The Pages Between Us (19 page)

Authors: Lindsey Leavitt

BOOK: The Pages Between Us

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You mean when Jordan came over and gave me his tokens because he had to leave?

That's the boring way to say it, but yes. And he was nice and funny and you guys talked for three whole minutes.

I know. He didn't act like I'm in love with him anymore. So he isn't all that bad, just being a nice guy. A really nice guy.

That's what all the Orcs want you to think.

Are we done now?

And the maidens rejoiced! Because despite all the ninjas, Orcs, lemonade sellers, tournaments, clubs, and stupid fights in their lives, they still had each other.

And THAT is truly the greatest treasure of all the land!

OLIVIA AND PIPER'S DOUBLE GRATEFUL LIST!

Oliviaâthe brown color of my half of the heart on the box

Piperâand the purple color of mine

Oliviaâthe fact that Bethany blogged about YOUR party

Piperâand there were seven comments, not counting the three that I wrote and then deleted

Oliviaâmy dad willing to speed through a residential area

PiperâAND talking smack to that cop! Or not smack, but enough agreeing to get you to my party

Oliviaâspinach and pesto pizza

PiperâPUH-LEEZ! Pepperoni. But only on takeout Tuesday when it's cheaper

Oliviaâthat there are more pages left in this notebook

PiperâLOTS of pages âº

Acknowledgments

Robin,

Girl. GIRL. Remember that time you sent me a quick, vague message that said, “I have a proposition for you?” (That's not a direct quote. I tried to find the message but you know how organized I am with email. Translation: not organized.) Anyway, curiosity and my deep desire to become your best friend led me to a phone call, which led to some emailing, “work” that never felt like work, “business trips” involving excessive snacks, and now . . . here we are. We co-wrote a book! You are brilliant, tenacious, strong and kind. So I would like to start off by acknowledging YOU and your great idea and your greater idea to include me. EveRYtHinG iS AweSoMe BECausE of YOU!!

I'm obsessed with you,

Lindsey

Lindsey,

Girl. GIRL. I can't believe a phone call that started with “Wouldn't it be fun if . . .” led to this. A BOOK. Writing this with you was so much fun. Almost TOO much fun? But I must admit something to you: this was all just an elaborate hoax to force you into best friendship with
me. And it worked! (Insert maniacal laughter here.) Anyway, this is the “acknowledgment” section so I will now acknowledge YOU for being hysterical, supportive, flexible (physically not emotionallyâI'm kidding), and all-around AWESOME.

I also want to acknowledge a few other people in my life who help make this writing gig possible: Jill, Jayson, Luke, my parents, and chocolate.

h! And there's one person in particular that we need to give a giant BFF hug to . . . our editor, Kristen Pettit. She helped us find the sparkle inside Piper and Olivia and we are so fortunate for her guidance. She is WonDerFuL, amirite?!

Write me back, bestie . . .

Robin

Robin,

Absolutely. Kristen Pettit puts the Won in WonDerFuL. She's sharp, smart, and her sense of humor is basically the same as ours, so of course we love her. Everyone at HarperCollins has been lovely. Thank you Elizabeth Lynch, Jessica Berg, Allison Brown, Jessica Gould, Sarah Creech, Christina Colangelo, Kate Jackson, Susan Katz,
and Jen Klonsky. Snickerdoodles for every single one of you! (But not real snickerdoodles. Because we don't want to get cinnamon on the pages.)

Lindsey

Lindsey,

AND TUESDAY MOURNING! How did we get so lucky to have the incredibly talented TUESDAY MOURNING illustrate the cover of our book? Tuesday, Tuesday, we adore you!

Robin

Robin,

Thank you also to Sarah Davies, for your charm, class, and British accent. The accent can't be helped, but it's always a bonus. My parents, Eric and Carol, for All The Things, big and small. My generous siblings, my patient friends, my noble gentleman caller, and especially Sheridan Garhett and Paige Bledsoe for help with the girlies.

Ahhh. My girlies. Rylee, Talin, & Logan. You are sunshine and goodness. The world is wide-open. Tie up your shoes and chase after those dreams. Also, put on your seat belt. Don't look at me like that. I can tell when it's off.

ARGH, I always cry when I write these things. Remind me to give you an extra hug when I see you next, Robbie.
(Note: I have never called you Robbie. But maybe we should have secret code names?)

LindA(sey) ((CODE NAME))

LindA,

Why did you have to mention snickerdoodles? Now I'm going to go bake. And as soon as I get these cookies done, guess what we're going to do?

Robbie

R-

Write some more letters?

âL

L-

I can't imagine a better way to spend the day. Ready? Check your inbox . . . âº

About the Authors

LINDSEY LEAVITT
is the author of
Going Vintage
and
ROBIN MELLOM
is the author of the Classroom series. They're also the authors of a whole bunch of other books, but let's talk about THIS one.
The Pages Between Us
started with Robin saying to Lindsey, “So I have this book idea. It's a notebook. Between best friends.”

Robin and Lindseyâtwo real-life friendsâstarted writing emails to each other in the voices of their characters and within a few months they'd written an actual novel-size amount of emails. They have other emails
about
those emails, but those are TOP SECRET. Nowadays you can find them clicking away on their laptops, writing more letters to each other. Lindsey is probably eating a snickerdoodle. Robin is probably cleaning the cat litter. You can visit Lindsey online at
www.lindseyleavitt.com
and Robin at
www.robinmellom.com
and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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

Credits

Cover design by Sarah Creech

Copyright

THE PAGES BETWEEN US
. Copyright Â© 2016 by Lindsey Leavitt, LLC, and Robin Mellom. 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: 2015947490

ISBN 978-0-06-237771-5

EPub Edition Â© January 2016 ISBN 9780062377739

Doodle Artwork by Abby Dening

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