Serena Kaylor

Serena Kaylor's Long Story Short is a debut YA rom-com about a homeschooled math genius who finds herself out of her element at a theater camp, where she learns about friendship, love, and how to be herself...

A Novel

Long Story Short

Ashton Reed

"I could knock all day, but if you were reading you would never hear it," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Most of all, I tried not to think about beautiful boys with poisonous tongues. 

Nik had pushed every button I had, and I wasn't the sort of girl who would just roll over while someone trampled all over her.

What must it be like to feel so confident in your own skin that wearing another person's seemed like nothing at all?

I didn't particularly want to change my habits at this point, but the truth of the matter was that this new Bea scared me. The idea of stepping outside that curtain and walking around like this in public was terrifying. Like I'd lost all my armor. It was that feeling right there that had my reaching for the curtain. After years of spending all my time alone and everything being familiar and predictable, I wanted to feel something.

"Honey," she said, stepping closer. "It's disagreeing on the big stuff that lets you know who’s actually in your corner, and who’s just blowing sunshine up your skirt." She met my gaze head on. "You also know that I happen to like your personality, but that's separate from me also feeling like you could try to see things from other people's perspective too."

"I think you have to decide if you're happier about having real friends or more upset that they don't think you're perfect."

Maybe this new Bea didn't sacrifice her previous self but was able to find out how to bridge the two people who now seemed to live in her skin.

A person might call it cowardly, but I preferred to think of it as having a highly developed survival instinct.

I turned the question over in my mind, realizing a little belatedly that I'd spent so mnuch time thinking about Nik's intentions that I'd resolutely ignored mine. I opened my mouth to answer, but the words were stuck. I guess the problem would just be solved if I said no, but what if I said yes? How could I say yes?

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