The Shore (42 page)

Jodi and Poppy were going to live together, a summer romance that had legs after all. Finn would stay in the old house on the beach until Linley’s uncle got back later in the fall. Then he and Barrel would move on.

The land fell away.

Claire looked down at the pill. It seemed like only yesterday that she’d been so terrified and stoned stupid as they’d flown into the sunset.

She tipped her hand, and the pill fell out and rolled away under a seat. Gone.

Claire leaned back and waited to place her drink order. It had been quite a summer. She wasn’t the same girl who had been on that first plane. She wasn’t sure who she was, but she wasn’t that girl.

One thing I do know for sure, though, Claire thought, and smiled.

I’m not afraid of flying anymore.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Todd Strasser is the author of more than 130 books for teens and middle graders including The Diving Bell and the Help! I’m Trapped In . . . series, as well as numerous award-winning YA novels including The Accident, The Wave, Give A Boy A Gun, Boot Camp, and If I Grow Up. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and several have been adapted into feature films. He has also written for television, newspapers, and magazines such as the New Yorker, Esquire, and the New York Times. His most recent novel is the YA thriller, Wish You Were Dead.

Nola Thacker is the author of nearly one hundred books for middle graders and teens, including the thrillers Secret Santa, The Ripper, Sister Dearest, Mirror, Mirror, and The Bride (all written under her pseudonym, D. E. Athkins).