Stay Gold - Tobly McSmith Page 0,101

Jake the microphone. I don’t want it anymore.

I turn to Georgia. “You know, this is exactly where I was standing when I spotted you on the first day of school.”

She holds my hand. “Right here?”

“Right here,” I confirm. “I wondered what kind of guy I would need to be to date you.”

“And did you figure it out?” she asks.

“Turns out, all I had to do was be myself.”

“I love actually you, Pony.”

We kiss. In front of everyone.

After the clapping quiets down, Georgia picks up the microphone.

She yells, “Let’s hear it for the homecoming king!”

King.

THE END

Acknowledgments

I’m sitting in a hotel meeting room. The year is 2018. I work at HarperCollins, and we’re at our yearly sales conference in Miami. While listening to a speaker at the podium, my attention drifts and an idea for a book comes to mind. The title, characters’ names, parts of the storyline. This has never happened before. And it was happening fast. The next day, like a madman, I pitch the book idea to the senior vice president of sales and editor in chief. Who does that? Me, I guess. Andrea Pappenheimer and Kate Jackson didn’t laugh at me, didn’t dismiss me; they believed in me. If they hadn’t, I might have left the idea in Miami alongside my forgotten phone charger. Thank you, Andrea and Kate, what you did for me was life changing.

Overwhelming appreciation and endless gratitude to Andrew Eliopulos. It’s an honor to call you my editor. Creating this book together was pure joy. Your direction is calm and careful, smart and thoughtful. Thank you for helping me tell the story in my heart. Also, you have the best smile.

And, tremendous thanks to Rosemary Brosnan. I’ve always thought we connected instantly, like maybe I knew you in another life. You are the kindest. And the coolest. Don’t ever change. Special thanks to Bria Ragin, Laura Harshberger, Maya Meyers, and Gweneth Morton. I’m immensely grateful for your careful eyes, sharp notes, and actually testing the cinnamon roll recipe (Maya Meyers).

Big thanks to my literary agent, Tina Dubois. You are wonderful. I often think of you as my boxing coach—encouraging and helping me grow, giving me water, dabbing the sweat off my forehead, then pushing me back into the ring. Thanks for giving it to me straight. And enormous thanks to Nicole Borrelli Hearn, my supporter from day one. Alicia Gordon, thank you for believing in this book. Jennifer Knisbell, thank you for helping launch the Stay Gold Fund. I’m blown away by the support and talent of the Stay Gold team at ICM Partners. Thank you for caring so much.

Standing ovation for the cover, amazingly designed by David DeWitt with awesome art from little corvus. Thanks to Allison Michael Orenstein for my author photos. How do you make me look that good?

Forever indebted to HarperCollins—my first employer and first publisher. Thank you for taking a chance on me in 2003, when I interviewed for a sales assistant position, and thank you for taking another chance on me with this book. In so many ways, I learned by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Unending love and appreciation to the best sales team in publishing (and my friends). You are smart with a bunch of heart, and that’s hard to find. I am, and will always be, house proud. Josh Marwell, Andrea Pappenheimer, Kerry Moynagh, Susan Yeager, Andrea Rosen, Jessie Elliott, Jennifer Wygand, Megan Pagano, Frank Albanese, Kathy Faber, Heather Doss, Fran Olson, Lillie Walsh, Casey Coughlin, Deb Murphy, and Jessica Malone. Road warriors: Mary Beth Thomas, Ronnie Kutys, Kate McCune, Anne DeCourcey, Eric Svenson, Cathy Schornstein, Gabriel Barillas, Jennifer Sheridan, Jim Hankey, Robin Smith, Ian Doherty, Michael Morris, Richard Starke, Dawn Littman, Kim Gobar, Bob Alunni. Special acknowledgment to my Harper digital fam: Jessica Abel, Lauren Esser, Bethany Johnsrud, Serita Patel. Thank you to first reader, Anna Montague. Extra super special acknowledgment to anyone I accidently omitted from this list . . . I’ll mention you twice next time.

To booksellers and librarians, I’d like to acknowledge your dedication and devotion to books. Thank you for everything you do: handselling, cheerleading, and creating space for diverse voices to be heard. Can’t wait to meet you.

I’d be nothing without the emotional support of my cats, Buster and Bananas. Writing a book can be lonely, especially late at night. My cats kept me company—napping on my lap, demanding pets, and rooting me on. Several months after finishing this book, Buster passed on to the rainbow bridge. Goodbye Buster, my forever familiar; I miss you every day.

Extra-large serving of gratitude to my writing partner, Bob McSmith. After creating eight musicals together, writing this book without you felt like cheating. But you never once made me feel that way—always encouraging, listening, reading drafts and scribbling illegible notes in the columns, and supporting me. That’s a true friend. Bob, you are the best friend I will ever have.

So much love to my family and friends. There’s not enough room to list who you are and why I love you. Also, I’m bad at spelling last names. If you are my friend and/or family, thank you for accepting me for me. That’s the most perfect act of love. I wouldn’t be here, and this book wouldn’t be in your hands, without you.

Love and gratitude to my girlfriend, Amanda Berger. I swore off dating while writing this book which allowed us to become friends first. When I wrote The End here, our love story began. Thank you for the patience, love, and support.

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge the bravery and beauty of all transgender and nonbinary people—past, present, and future. This book is my promise to make the world better for our community. This book is my love letter to you.

About the Author

PHOTO BY ALLISON MICHAEL ORENSTEIN

TOBLY McSMITH is the co-creator/writer of seven somewhat successful musical parodies, including Friends! The Musical Parody (New York, North American Tour, Vegas Residence). Tobly was born in Texas. He now lives in New York City with his two cats, Bam-Bam and Bananas McSmith. Tobly is proud to be transgender.

A portion of the proceeds of this book go to Stay Gold Fund, providing financial assistance to transgender people for gender affirming surgeries. For more information, please visit www.staygoldfund.org.

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STAY GOLD. Copyright © 2020 by Tobly McSmith. 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.

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Cover design by David DeWitt

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McSmith, Tobly, author.

Title: Stay gold / Tobly McSmith.

Description: First edition. | New York, NY : HarperTeen, [2020] | Audience: Ages 14 up. | Audience: Grades 10-12. | Summary: Told in two voices, Pony, who is concealing his transgender identity at his new Texas high school, and Georgia, a cisgender cheerleader counting the days until she graduates, develop a complicated relationship.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019040569 | ISBN 978-0-06-294317-0 (hardcover)

Subjects: CYAC: Transgender people—Fiction. | High schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Family life—Texas—Fiction. | Texas—Fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.M4648 St 2020 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019040569

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Digital Edition MAY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-294319-4

Print ISBN: 978-0-06-294317-0

2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321

FIRST EDITION

About the Publisher

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.