Finally—Advanced Drama has made its mark.
Most days the construction crew Mom hired is out in front of the Avery, beneath an ever-present rainbow that appeared the day after our show and has never faded, sticking to the sky through rain or shine. They scrub away graffiti, fix windows. Spruce up the marquee. Replace the bulbs in the neon sign. Work themselves to nubs because everyone in town sees the possibility of what the old theater can be.
The square’s getting new visitors—contractors and architects studying the old buildings for renovation. Two of them have sold. Rosarita’s has a permanent sign.
Cass and Dylan still go to work after school, but most days they leave together. Walk across the square hand in hand. A couple of times I catch them in the alley behind the Avery, Cass with her arms around Dylan’s neck, their faces pressed together. They remind me, at those times, of the cover I once saw on Emma’s Love Fiction Monthly. A sight that puts a dip in my stomach—either makes me start fantasizing about my own future love story or inspires me, sends me racing to open a new file on my computer. Start typing away.
When Saturday weather cooperates, Cass and Dylan can even be found on the curb outside of Ferguson’s, Dylan strumming his guitar while Cass sings musical standards—often drawing a small crowd from the increasing square traffic. But an audience never sends them scattering off. They’re no longer the best musicians no one has ever heard perform.
As for me, I’ve already gotten the college acceptance letter I realized I really wanted—to a school here in state. Mom gave me Emma’s college money. “It’s like George knew you’d be part of it all,” Mom said. “A gift for you and a gift for me in his envelope. After that production, nobody deserves his money more than you do.” I figure George’s scholarship fund will go further if I’m not paying out-of-state tuition.
Besides, I don’t want to be too far from Mom. And the Avery.
I suppose we all found love through the Avery—the theater brought Cass and Dylan together, but it also made them take their places center stage. Made them walk into the spotlight. And Mom—she didn’t just inherit an old building. She got to revisit her past—renew old passions, dust off old dreams. It’s never too late, after all.
I finally fessed up to my own dreams (as Mom also often phrases it). Nothing about my own story is a confused connect-the-dots pattern anymore. I know exactly who I am—where I fit in and what I want. After what happened in the Avery, there’s no way I’ll ever be shoving stories into old hatboxes. I’m not a closet scribbler anymore.
Now when I dream, I’m no longer in the audience, staring up at a screen. I’m still in the Avery—that hasn’t changed—but I’m directing my own original play. Sometimes the play is my college thesis. Sometimes it’s my hundredth play.
Always, though, applause is strong enough to make the walls tremble.
Because the space between what is and what could be—isn’t that the most magical place of all?
Acknowledgments
As the credits roll on this project, I want to thank the crew at HarperCollins, with special thanks, yet again, to my editor, Karen Chaplin. I also want to thank my always-supportive agent, Deborah Warren. Warmest gratitude to Team Schindler (my sounding board, first reader, and loudest and most enthusiastic cheering section), and to my readers, especially those devoted book junkies and bloggers who have been with me since the beginning. I’m also grateful, this time, for my Midwestern roots, for small towns with old-fashioned squares much like the fictionalized square of Verona. For weekends spent watching vintage movies on the screens of antique theaters that became the inspiration for the Avery. . . .
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About the Author
Photo by John Schindler II
HOLLY SCHINDLER is an award-winning author of books for all ages. For the latest news, sneak peeks, giveaways, and more, visit www.hollyschindler.com and sign up for her newsletter.
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Books by Holly Schindler
Feral
Spark
Praise for Holly Schindler’s Feral
“Opening with back-to-back scenes of exquisitely imagined yet very real horror, Schindler’s third YA novel hearkens to the uncompromising demands of her debut, A Blue So Dark. This time, the focus is on women’s voices and the consequences they suffer for speaking. This is a story about reclaiming and healing, a process that is scary, imperfect, and carries no guarantees.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A heavily gloomy feel pervades this novel that shifts through phases of fantasy, mystery, psychological thriller, and thoughtful realistic fiction dealing with PTSD.”
—ALA Booklist
“From the opening pages readers will be immediately immersed in this dark story, which has echoes of classic Hitchcock. Issues of cliques, peer pressure, bullying, self-esteem, post-traumatic stress syndrome, teacher-student relationships, and pet abandonment will provide substance for discussion.”
—School Library Journal
“In the town of Peculiar, the cats aren’t the only ones keeping secrets. . . . A dark and creepy psychological who-done-it that will keep you guessing until the very end.”
—Jody Casella, author of Thin Space
“Wow! This book starts off with a bang—two of them, actually—and then it sinks its claws into you and never lets go.”
—April Henry, New York Times bestselling author
Credits
Cover art © 2016 by Eva Carollo Photography / Getty Images
Cover design by Sarah Hoy Pierson
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
SPARK. Copyright © 2016 by Holly Schindler. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schindler, Holly, date, author.
Title: Spark / Holly Schindler.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2016] | Summary: “Quin is convinced the local theater is setting the stage for her two classmates to relive a romance from their town’s past”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015029172 | ISBN 9780062220233 (hardback)
EPub Edition © April 2016 9780062220257
Subjects: | CYAC: Theater—Fiction. | Love—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Foundlings—Fiction. | Adoption—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Horror & Ghost Stories. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / General (see also headings under Family).
Classification: LCC PZ7.S34634 Sp 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015029172
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FIRST EDITION
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