Dedication

Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus

A witty, emotionally charged novel about celebrity obsession, first love, revenge, and small-town secrets as one woman comes face-to-face with her famous rock star ex and risks everything to reclaim her story.

What if your ex was a famous pop star and adored by millions? What would you do if you had one chance to make him regret his entire existence? How much would you risk?

Kate Hollis’s ex-boyfriend’s face plasters newsstands and TV, the Internet, and the multiplex. Jake Sharpe is one of the biggest recording stars on the planet, and every song he’s famous for is about Kate. For over a decade his soundtrack has chased her—from the gym to the supermarket, from the dentist’s office to the bars. Now thirty-year-old Kate gets the call that Jake has finally landed back in their Vermont hometown for an MTV special. The moment she has been waiting for has arrived.

On the eve of their prom, Jake Sharpe vanished, resurfacing when his song “Losing”—about his and Kate’s first sexual experience—shot to the top of the Billboard charts. And the hits kept coming, each more personal than the one before.

Now Kate gets her chance to confront Jake and reclaim her past. But after eleven years of enduring protracted and far-from-private heartbreak, everyone in Kate’s life has a stake in how this plays out. Kate must risk betraying the friends Jake abandoned, the bandmates whose songs he plundered, and her own parents, who fear this will dredge up a shared past more painful than any of them want to acknowledge. But after getting the call in the dead of night and jumping on a plane, can she turn back now?

Newsweek dubbed The Nanny Diaries “a national phenomenon” and the New Republic proclaimed, “Thank God for Citizen Girl.” Now McLaughlin and Kraus have written a poignant, humorous tale about modern celebrity obsession and coming of age during the divorce boom. With flawless depictions of the 1980s, a charismatic heroine, and their signature biting wit, the authors offer up another lively and hilarious tale of a smart young woman looking for satisfaction in the chaos of contemporary culture.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Also by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• 1 DECEMBER 22, 2005
• 2 SIXTH GRADE
• 3 DECEMBER 22, 2005
• 4 SEVENTH GRADE
• 5 DECEMBER 22, 2005
• 6 EIGHTH GRADE
• 7 DECEMBER 22, 2005
• 8 NINTH GRADE
• 9 DECEMBER 22, 2005
• 10 NINTH GRADE
• 11 DECEMBER 22, 2005
• 12 TENTH GRADE
• 13 DECEMBER 23, 2005
• 14 ELEVENTH GRADE
• 15 DECEMBER 23, 2005
• 16 TWELFTH GRADE
• 17 DECEMBER 23, 2005
• 18 TWELFTH GRADE
• 19 DECEMBER 23, 2005
• 20 UVA
• 21 DECEMBER 24, 2005
• 22 LAURA’S WEDDING
• 23 DECEMBER 24, 2005
• 24 TWELFTH GRADE
• 25 DECEMBER 26–DECEMBER 31, 2005
• 26 LAURA’S WEDDING
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS