Camp Boyfriend (31 page)
Photouris pyralis
, I happened to know, thanks to a friend.
“I get that.” Matt nodded. “That’s cool with me.”
“So how did you end up singing at the wedding?” I asked, wanting to get back to us. Matt was my future after all, and I couldn’t wait to start it.
“I called your sister a few days ago to pitch my case.” He turned me toward him so that we stood eye to eye. “I had to submit a demo tape first.”
“Of course.” I laughed. “I can’t believe she kept it a secret.”
“It was her idea to make it a surprise.” He put his hands on my hips and drew me closer.
My heartbeat sped at his nearness. He smelled so good.
“I can’t believe that I worked so hard to make friends this year—both in school and at camp—and it turned out the person who had my back the most in the end is probably my sister.”
“She even got me a fitting for a tux at the last minute so I could look almost good enough to hang out with you.” He smoothed his palm to my back where a hundred little buttons held my dress in place. “You look incredible.”
“So do you,” I whispered hoarsely, already imagining the night that I let him lead me into the privacy of the trees down by Turtle Creek, where couples went to be alone under the stars…
Speaking of stars.
“Guess what?” I blurted just before he kissed me.
“Mmm?” he asked, his mouth already brushing mine gently.
He had distracted me so thoroughly it took me a minute to remember what I was going to say.
“I got accepted into the Aerospace Scholars program.” I still couldn’t believe it. The news felt all the more special now that I had someone to share it with.
“That’s fantastic.” He hugged me hard. “I’m so proud of you.”
Laughter filtered out through the bank of windows from the party inside, reminding me we should probably get back indoors before someone missed us.
“Thank you.” I was pretty proud of me too. “I’m really excited.” I could hear the DJ’s voice inside, calling people to their tables to be seated now. “But we’d better go in.”
“On one condition.” He held me there, a teasing light in his eyes. “If you’re going to be an astronomer, you have to promise you’ll take me stargazing one of these nights.”
“Stargazing?” It sounded a little old fashioned. Possibly a little geeky. And just right for us.
I looked skyward just in time to see the first stars come out. Cicadas chirped in the tall grass as the night songs started early.
“Only if you sing to me some more.” I wanted to know the musician much better than I’d gotten to know the football player.
“Deal,” he whispered, just as his mouth came down to mine.
And, wedding or no wedding, I decided this kiss deserved all the time in the world.
Acknowledgements
Joanne and Karen would like to thank their editor, Patricia Riley, for caring as passionately about this book and the characters as they have. Special thanks to Kate Kaynak for giving
Camp Boyfriend
the exciting honor of being the first book in the Spencer Hill Contemporary line. We are grateful to Danielle Ellison for putting her special stamp on the story, our publicist Cindy Thomas who made sure people found out about the book, the multi-talented Jenn Rush for the fantastic cover art, the West brothers for their fun and funny YouTube show, “This Week in YA” that featured
Camp Boyfriend
, along with the many other Spencer Hill Press staffers who helped fine-tune our story including Britta, Christina, John, Lauren, Rich, Shira, and Taryn. Finally, we would like to send the very warmest thank you to our agent, Barbara Collins Rosenberg for encouraging us in our quest to write a story about summer camp.
To Dean—thank you for believing in my dreams and encouraging me to pursue them. Huge thanks to my critique partner, Catherine Mann, who is ready to brainstorm no matter what time her phone rings. Much love to my parents for sending me to summer camp, hugs to my cousins, Karen Pickup, Susan Newkirk and Michele Murray for sharing those memorable summers with me, and a special shout-out to my three sons, Maxim, Camden and Taylor Rock, who know that “I’m on deadline” means they’ll be making their own dinners for a week. Finally, this book would not be possible without the talent, enthusiasm and creativity of my sister-in-law, Karen, who inspired me to write a YA novel with her deep respect for the genre. It turned out to be
very easy
to merge two voices that have talked as long and often as we have over the years! Thank you to the Rock family for bringing us together, for throwing the best parties, and for giving me the best in-laws any girl could ever ask for.
To Greg—the ‘Rock’ in my world. Thank you for your unfailing support, encouragement, faith and love. There is no greater gift than knowing that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. A big mom hug to my tell-it-like-it-is daughter Danielle who brought out the best in me and my writing with her patient, honest, and tough critiques. I love you both so much. Thank you as well to my wonderful in-laws, my father, and sister, Jeanne for being such a caring family to me. Much appreciation as well to my wonderful SCBWI writers group Marjorie Light, Kate Messner, Jaramy Connors, Amy Guglielmo, Lucy Cooney, and Jacqueline Tourville whose talent and positivity have been a great source of inspiration, and to my Friday Night Book Club members Jennifer Giumbruno, Elizabeth Gibbs, Michelle Oullette, and Elaine Ostry who keep me laughing and reading great literature every month. Thanks as well to my co-teacher and friend extraordinaire Penny Manor, and my fellow English teachers Andrew Ducharme, Nancy Strack, Michelle Walpole, Sue Wilson, Erica Buskey and our incredible librarian Russell Puschak and his amazing assistant Carol Passno-I absolutely do not know how I would get through a day without you. Finally, I am most grateful to my wonderful sister-in-law and dearest friend, Joanne Rock. It’s hard to believe that we came away from a Burlington shopping trip one year with the greatest prize of all- our writing partnership. To steal a line from one of my favorite books,
Freak the Mighty
, “I never had a (writer’s) brain, until (Joanne) came along and let me borrow hers for a while”. If it wasn’t for Joanne, I never would have had the courage to share my writing with others. Because of her faith in me, I believe in myself and, most of all, the wonderful stories we have to share.
DISCLAIMER: While the NASA Aerospace Scholars’ Program is fictional, there is a real program that promotes the study of Aerospace Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for high school students called the Texas Aerospace Scholars. For more information about this fantastic program, please visit:
http://has.aerospacescholars.org/
About the Authors
J.K. Rock is the pseudonym for writing partners—and sisters-in-law—Joanne and Karen Rock. After selling some adult romances on their own, they thought it would be fun to write YA together and
Camp Boyfriend
was dreamed up while floating around the pool at a family party. F visit jkrock.net
A full-time eighth grade teacher, Karen Rock recently sold her first romance to Harlequin Heartwarming. Prior to her work with Harlequin, Karen published numerous YA short stories in and a YA screenplay designed for high school drama clubs. An active member of SCBWI and RWA, Karen has helped several students to publish their own work. She has a wide following as a “Cynsation” blogger on Cynthia Leitich Smith’s website. She lives in the Adirondack Mountain region with her husband, her much-appreciated beta-reader daughter, and two King Cavalier spaniels that have yet to learn the concept of “fetch” even though they’ve taught her the trick!
Camp Boyfriend
marks her debut as a YA novelist. Learn more about Karen at
www.karenrock.com
An unapologetic romantic, Joanne Rock started writing while working toward a Masters degree in Literature at the University of Louisville, craving a creative outlet to break up her studying. Today, she is the author of over sixty books for a variety of Harlequin series. She has been nominated for the RITA, the romance genre’s highest honor, three times. She’s also been a Romantic Times Career Achievement Nominee and multiple Reviewers’ Choice finalist. Her work has been reprinted in twenty-six countries and translated into twenty languages. Her three teenage sons encouraged her to try writing YA, a venture that’s been non-stop fun. For more information on Joanne’s books, visit
www.joannerock.com