Looking back at the two boys sitting on the ground beside a wrecked car, I feel nothing but love and appreciation for both of them.
We get in the car and Julian hightails it out of there, taking backroads instead of the main ones, trying to put as much distance between us and the crime scene.
As we drive away, the distinct sound of sirens shriek in the background.
The End
Acknowledgments
As always, the first person I want to thank is you, the reader, the person who picked up this book and gave it a chance. Thank you so much to my readers, fans, friends, and Violets. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have realized that writing is something I enjoy doing, and this story would not have existed. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for following me on this journey and for allowing me to follow my dreams. I will forever be grateful for your love and support.
Thank you to my mom, Carmela, for being the greatest mom to ever walk the planet, for always believing in me, and for being my biggest fan. Thank you for reading to me every night without fail before bed, and for teaching me the power of a good story.
I’d like to thank my dad, Bruno, for supporting me unconditionally, for always believing in me without fail, and for letting me take your Challenger for “research purposes.” Thanks for answering all my dumb technical questions like “Can I hit someone with a toilet tank lid without it breaking?” without any context, and still not thinking that I’m crazy. You’re the greatest.
Like the first book, I want to acknowledge my brother, Michael. You literally did nothing and still don’t know what this story is about, but I love you anyway.
Thank you to my boyfriend, Mario, and his family, for being so supportive and for being my number one fans. If there was a record for the most copies of She’s With Me purchased by a single family, I’m positive you guys would hold it. I’m so grateful to have you all in my life.
Thank you to my grandparents, zias, zios, cousins, neighbors, family, and friends who have always supported me. Yes, it’s kind of awkward having all your family and friends read a romance and imagine the kissing scenes being read in your voice, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My first-ever book signing was basically one hundred of you guys crowding an Indigo store and it was the best thing ever; it meant so much to me.
On that note, thanks to all the Toronto readers, Wattpad staff, and everyone else who came out to my one and only book signing. It was literally one of the best days of my life and I’ll never forget it.
To the Wattpad community and Wattpad Stars, thank you for always being such a great support network, always being so quick and willing to help a Wattpad Star in need, and for always being available for a writing sprint. Also, thanks to all of the Stars and fellow Wattpad published authors for sharing my books with their audiences—you guys are the coolest.
The first draft of this book is so different from the awesome version you’re reading right now, and that’s because of the input of my amazing editors. Thanks to Adam Wilson, for pointing out all the plot holes and overall story notes, and to Rebecca Mills, for being the absolute best copy editor around. And of course, thank you so much to Deanna McFadden. Your help, notes, suggestions, and input have been absolutely invaluable. This story was able to reach its full potential because you were here cheering me on and helping me hone my craft. I can’t wait to work with you all again on the next book.
Thank you to my talent manager, I-Yana Tucker. I legitimately could not imagine my writing journey without you. Not only are you the best talent manager, but you’re probably my biggest cheerleader. I always thought you were exaggerating when you told me you talk about She’s With Me all the time, but people from Wattpad tell me that you honestly do talk about it all the time! Thank you for being a champion for me and my work, and for planning the above mentioned amazing book signing! I’m so grateful to have you through th
is experience.
Also, a big thank you to everyone at Wattpad HQ and Wattpad Books—editors, publicists, marketing, graphic designers—involved in working so hard to make my book ready for publishing and promoting it out in the world.
To all of you, and everyone I probably forgot, thank you for believing in me. I’m so grateful to have all of you in my life, and it’s because of you that I was able to make Stay With Me a book I’m so proud of.
Read more
Still with Me
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT
1
When I was in elementary school, I thought being normal was probably the worst thing I could grow up to be. I must have been six or seven, and we had to pick what we wanted to be when we were older from a list of preapproved careers to do a project on. They didn’t have the option I wanted, so I picked doctor and went home to complain.
My dad was thoroughly confused when I explained that I didn’t want to be a doctor or lawyer or teacher, but I wanted to be a hairdresser exclusively for gorillas, who also juggled part time in a traveling ukulele band.
He tried throwing logical facts at me, but I was undeterred by the fact that gorillas probably don’t need hairdressers, or that I didn’t know how to juggle or play ukulele, and that no one even wanted to see a juggling ukulele band in the first place.
Then he hit me with the that’s not a normal career path speech. I replied, in my cutesy, little kid way, that being normal sounded boring, and I’d much rather have interesting things happen to me, even if they made my life harder. Now, looking back, I would do anything to slap six- or seven-year-old me silly, and eat my words out of existence.
My dad wanted me to have a normal, boring life without any hardships. I scoffed at the idea. It’s funny how in the end, he was the one who set into motion a chain of events that ensured my life would never be completely normal again.
There have been multiple attempts to end my life made by two different men, all within the last year. There’s Tony, the man who’s quite possibly a real psychopath, and the reason I’ve had to move three times and change my identity each time in order to keep myself safe.
Then there’s Aiden’s biological dad, Andrew Kessler, who’s ruthless and clearly has no problem getting someone to murder a teenage girl in order to send a message to his estranged son, who threatened to blow the whistle on his true, shitty past.
My mother is having an affair with the father of one of my best friends, and I have no idea if or how I should tell Mason. Plus, there’s the whole Mason’s most likely in love with me thing that I really don’t even want to think about addressing right now.