Gorgeous (17 page)

Authors: Rachel Vail

Tags: #Devil, #Personal, #Fiction, #Interpersonal Relations, #Young Adult Fiction, #Magic, #Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance, #Beauty, #Fantasy, #Models (Persons), #Science Fiction, #Horror & Ghost Stories, #YA), #Social Issues - Friendship, #Self-Esteem, #Social Issues, #Humorous Stories, #Girls & Women, #Health & Daily Living, #Juvenile Fiction, #Family problems, #Fantasy & Magic, #United States, #Family - General, #People & Places, #Friendship, #Family, #Cell phones, #Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9), #Daily Activities, #General, #General fiction (Children's, #Social Issues - Adolescence, #New York (State), #Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction, #Adolescence

It lit the world.

I tucked my cell into my pocket and crossed the street toward them.

Acknowledgments

S
OME THINGS
I
NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE
:

No books by me would be possible without Amy, who knows everything.

Thanks go also to Elise and Rachel, who know the Avery family at least as well as I do, and help me figure out how to bring them to life—and to all their lovely, lively colleagues at HarperCollins who turn my manuscripts into books and get them into, as in this case, your hands.

The good people of the Authors Guild, through advocacy and fellowship, are a writer’s best friends. The Writer Girls, who meet too rarely for tea and scones, remind me I’m not alone in this. And my buddies who have my back and make me laugh—I’d be lost without you.

Specific thanks go to Francie for taking me with her to work as a pretend assistant and helping me begin to understand the world of hedge funds and what it takes to succeed; to Mary for sharing tireless encouragement, strong opinions, and vital details about business, but most important, for the boundless joy of her friendship; to Becky, Lucy, Sophie, Isaac, Adam, and Emily, for answering my endless questions and just being all-around cool people to hang with; to Magda, who with great grace makes everything run smoothly; and especially to beautiful Trina for living with us last summer and confiding in me, trusting me, and teaching me…about being fifteen, and about being independent and vulnerable all at once.

A special shout-out to Zachary’s friends, who are now teens themselves: You guys rock.

I hate to acknowledge but must (this being an acknowledgments page) that the two adorable babies I held when I was a new grown-up myself are, shockingly, heading off to college. Sarah and Hannah, you are such strong, smart, funny, creative, and certainly gorgeous women. Go make some noise, some friends, and some trouble.

“Acknowledge” sounds like something a wisdom-averse person would say:
Ack! Knowledge!
This is just something I think we should all, you know, acknowledge.

Finally…a person as blessed as I am—surrounded by such wonderful parents, brother, in-laws, cousins, Aunt Tillie, friends, husband, and kids—should really acknowledge her pure dumb luck at every opportunity. Or not. Perhaps she should just shut up or say only, “Pooh, pooh, pooh.” If she did, though, people would think her not only ungrateful but also odd. So you see the problem with an acknowledgments page.

As the devil would say, alas.

About the Author

RACHEL VAIL
is the author of the Friendship Ring series and the Avery sisters trilogy, which includes the critically acclaimed
LUCKY
and
GORGEOUS
, as well as the novels
YOU, MAYBE; IF WE KISS; DO-OVER; EVER AFTER; DARING TO BE ABIGAIL
; and
WONDER
. Rachel is also the author of the picture books
RIGHTY AND LEFTY: A TALE OF TWO FEET, SOMETIMES I’M BOMBALOO
, and the series of early reader books Mama Rex & T. Rachel lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.

You can visit Rachel online at www.rachelvail.com

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Novels by Rachel Vail:

W
ONDER

D
O
-O
VER

E
VER
A
FTER

D
ARING TO
B
E
A
BIGAIL

N
EVER
M
IND
!

I
F
W
E
K
ISS

Y
OU
, M
AYBE
:
The Profound Asymmetry of Love in High School

L
UCKY

The Friendship Ring:

I
F
Y
OU
O
NLY
K
NEW

P
LEASE
, P
LEASE
, P
LEASE

N
OT
T
HAT
I C
ARE

W
HAT
A
RE
F
RIENDS
F
OR
?

P
OPULARITY
C
ONTEST

F
ILL IN THE
B
LANK

Credits

Jacket design by Joel Tippie

“An English Muffin (Is a Happy Day)” lyrics used by permission, courtesy of Z & L Elkind.

“Constipation” used by permission, courtesy of H & E Fastow.

GORGEOUS
. Copyright © 2009 by Rachel Vail. 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.

Adobe Digital Edition April 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-186119-2

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