Going Vintage (34 page)

“To see when you would start using it again. Guess you’re back on the technology horse?”

“Guess so.”

“So now we can text each other and take funny pictures and post them on Friendspace!” Oliver’s voice sounds like a twelve-year-old girl’s.

“Slow down, turbo.”

His expression goes serious. “I can do slow.”

I believe him. I believe he can do anything. Which is why it’s so hard to say, “But I need more than slow. I need a full-on freeze. For weeks, months, I don’t know, just time to myself without having to worry about storage shed encounters.”

“I told you I wasn’t sorry about that.”

“But
I
am. You’re right. It was stupid. I want something better.” I run my hands up and down my bare arms, trying to warm up. I’m already feeling the freeze I asked for. “Now you have a really nice girl inside that gym waiting and I have my parents picking me up in a limo. So … thanks. Happy home-coming.”

I turn to leave alone, to finish my night of danger and focus on growing from steady to solid. To bury Grandma’s list and begin my own. A list of Mallory’s things.

Oliver touches me, just two fingers on my forearm, quite different from the grab in the shed. I don’t pull away as he leans
in and brushes his lips against my cheek. “Mallory, you want a freeze? I’m a glacier. You want slow? I’m a turtle. But I’ll also be waiting by the phone every night, no matter how long it takes until you’re ready. Scout’s honor.”

He drops his hand and backpedals down the hall, back to his friends, back to his date.

And I’m left with time to ruminate, time to solidify, and time to prepare. Prepare for what exactly, I can’t say. But if Oliver Kimball is involved, I know it’ll be worth the wait.

Epilogue

Junior Year: 3 months later
Mallory’s list of things:

1. Cataloging, selling, and bartering antiques
.

2. Collecting bobbleheads. Now expanding to NBA basketball players
.

3. Sewing (okay, maybe not)
.

4. School spirit … ing
.

5. Eating sister’s cooking. Have switched to organic food. Half of the time
.

6. Thrift-store shopping
.

7. Touring Disneyland with my family—finally converted Mom to a fanny pack
.

8. Creating fake Friendspace groups
.

9. Playing tennis, but only with Grandma so I can actually win
.

10. Telling jokes that make people laugh. Real laugh
.

11. Inventing fake merit badges for Oliver Kimball. He’s already earned his conversationalist, phone singing, and wooing grandmothers badges. Kissing badge? That boy could be a scoutMASTER
.

12. Conquering very complicated and important lists
.

Acknowledgments

This book is here because these people and places exist. Thank you to:

My editor, Caroline Abbey, for your kindness, calm, and understanding during the revision process and for helping me transform my ideas into words into pages into books. Yes, plural! You’re golden.

My agent, Sarah Davies, for helping me figure out what this novel should be before it was anything at all.

The entire team at Bloomsbury. Cindy Loh, Regina Roff, Michelle Nagler, Melanie Cecka, Alexei Esikoff, Melissa Kavonic, Regina Castillo, Christine Ma, Katy Hershberger, Bridget Hartzler, Kim Burns, Rachel Stark, Beth Eller, Kaitlin Mischner, and Linette Kim. Also, Alice Swan and Scholastic UK. Book people are the best, and y’all are proof.

The city of Orange. I was in search of a setting for at least the first half of this book, and once I researched this charming town, everything clicked into place. Thanks to the students at Villa Park and Orange High Schools, whose feedback helped me create the fictional school Orange Park. Also, the San Clemente High School homecoming parade, the brilliance of which I incorporated into the Orange community. Lastly, the fine business owners in the Orange Circle at Olde Towne Plaza for answering my random questions, often randomly.

Readers who responded to my queries on various social networks. Ironically enough, these sites helped me research Mallory’s tech-fast and her escape into the early sixties. Some works that helped me to connect to this time period include
Seventeen
and
Life
magazines from 1959 to 1964, as well as
The Feminine Mystique
by Betty Friedan,
The Best of Everything
by Rona Jaffe,
Boom!
by Tom Brokaw, and
Mad Men: The Illustrated World
by Dyna Moe.

Brett and Kelly Taylor, for answering California questions, not to mention Zach and Jana Taylor/Spencer and Rachel Orr for wild California adventures. Heather Fife, for additional California wisdom. Morgan and Kaylee Taylor/Sinclair Johnson, for help with kiddos. Irene Latham, for your invaluable feedback on early drafts and poetic tips on the secrets we keep. Lisa Schroeder, Rachel Hawkins, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Emily Wing Smith for title brainstorms and plotting tips.

Mom and Dad, always. Curry, forever. Rylee, Talin, and Logan, stop growing up, already.

Also by Lindsey Leavitt

Sean Griswold’s Head