Eleven and Holding (15 page)

Authors: Mary Penney

“I told her my van needed new brakes. I asked her if I could borrow her bike for a couple of weeks. I don't want her driving that thing right now.” He shrugged. “We'll just take this a day at a time.”

Aunt Liv sidled up to Chuck with Jack, who was conked out in her arms at this point. His cheeks were still red from all the excitement, but he was limp as old lettuce. “I wish you didn't have to leave so soon. I was just going to cut the cake.”

A phone rang from the kitchen, and Twee nearly jumped out of her skin. “Maybe that's my dad about the babies!”

Mom dashed into the kitchen to get it, with Twee hot on her heels. She came back a moment later, holding it to her chest.

“Honey?” she said, looking at me. “You've got a phone call.”

I looked back at her, surprised. Pretty much everyone I knew who would be calling me was in this room. Well, except for one person. Mom and I locked eyes, and she gave me a tiny smile.

I took the phone into the hallway where it was quieter, and closed the door. I leaned up against the wall and slid down to the floor. Slowly. I took a big, big breath in. Then exhaled.

“Hi, Dad,” I said.

THE END

(Well, almost!)

Dear Mr. Jimenez,

The Seventh And Final Thing About Me: this is something I just discovered this summer. There
is
something about change that isn't completely terrible. Change still can hurt you something fierce and make you feel like you'll never get over something. But here's the thingâ

Change never comes empty-handed. It brought me some amazing new friends.

And while I still think my mom is too snoopy and very stubborn, she and I have been having some pretty good talks about our family. But she still won't let me stay back a grade to be with Twee. So get ready, Mr. Jimenez, here I come!

Yours very sincerely,

Macy L. Hollinquest

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I
am deeply thankful to Erin Murphy, my masterful agent, who challenged me to take a bracing breath and try, try again with this one.

And to Kristen Pettit, editor supreme, who is responsible for one of the best days of my life and surely my loudest “OMG” ever.

Mahalo to Jeanne Davis, who lent me her gorgeous home in Hawaii for three weeks, where I found the voice of this story again.

And to Leslie Harvey, who scooped me up and drove me 600 miles to Flag Buzz Coffeehouse in Flagstaff, where the book simply finished itself.

To Chuck Loring, one of the coolest, hunkiest, and finest men I have ever known. You made writing
Macy's Chuck such a breeze.

Finally, my gratitude to Dana, Kimmie Love, Lee, L'il Cookie, Carrie, Devon, Jean, and Bobâkeepers of the dream, beloved friends.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MARY PENNEY
thinks eleven-year-olds ought to be given special medals for surviving one of the toughest years of childhood. She feels certain she ate her body weight in peanut M&M's that year just to cope. She says that when she was eleven-and-a-half, she began shape-shifting from a reasonable-looking child to an awkward creature with arms, legs, ears, and teeth all pointing in different directions. She wants you all to know that awkward stage passes eventually and very cool things happen next. Just hang on!

She is a US Army veteran and works full-time for the Department of Veteran Affairs. Mary lives in Santa Barbara with her four-legged children who love to sleep, play practical jokes, and throw up hairballs. Mary loves to swim (badly), practice yoga (stiffly), and walk (into lots of things). Despite all that, she is deeply grateful for all her Irish good luck, and especially for being able to write novels for kids.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
hc.com
.

CREDITS

COVER DESIGN BY SARAH NICHOLE KAUFMAN

COPYRIGHT

ELEVEN AND HOLDING
. Copyright Â© 2016 by Mary Penney. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015951377

ISBN 978-0-06-240547-0 (trade bdg.)

EPub Edition Â© May 2016 ISBN 9780062405494

16Â Â 17Â Â 18Â Â 19Â Â 20Â Â Â Â
PC/RRDH
Â Â Â Â 10Â Â 9Â Â 8Â Â 7Â Â 6Â Â 5Â Â 4Â Â 3Â Â 2Â Â 1