Blind Speed Dating #29

Title: LAVENDER BOYS

Genre: YA CONTEMPORARY

Word Count: 75,000

Query:

Dumbest thing to do when you meet the girl of your dreams?  Introduce her to the boy of HER dreams.

Adam has loved his best friend Brynna for years.  He’s brave enough to sit with her in the hospital after multiple heart surgeries, but too chicken to confess his true feelings.  When hot new quarterback Beckett makes a play for Brynna’s heart, Adam, the unwitting matchmaker, fears he’s missed his chance to be with her.

This is no love triangle – Brynna’s feelings are clear. She loves one of the boys. She is in love with the other. The problem is Brynna needs both of them. Adam and Beckett each sit on the fence, teetering back and forth between friendship and enmity.  

The fight to share Brynna’s life comes to a head on a snowy Ohio night. One boy would give up his life in order to save Brynna; the other would give up his future to be with her. This is the night Adam and Beckett must finally decide: Friends or enemies?  It is the night that changes everything.

LAVENDER BOYS is my 75,000 words YA contemporary novel. It alternates in points of view between main characters Adam and Beckett. Its humor and heartache are reminiscent of Gayle Forman's If I Stay and Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere.

This story is from my heart – literally. As a teen, I had cardiac surgery and experienced all the drama of life and love in the hospital. Now I am a nationwide in-demand speaker and writer for the American Heart Association and numerous non-profit organizations. I have been filmed for a reality pilot episode which will be presented to networks in the spring. I am a current SCBWI member.

First 250: 

ADAM

I love her.

But…

BECKETT

Be a team player.

Be a leader.

Don’t let them down.

Remember your goal.

Success.

Show time.

ADAM

But…

She doesn’t love me.

Not the way I want her to love me.

It pains me to be so close to her. 

Knowing we are just friends. Best of friends. Forever friends. Nothing but friends.

God she smells good. 

Brynna rolls over and her long copper hair slides across my arm. I resist the urge to run my fingers through it. I could if I wanted. She doesn’t mind. She actually likes it when I play with her hair. But today, I can’t. There are days when I must control my urges. There are days when I can’t control my desires. On those days, I don’t want to touch her…because I want to touch her. 

Except I have to touch her. Because her shoelaces…

Are uneven. I hate uneven rabbit years. Even on her. 

Ignore the laces, Kensington. 

Can’t ignore the laces. 

I look at down at my own shoelaces. Of course, MINE are even. My loops are perfect. 

I reach across my bed and tug at Brynna’s shoes. She knows what I am going to do so she instinctually moves her foot for me to fix her laces. 

Oh, that’s better. I can breathe again.

“Brynna, this movie sucks. It’s not even scary. Why do you always make me watch these stupid movies?”  

“Because you love me,” she says.

And there goes my heart.