Short Story from THE CHEMISTRY OF FATE

By: Meradeth Houston on 10:02 AM

Schooooooooooool's out for SUMMER! I may be a tad bit happy about this :) I also may have slept an inordinate amount yesterday in an attempt to make up for several weeks of running on just a few hours a night. And now, now I have several months of freedom! Seriously, I'm almost freaked out--what am I going to do with myself?

A few links to awesome people who have hosted me: Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf has a guest post on the inspiration behind The Chemistry of Fate, and an excerpt I haven't posted anywhere else :). Also, Behind a Million and One Pages has an interview with yours truly! Each has giveaway opportunities, too.

And, UNEXPECTED, which I am currently reading and loving, but the delightful Faith Sullivan is on sale for
0.99$ this weekend, so go grab a copy!

Okay, onto the real fun, well, at least I hope it will be fun! I was wondering what to post on my own blog throughout this tour, as it feels kind of random to post a bunch of links every day. So I thought I would share with you all a little back story to The Chemistry of Fate. This is from Tom's grandmother's point of view. For those of you who have read Chemistry, she's the one who Tom's Sary grandfather falls for. There are snippets from Tom's grandfather's (James) journal in each chapter of Chemistry, but I thought it might be fun to see what his grandmother had to say about the whole thing.

Journal of Sandra Williamson

Entry #1

~I know I will have to burn this once I’m done. But, I need some way to put my thoughts in order after all that happened. I’d better be allowed that, so long as no one ever reads these words. I know too well what the Sary will do if they are unpleased. It’s a risk I’ll have to take because I need to put my thoughts together before they scatter.

This was several months ago, the first day back to senior year after Christmas Break. History class. Ms. Pimzler was beginning her lecture on what we were going to cover during the semester. Mary was behind me, tapping her foot idly on my chair leg. The clock at the front of the room ticked with its slightly arrhythmic beat. No one looked happy to be back in a classroom.

I can’t say why I was paying such close attention. It probably had something to do with taking so many photos over the break. That always tuned my eyes to the world in a different way—made me notice things I might otherwise miss.

The door opened. I didn’t look up at first, but Mary kicked my chair, shooting me a few inches forward. He looked like a giant. That was my first thought, as silly as it sounds now. Tall as the doorframe and shoulders nearly as broad. Blond hair just a little messy, and blue eyes giving Ms. Pimzler a run for her money. I swear she was swooning, but Mary doesn’t agree.

“I’m assigned to be in this class,” he said, handing a slip of paper over to the teacher and scanning the room as if he searched for something.

I’m relatively certain I’d closed my mouth by that point. He paused for a second on Richie in the corner, frowning, before his scan slid past me.

Like some kind of magnet, his eyes snapped back to mine. It took another shove from Mary to break it.

Without a word, he walked forward and took the empty seat in front of me. No asking if it was okay. No instruction from Ms. Pimzler. He sat down like he owned the place, and promptly turned to look at me.

“May I borrow a pencil?”

Mary laughed aloud, though she still denies it. I did my best to hide a smirk and shook my head. Something about him made me anxious, wriggly inside like I’d eaten too much jello.

That was the first time we spoke.