Champion: A Legend Novel (30 page)

“Oh. Sorry.” Day clears his throat, unsure of himself. “I do too, actually. An old friend down in Ruby.”

An old friend down in Ruby.
My eyes widen. Suddenly I know why Tess sounded so mischievous on her message, why she told me to watch the news tonight. “Is your friend’s name Tess?” I ask hesitantly.

It’s Day’s turn to look surprised. He gives me an intrigued, puzzled smile. “You know her.”

What am I doing? What’s happening? This really is all a dream, and I’m terrified to wake up from it. I’ve had this dream too many times. I don’t want it taken away again. “Yes,” I murmur. “I’m having dinner with her tonight.”

We stare at each other in silence. Day’s face is serious now, and his gaze is so intense that I can feel warmth running through every inch of my body. We stand together like this for a long, long moment, and for once, I have no idea how much time has passed. “I do remember,” he finally says. I search his eyes for that same aching sadness, the torment and anguish that had always been there whenever we were together. But I can no longer see it. Instead, I find something else . . . I see a healed wound, a permanent scar that has nevertheless closed, something from a chapter of his life that he has finally, after all these years, made peace with. I see . . . Can it be possible? Can this be true?

I see pieces of memories in his eyes. Pieces of
us.
They are broken, and scattered, but they are there, gradually coming together again at the sight of me.
They are there.

“It’s you,” he whispers. There is wonder in his voice.

“Is it?” I whisper back, my voice trembling with all the emotions I’ve kept hidden for so long.

Day is so close, and his eyes are so bright. “I hope,” he replies softly, “to get to know you again. If you are open to it. There is a fog around you that I would like to clear away.”

His scars will never fade. I am certain of that much. But perhaps . . . perhaps . . . with time, with age, we can be friends again. We can heal. Perhaps we can return to that same place we once stood, when we were both young and innocent. Perhaps we really can meet like other people do, on some street one balmy evening, where we each catch the other’s eye and stop to introduce ourselves. Echoes of Day’s old wish come back to me now, emerging from the mist of our early days.

Perhaps there
is
such a thing as fate.

Still I wait, too unsure of myself to answer. I cannot take the first step. I
shouldn’t.
That step belongs to him.

For a moment, I think it won’t happen.

Then Day reaches out and touches my hand with his. He encloses it in a handshake. And just like that, I am linked with him again, I feel the pulse of our bond and history and love through our hands, like a wave of magic, the return of a long-lost friend.
Of something meant to be.
The feeling brings tears to my eyes.
Perhaps we can take a step forward together.

“Hi,” he says. “I’m Daniel.”

“Hi,” I reply. “I’m June.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The end of the path is a strange and wistful place. For the past few years, I’ve breathed the world of
Legend
; my life became the lives of Day and June, and through them I saw my own fears, hopes, and aspirations play out across their canvas. Now I’ve reached the point where our stories diverge. They are off to live beyond the confines of the trilogy; I am left waving to them from the sidelines. I don’t know where they’ll go, but I think they’re going to be okay.

I’m not alone on the sidelines, of course. With me are those I started with and those I met along the way:

My inimitable literary agent, Kristin Nelson, and Team NLA: Anita Mumm, Sara Megibow, Lori Bennett, and Angie Hodapp. Thank you, thank you, thank you for standing with me on every hill.

My amazing editors, Jen Besser, Ari Lewin, and Shauna Fay Rossano, who vanquished my Book 3 demons with stalwart battle cries. We made it! I don’t know what I’d do without you. Love you ladies.

Team Putnam Children’s, Team Speak, and Team Penguin: Don Weisberg, Jennifer Loja, Marisa Russell, Laura Antonacci, Anna Jarzab, Jessica Schoffel, Elyse Marshall, Jill Bailey, Scottie Bowditch, Lori Thorn, Linda McCarthy, Erin Dempsey, Shanta Newlin, Emily Romero, Erin Gallagher, Mia Garcia, Lisa Kelly, Courtney Wood, Marie Kent, Sara Ortiz, Elizabeth Zajac, Kristin Gilson, and Eileen Kreit. You guys are the most epic teams a girl could have on her side.

The incredible people at CBS Films, Temple Hill, UTA, and ALF&L: Wolfgang Hammer, Grey Munford, Matt Gilhooley, Ally Mielnicki, Isaac Klausner, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Gina Martinez, Wayne Alexander, and my fabulous film agent, Kassie Evashevski. Thank you all for continuing to believe in this writer’s dreams.

Wicked Sweet Games: Matt Sherwood, Phil Harvey, Kole Hicks, Bobby Hernandez, and of course, the Elector Primo.
Cities of Legend
is a game full of badassery, because you guys are badass.

My incredible foreign publishers for taking
Legend
above and beyond, and sometimes even straight to Pasadena with fans in tow! (I’m looking at you, marvelous Ruth.)

My irreplaceable writer friends: JJ, Ello, Andrea, Beth, Jess Spotswood, Jess Khoury, Leigh, Sandy, Amie, Ridley, Kami, Margie, Tahereh, Ransom, Cindy, Malinda, and the fabulous PubCrawl ladies. Finding one’s tribe is a precious thing. I cannot properly express what you all mean to me. Thank you for your friendship.

The fam bam, my friends, Andre, my aunt and uncle, my wonderful fiancé, and most of all, my mom. You are always there, no matter what. Love you.

Finally, I need to give a special acknowledgment at the end of this path:

To my readers. It is because of you that I can continue to do what I love. I am so grateful. To my young readers, in particular: the books I read as a child occupy a protected, golden space in my heart. It is a deeply humbling thought that
Legend
might have the privilege of sitting in that golden space in some of
your
hearts. I am so touched by the e-mails and letters that you all have sent over the years. You are a remarkable generation of young people, and you are all going to do amazing things with your lives.

Thank you for the honor of telling you stories.