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  Me: When they first met, it was before they could even remember

  Shane: And the second time, they were other people

  Me: Good-bye, James and Rosie

  Shane: Good-bye Rosie

  James and Rosie receded from view, moving across the astral plane, leaving a shimmering path in their wake.

  Shane: Ouch

  Me: I’m sorry, Shane.

  Shane: I’m sorry too.

  Me: Did you love me when we were twelve?

  Shane: I don’t know

  Me: Did you love me when I bought you those cassette tapes?

  I could feel him working through it, trying to make sense of the ending we’d just written for our avatars.

  Shane: Yes

  Moving from darkness, to live in the light.

  Me: Can I come up?

  Shane moved, and the rivets on the pockets of his jeans scraped against the box above me. I tipped my head back and watched as his hand extended over the edge, outlined by a sky thick with stars.

  A lizard scurried across the street and caught my eye. So much is hidden in the desert. Things happen inside plants, underground, in the shade beneath rocks. But the sun seeps into every crevice—it wants you to always look and see clearly.

  I stood up, wiped the dirt off the back of my jeans, and reached for Shane’s hand.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ROWAN MANESS lives in Los Angeles with her husband, who fell in love with a personality she created online. They have two daughters.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  SIMON PULSE

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  First Simon Pulse hardcover edition July 2017

  Text copyright © 2017 by Rowan Maness

  Jacket photographs copyright © 2017 by Thinkstock

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  Jacket designed by Regina Flath

  Interior designed by Greg Stadnyk

  The text of this book was set in Neutraface.

  This book has been cataloged with the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4164-3 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4166-7 (eBook)