The Night We Said Yes (23 page)

Thank you to my editor, Karen Chaplin, for taking a chance with
The Night We Said Yes
and me. For your enthusiasm, editorial notes, and love of my characters. You helped shape my book into what it is today. And to the entire HarperTeen team, including Abigail Tyson, Erin Fitzsimmons, Heather Daugherty, Bethany Reis, Kim VandeWater, Lindsay Blechman, Olivia Russo, the whole sales team, and anyone else who has touched this book—you’re all amazing.

To Michelle Andelman, the best agent in the world. Thank you for believing in
TNWSY
from the start, for knowing exactly how to get the best out of the story, for advice and thoughts, and for not minding my endless emails (right?). I couldn’t have done all of this without you. And to everyone at Regal Literary, thank you for embracing my book.

So much love to my original readers, from when
TNWSY
was just a baby: Colure Caulfield for a keen eye, Katie Harding for plot thoughts, Joe Chandler for a guy’s point of view,
and Misty White for psychoanalyzing Ella. And thank you, Megan Donnelly and Michelle Carroll, for your undying support and demands to read more. I love you all.

Every writer needs writer friends. Thank you Jessica Martinez and Jenny Torres Sanchez for advice, support, and awesome vent sessions.

To the original Pepperpots: Joe Davenport, Dan Lugo, and Ben Grey. I’m still convinced you were the best high school band ever.

To everyone at the Alafaya Library for embracing my enthusiasm for YA books (and everything else). This book must stay in the collection forever.

To all of my family members, but specifically Justin Gibaldi—my baby brother who’s twice my size. Continue being a tattooed mechanic with a heart. To my parents, Paul and Tami Gibaldi, who never doubted me for a second. Thank you for believing in me. And to Jetta, just because.

To Samir Mathur. Thank you for listening to me even when I ramble on and on. Thank you for challenging me and believing in me and being my biggest supporter. I love you and I like you.

And to my love, my Leila—if there’s anything I want to teach you, it’s this: always believe in your dreams, because if you work for them, they just might come true.

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LAUREN GIBALDI
is a public librarian who’s been, among other things, a magazine editor, high school English teacher, bookseller, and circus aerialist (seriously). She has a BA in literature and a master’s degree in library and information studies. She lives in Orlando, Florida, with her husband and daughter. This is her first novel. Find her online at
www.laurengibaldi.com
or on Twitter @laurengibaldi.

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The Night We Said Yes

Matt’s Story

Cover photograph © 2015 by Deborah Kolb/ImageBrief.com

Cover design by Heather Daugherty

HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

THE NIGHT WE SAID YES
. Copyright © 2015 by Lauren Gibaldi. 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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FIRST EDITION