Blurb:
Gabby and her two best friends share a constellation in the
sky named VICA. The trio named the constellation that tells the tale of their
childhood friendship. Now that Gabby is fifteen, this tale written in the stars
means more than ever. Gabby finds herself facing the threat of losing her best
friend, Sam to cancer.
The sudden interest in Sam from people at school raises
Gabby's suspicions. They've never cared about Sam before, with the exception of
Brody, Gabby's other best friend. His insane good looks and off the scale
popularity attracts the attention of most girls. Gabby's learned to keep her
guard up with these girls who've attempted to befriend her in order to get
close to Brody. She won't stand for Sam being used as a pawn in their games.
Grief over Sam's situation triggers memories of Gabby's past.
She's flooded with images of a tragedy that happened when Gabby was five. To
complicate matters even more, Gabby finds herself turning into one of the girls
she's always complained about...the girls that drool after Brody. Gabby's
afraid to let herself feel anything for Brody other than friendship. With the
threat of losing Sam, she can't take a chance on jeopardizing her only other
friendship.
As Gabby's world
crashes down on her, she's forced to face the realities of life, death, grief,
and love. How will she survive without the friendship that's written in the
stars?
Author:
TC Booth was born and raised in the small town where she
currently lives and teaches. She is
married with two daughters, teaches, and holds a master's degree in education.
She discovered her
enjoyment of writing at a young age with the writing of poetry. This love of
writing devopled into writing short stories for her family and students.
She wrote the
children's story, The Time Travel Storm
for her class that was published in 2102. Her short young adult fiction
story titled "A Seasoned Card Player" was published in an anthology
called A Certain Kind of Freedom last
year.
She feels blessed to
be living her dream of not only teaching children, but writing stories for them
and young adults to enjoy as well.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
My eyes rest on his empty desk in front of mine. Sam didn’t
return to school in January from winter break, so his desk has been vacant for
72 days, counting today. The cancer that had been in remission for almost six
months reappeared in time for Christmas. Talk about a Christmas that sucked.
Nobody deserves that, especially Sam.
“Well, Gabby? Do you?” Mr. Blackwell, aka Mr. Baldy, calls on
me. He narrows his eyes above the rectangular black-framed glasses that rest on
the tip of his nose. His bald head turns a light shade of pink, a sure sign
he’s annoyed.
I clear my throat and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Sorry, what?” I sense twenty-three pairs of eyes on me and feel my cheeks
burn.
“Do you have the answer?” Mr. Baldy gestures toward the
problem displayed on the whiteboard.
I don’t care about your math problem, I want to say. Instead,
I shake my head. “No.”
He sighs and looks at another student.
Emily waves her hand in the front row as if she’s hailing a
taxi. He calls on her, “Yes, Emily?”
She gives the answer, smirks at me over her shoulder, and flips
her blond hair. She should be proud of herself. It’s not often that she figures
out an answer before I do.
Sam and I would make blonde jokes about her. I smile as I
remember him saying, “Did you hear about the blonde who sold her car for gas
money?”
The buzzer announces both the end of the period and my escape
to the restroom. I gather my things and dart into the hall. I weave through the
sea of bodies until I reach the girls’ room. Once I'm secured in a stall, I
send Sam a text telling him about Blondie and Mr. Baldy, hoping to make him
laugh.
While waiting for a reply, I read the latest news etched into
the ugly green paint of the stall door. Someone named LD loves HT. Monica is a
b*&#^. Brody is hot. I roll my eyes. Of course it’s Brody. The girls have
drooled over him since we were in middle school.
I glance at my phone. No reply. Sam usually replies right
away if he is having a good day. I hold my breath and pray that he is doing
well.
I allow my eyes to drift to the mirror while washing my
hands. An arm stacked with bracelets at the sink next to me catches my eye. I
look up to see a girl with pink-tipped black hair. Her brown eyes are lined in
purple. Jamie, the new girl. According to rumors, she'd been kicked out of her
old school. She shifts her eyes in my direction and I look away.
****
My cafeteria tray brushes the back of a girl who’s explaining
to three other girls where she bought her sparkly black fleece-lined boots. She
frowns at me over her shoulder.
“Sorry,” I mutter, even though I’m not. She shouldn’t block
the door of the lunchroom to discuss fashion when my stomach growls at me to
feed it.
“Gabs! Over here.” Brody motions me to his table with the
jocks. I slide onto the bench beside him and am instantly overpowered by the
smell of popular cologne. How’s a girl to breathe with ten athletic male bodies
at one table, all wearing the same smell? I cough and slyly cover my nose with
the back of my hand.
“Have you heard from Sam?” Brody asks.
“I texted him before lunch, but I haven’t heard back.” All
eyes bore into me, waiting for an update. I want to roll my eyes, but don’t.
Everyone is so concerned about Sam now that his cancer is back. Sam and I were
never allowed at this table before he was sick.
“Me either. I texted him this morning.” Brody’s gray eyes are
filled with concern. I used to say in fourth grade that Brody was my second
best friend and Sam was my first best friend. I glance at his dark hair and the
way his mouth turns down at the corners. His dimples pop even when he’s
frowning. Not much has changed. Brody, Sam, and I have been best buds all of
our lives. When we hit middle school, our classmates splintered into groups but
the three of us stuck together, even as freshmen.
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