The Beginning of After

cats once Nana’s out of town.”
    Masher licked my face once, neatly, then turned and headed into the den, as if to say, Yeah, yeah, get the hell out of here already .
    Fortunately, I’d already said good-bye to Selina and Elliot that morning, because I knew they’d be hiding when it was time to leave. “Bye, kitties!” I yelled into the house, loud enough so they could hear me from whatever corner they were holed up in. “I love you!”
    I put my sunglasses back on as I stepped out the front door. David closed it and locked it with his key.
    We climbed into the car, David at the wheel and Nana in the front, me in the back next to my new laptop.
    As we pulled out of the driveway and pointed the car down the hill, I looked at the house one more time. A wide, swallowing look, like I could take one more gulp and I’d have everything I needed to take with me.
    Then I closed my eyes.
    That was it. That was Before . Now here we go into After .

Acknowledgments

    I’ VE RECEIVED SO MUCH from so many people on this long, strange, marvelous trip.
    My agent, the supersmart, generally spectacular Jamie Weiss Chilton, gifted me with her special brand of insight and passion. I thank higher powers every day that she fell in love with this book, and believe me, it loves her right back. My wonderful editor, Rosemary Brosnan, pushed me in her gracious yet fierce and brilliant way to make Laurel’s story better and better. Rosemary and the talented team at HarperCollins Children’s Books have made the whole publishing-a-first-novel thing a truly joyous and educational process.
    My experience at the Big Sur Writing Workshop was instrumental in shaping the manuscript at an early stage, slapping me gently upside the brain and sending me back down the Pacific Coast Highway with fresh focus. I’m grateful to Susan Merson and the members of the Los Angeles Writers Bloc, as well as the literary ladies of the Write On, Mama critique group, for their intelligent reading and comments. My dear friends Cindy Frigard, Kim Purcell, and Robyn Castellani were also early readers and key feedback-givers. Josephine Schiff and Elizabeth C. contributed their expertise on school counseling and grief therapy, respectively. And I have to say thank you to Peggy Sweeney, for all of her Meg-ness.
    I’m lucky to have the family I do—the Castles, Locascios, Springs, and Minardis—who gave me so much enthusiasm, support, and childcare even though they had no idea what my book was about or whether it was any good. My parents, Jay and Sue, have always provided a constant, unquestioning faith that’s helped me be a writer in one way or another my entire life.
    And finally, thank you to Bill, for sharing his creative and generous spirit with me every day, and to Sadie and Clea . . . my two favorite Afters.

Credits

Jacket photo © 2011 by Monika Stojak

Jacket design by Erin Fitzsimmons

Copyright

    HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
    The Beginning of After
    Copyright © 2011 by Jennifer Castle
    All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
    ISBN 978-0-06-198579-9
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    11  12  13  14  5 CG/RRDB 10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
    EPub Edition © AUGUST 2011 ISBN: 9780062093202
    First Edition

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