cry for its mate. I fall into the gap between Enzo’s front teeth.
“Until I see you, Hayley,” Enzo types, “hold me in your heart.”
His gentle voice is in my ears. “Ayley, old me in your eart. ”
“You’re already there,” I write.
“Brava,” he writes back. “We are together forever now. ”
Acknowledgments
Mille grazie to my amazing editor, Amanda Maciel, who has never made a suggestion that I didn’t like and think, “Of course!” A million thanks, also, to Laura Langlie for always giving me the right advice and guidance. And, enormous gratitudine to the people of beautiful Assisi, Italy, for their warm welcome and great (!) food. I can’t wait to come back.
About the Author
Mary Hogan grew up near the beaches of Southern California (Bikinis! Aargh!), but currently lives in New York City with her husband, Bob, and their dog, Axel. She is the author of perfect girl, the serious kiss, susanna sees stars, and susanna hits hollywood.
For more about her books, her touring schedule, and to write your own review of this book, visit Mary’s website at
www.maryhogan.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Also by Mary Hogan
the serious kiss
perfect girl
Credits
Typography by Sasha Illingworth
Copyright
PRETTY FACE. Copyright © 2008 by Mary Hogan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable 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.
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ISBN 978-0-06-189767-2
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