Cat Patrick - Just Like Fate

Just Like Fate

First published in the USA in 2013 by Simon Pulse,

an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Electric Monkey,

an imprint of Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building,

1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Text copyright © 2013 Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted

First e-book edition 2014

ISBN 978 1 4052 6807 3

eISBN 978 1 7803 1384 9

www.electricmonkeybooks.co.uk

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

Our story began over a centruy ago, when seventeen-year-old Egmont Harald Petersen found a coin in the street. He was on his way to buy a flyswatter, a small hand-operated printing machine that he then set up in his tiny apartment.

The coin brought him such good luck that today Egmont has offices in over 30 countries around the world. And that lucky coin is still kept at the company’s head offices in Denmark.

In loving memory of our grandmothers,

Josephine, Lora, and Mary,

who loved us no matter our choices

No trees in sight, just concrete

Still I see

Two roads twist and turn in front of me

No signs, but screams

Which way’s reality?

So you choose; yeah, you choose

Maybe you lose

The sidewalk paved in hitches

Broken hearts not fixed by stitches

But morning’s coming soon

No right in sight, just questions

And you find

There is no map to Mecca

It’s just life

No right answer; perfect marks

It’s no big deal; it’s just your heart

Falling stars and lightning sparks

This will only sting a bit

We are all just

Magnets for fate

Stumbling, skipping, running at our pace

Making choices, losing voices

Making wishes for forgiveness

But morning’s coming soon

And no matter where you sit, how fast you sip

The coffee tastes the same on magnet lips

“Magnets for Fate”

—Electric Freakshow

CONTENTS

Cover

Title page

Copyright Just Like Fate First published in the USA in 2013 by Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Electric Monkey, an imprint of Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN Text copyright © 2013 Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young The moral rights of the authors have been asserted First e-book edition 2014 ISBN 978 1 4052 6807 3 eISBN 978 1 7803 1384 9 www.electricmonkeybooks.co.uk www.egmont.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet. Our story began over a centruy ago, when seventeen-year-old Egmont Harald Petersen found a coin in the street. He was on his way to buy a flyswatter, a small hand-operated printing machine that he then set up in his tiny apartment. The coin brought him such good luck that today Egmont has offices in over 30 countries around the world. And that lucky coin is still kept at the company’s head offices in Denmark.

Dedication In loving memory of our grandmothers, Josephine, Lora, and Mary, who loved us no matter our choices

ONE

TWO

THREE STAY

THREE GO

FOUR STAY

FOUR GO

FIVE STAY

FIVE GO

SIX STAY

SIX GO

SEVEN STAY

SEVEN GO

EIGHT STAY

EIGHT GO

NINE STAY

NINE GO

TEN STAY

TEN GO

ELEVEN STAY

ELEVEN GO

TWELVE STAY

TWELVE GO

THIRTEEN STAY

THIRTEEN GO

FOURTEEN STAY

FOURTEEN GO

FIFTEEN STAY

FIFTEEN GO

SIXTEEN STAY

SIXTEEN GO

SEVENTEEN STAY

SEVENTEEN GO

EIGHTEEN STAY

EIGHTEEN GO

NINETEEN STAY

NINETEEN GO

TWENTY STAY

TWENTY GO

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Have you read these books by Cat Patrick?

ONE

There are exactly sixteen minutes left in math class when there’s a faint double knock on the classroom door, and we all perk up. Through the window I can see the office assistant with the frizzy hair standing timidly, like she’s afraid of even herself.

We watch curiously as Mr. Pip lumbers over, wiping his perpetually sweaty forehead as he goes. He opens the door two feet at best, and I almost expect him to ask the woman in the hall for a secret password. She whispers something, then hands over a tiny piece of pink paper. I know that pink: It’s a hall pass.

Someone’s getting out of here early.

“Caroline Cabot, please report to the office,” Mr. Pip says in his nasally voice. At the sound of my name, I drop the piece of strawberry-blond hair I’m twirling and, eyebrows furrowed, look across the aisle at Simone.

“What’d you do now, Linus?” she asks with a twinkle in her dark eyes. The guy one row over wakes up when she speaks. Simone’s like a half Asian Marilyn Monroe with Angelina Jolie lips—guys are constantly checking her out.

“You should talk,” I say, reaching down to grab the backpack stuffed into the basket beneath my seat. “You’re the one with the monogrammed chair in the principal’s office.” Simone’s had detention three times this year already, but as far as the office is concerned, I’m a good girl.

On my way out, I look back at Simone and waggle my phone in her direction. She makes a face to acknowledge that texting me later is obvious just before I slip out of sight.

I think of detouring through the science wing for a glimpse of Joel, but the rule follower in me takes over and I head straight to see the principal. On my way there, I picture Joel and Lauren breaking up—maybe she has a fling with a guy her own age at the community college—and him falling madly in love with me. I laugh at myself as I push through the doors of the main office.