The Bent Agency, especially Jenny Bent, for championing my books.
My assistant, Michael D’Angelo, for continuing to boss me around. And his crying selfies.
My friend group has grown because of words we wrote and that will never not be cool to me. My sister/work wife, Becky Albertalli, and my bro/fake husband, David Arnold-Silvera, for group chats and group hugs. Corey Whaley, the first person I hit up when I had the idea for this book in December 2012. My wealth of unbelievable friendships also includes Jasmine Warga, Sabaa Tahir, Nicola Yoon, Angie Thomas, Victoria Aveyard, Dhonielle Clayton, Sona Charaipotra, Jeff Zentner, Arvin Ahmadi, Lance Rubin, Kathryn Holmes, and Ameriie. And then the friends who have been there long before More Happy Than Not, like Amanda and Michael Diaz, who have suffered me since the very beginning of our lives, and Luis Rivera, who is a literal lifesaver. Thank you all for always knowing when to get me away from the laptop and ultimately inspiring me to return to each story.
Lauren Oliver, Lexa Hillyer, and the entire Glasstown gang. I’ve never had the privilege of writing a book through the company, but I’ve learned so much about storytelling by working with this beyond-talented group.
Grateful for early feedback from Hannah Fergesen, Dahlia Adler, and Tristina Wright, to name a few.
My mom, Persi Rosa, and Gemini soul-sister, Cecilia Renn, my role models and cheerleaders who’ve always encouraged me to chase every dream （and every dude）。
Keegan Strouse, who proved someone can change the game up on you in under twenty-four hours.
Every reader, bookseller, librarian, educator, and publishing badass who give us their everything to keep books alive. The universe sucks less because of all of you.
And, lastly, to every stranger who didn’t call the cops on me when I asked them “What would you do if you found out you were about to die?” None of your answers inspired anything in this book, but wasn’t it absolutely fun having a stranger make you observe your mortality?