Read an Excerpt
Pretty Little Mistakes
A Do-Over Novel
Chapter One
Laughter and fistfights. Lasagna thrown on the cafeteria floor, geometry books burning in the garbage cans, Sidra Stanislow finally losing her virginity up against the Dumpsters behind the memorial auditorium. All the janitors are getting high. The teachers' lounge is choked with stifled arguments and the vending machines are empty. It's the last day of high school.
You're graduating. Rushing headlong into the unknown rest of your life. Your friends are drifting off in every direction. Some are going to college, some are going to work, and some are going to their parents' basements to smoke pot and watch reality TV. As you see it, there are two options. Go to college and get ahead or take some time off and go traveling. If you get a degree, you might have a decent income—but if you go traveling, you might have an excellent adventure. Both have merits, both have drawbacks. Neither is permanent, and this makes the decision harder.
Take into account that your boyfriend has already decided to go to college and he wants you to come with him. (You've been together ever since he annihilated your virginity in an abandoned Christmas tree shack by the highway.) He's handsome and he loves you. The two of you have really great sex. He's big. (You know, big.) You see college as the responsible choice and travel as the fun choice, but then again college can be fun and traveling can be disastrous. The choice is yours. Your grandparents have given you a small chunk of money for graduation—just enough to get you going in whichever direction you choose.
If you decide to go tocollege, go to section #2 (page 4).
If you decide to travel, go to section #3 (page 5).
Pretty Little Mistakes
A Do-Over Novel. Copyright © by Heather McElhatton. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.