On the cusp of adulthood, one girl must weigh the comfort of the past against the cost of staying true to herself.

As senior year slips through her fingers, Avery Gonzales finds herself at a fragile crossroads. College applications loom, her boyfriend urges her toward a closeness she isn’t sure she’s ready for, and her best friend becomes unpredictable, demanding, and is quietly unraveling.

For years, Avery and Rosie have been inseparable, their bond forged in the fires of girlhood and secrets whispered in the dark. But as Rosie’s influence grows more possessive, Avery seeks guidance from an unlikely source: her beloved childhood toys. With their whimsical wisdom, Avery begins to untangle what it means to navigate the beginnings of adulthood without letting go of who she is.

Introspective and touched with magic, Rosie is a tender coming-of-age story about friendship, change, and the quiet courage it takes to grow up.

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GENRE Contemporary Coming of Age Friendship Romance	EBOOK Amazon Kindle Smashwords Nook Apple Google Play Kobo	PRINT Amazon
Available: September 22, 2025
Teen

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Excerpt

I was standing on the precipice.

If I leaned back even a little, I would fall into the depths of my childhood, where worry meant hoping that the best swing on the playground would be open, and being told “no dessert” was the most devastating thing that could happen.

If I stepped forward, I’d be stumbling headfirst into the deep end of adulthood. When I imagined that scenario, I found myself kicking and screaming, clawing my way back up the wall between me and my carefree world.

I would have chosen to fall back, to bury myself in my stuffed animals and coloring books. The sad reality was that I was still trying to convince myself that it was even an option. I would be eighteen in just a few short months and graduating from high school just a few months after that.

My plastic mechanical pencil froze over the page of my composition book, and I shifted in my seat to steal a glance at my boyfriend, who was sitting beside me at his desk, scribbling furiously in his own spiral-bound notebook.

I was surprised Eli felt me looking at him since he had been focusing so intently. He slowly met my gaze and grinned at me, tilting his head before standing abruptly, causing his dark blonde hair to sway.

I tilted back slightly in the swivel chair as he stepped up behind me. I let my head fall back so I could look up at him. He chose that moment to kiss me. As his lips moved against mine, I couldn’t help but imagine myself sitting in a dentist’s chair.

I ignored the nausea that swirled in my stomach as Eli lightly nibbled my bottom lip. This had become a familiar dance between the two of us. In the nine months we'd spent together as boyfriend and girlfriend, I had learned how he asked for things without using words. Right before he had kissed me for the first time after our second date, his eyes shifted down to my lips and then back up to my eyes, over and over like he couldn’t bear to look at my abnormally round nose.

He never seemed to notice how obvious his non-verbal cues were. I didn’t have to ponder over what to get him for our six-month anniversary because after his mom threw out his faded baseball cap, he dramatically kept one hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun like he was practicing his best salute.

I knew what was going to happen as soon as he opened the front door to let me in. His lips pressed together as he gave me a look up and down. Thankfully, he learned to read my non-verbal cues as well so when I began to shift from foot to foot self-consciously, he apologized and stepped to the side so I could come in. As I passed him, I noticed the fresh scent of his coconut dandruff shampoo.

At least he had the decency to freshen up before inviting me over for a make-out session.

The dentist image was kind of my fault, though. To delay our lip wrestling, I tossed my large, overstuffed book bag on his unmade twin bed and casually settled into his faux-leather computer chair. It was one of those fancy reclining chairs, so when I leaned back slightly, the back of the chair tilted just enough so that I was staring up at the ceiling.

Eli kept his face mostly passive, except for his dark blonde eyebrows, which rose up in surprise. He wandered behind the chair and leaned forward so that his face hovered just above mine.

I held my breath when his mouth opened.

“I kind of like this view,” he said.

I giggled nervously right before he kissed me. It was a little weird. Since he was standing behind the chair, his upper lip was against my lower one, and his lower one against my upper one. His pointed nose was tickling my chin, causing me to gasp-laugh.

That was my first mistake. His tongue immediately found its way into my mouth. I held my breath again as the tip of it brushed the roof of my mouth. I shifted my eyes to the side, trying to stare intently at Eli's collection of scale models. I was suddenly grateful for the new awkward position we were in so that he couldn’t see my face.

I was doing fine at first. It was early in our relationship that I learned Eli enjoyed incorporating his active tongue when we kissed. The first time it happened, I was so shocked that I fell off his bed. He felt so guilty that I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I found both his tongue and mouth disgusting.

I blamed the dentist for my aversion toward the usually inoffensive oral cavity. My mouth had always been tiny. Every dental professional I’ve ever encountered commented on the petite opening. They were normally amused by it until they asked me to open my mouth wider for the fifth time, and I had to mumble around a mouthful of fluoride that I couldn’t open any wider. By that time, they were normally beyond frustrated, and slimy drool was dripping down the sides of my face and onto my neck.

After a particularly traumatizing routine trip to the dentist when I was eight, anything dealing with the mouth repulsed me. I felt sick whenever I saw someone chewing with their mouth open. I kicked the bathroom door shut when my older brother forgot to do it before loudly brushing his teeth. Even the thought of dried saliva on silverware caused my skin to prickle uncomfortably.

“Is this weird? We can go to the bed if you want.”

I shook my head. Eli had pulled away and was staring down at me, a lazy smile spreading across his face.

I reached up to tug on a light brown lock of hair but disguised the action by slapping his cheek lightly. Adolescent stubble grazed my fingertips. “If we go to the bed now, we aren’t going to get anything done.”

Eli’s expression became thoughtful as he pushed some of my dark hair away so he could kiss my forehead. “Hmm, I can think of something we can get done on my bed.”

I could feel my skin grow warm under his lips. I sat up so that his computer chair went upright again. Eli came around to stand in front of me so I used the opportunity to push a hand against his chest. “Why did I come over again if we aren’t going to work?”

“Do you want to do some homework now?”

I nodded with a tentative smile. Cuddle Time was our favorite time, but we were both taking three AP classes this year and couldn’t really afford to take a day off from homework.

He pressed his thin baby pink lips to my forehead again before settling beside me at his “model table”. Eli was obsessed with scale models of pretty much anything. His whole room was lined with shelves of ships, planes, and tourist attractions. My personal favorite was his Statue of Liberty model. He got the wooden kit on a family trip to New York when he was ten. Before he could finish building it, he lost Lady Liberty’s crown so she just looked like a lady in a robe holding a torch. The arm was bent forward a little too far so she looked like she could be wandering the woods at night while holding a lantern.

“Could we work on our chemistry stuff now?” I asked hopefully. My back was to him as I pulled my chemistry textbook out of my backpack. I jumped a bit when Eli’s arms wrapped around my waist.

He kissed my cheek, and I turned to look at him to find that he was pouting.

“I’m hurt,” he told me, tightening his grip on me. “I thought we had great chemistry.”

I wrinkled my nose at his joke but couldn’t help but laugh at the mock-wounded look he gave me. His green eyes shone with mischief, and I was reminded briefly of my childhood cat.

I was hopeless when it came to chemistry. Eli was a patient teacher. I’ve had several tutors over the past few months, but he was the only one who didn’t give up in a huff after I asked him to explain how to do a certain problem for the fifth time.

As we worked side-by-side, I couldn’t help but sneak some sidelong glances at Eli. He got really focused when he was working. His mouth often hung open when he was concentrating intently. Some people probably thought it was a strange, unattractive habit, but I found it endearing. Eli wasn’t ashamed of it either, which made it even more adorable to me.

“Already losing focus?” Eli asked without looking at me.

I shifted my eyes back to my textbook. “If you noticed me looking, then you aren’t focusing either.”

Eli spun his chair around to face me. His gaze locked onto mine as he used one hand to shut his textbook. “We’re done then, aren’t we?” His eyebrows waggled a bit as he spoke.

I mimicked his movements, spinning in the swivel chair and throwing my textbook cover shut. We had only been working for an hour, but I could feel my attention span doing a feeble belly crawl out the door.

“I was prepared to work longer, by the way,” Eli told me as he scooped me up and carried me over to his bed. I marveled at how effortlessly he did so, even though I was not the lightest girl. He dropped me, and I rolled over so he could climb in next to me.

“Liar,” I laughed as I rolled back so I could press myself into his side. I poked him between the ribs. “I can tell when we’re going to be studying and when we’re not, and today was not a studying day.”

“We studied,” Eli pointed out, rolling so he was on his side facing me. He used one arm to prop up his head and stared at me. “Besides, we’re going to ace that test on Friday. I told you, we have very good chemistry.”

I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t getting two pity laughs for the same joke.

“Don’t believe me?” Eli asked in mock surprise. He leaned toward me, and I got a whiff of coconut. “Want me to prove it?”

I’m not proud of it, but I got all giggly again, which of course made him think I wanted him to prove it. He scooted himself against me so that I was practically sinking into the crack between the wall and bed. I looked anywhere but at Eli’s face until he used a finger to tilt my chin up. For some reason, right before he would get ready to kiss me, his jaw tightened which made his chin come forward. When I wanted to brace myself for a kiss, I had a habit of staring at his chin, which wasn’t the best thing to do because it probably made him mistakenly think I was looking longingly at his lips.

As soon as Eli would start to angle his face toward mine, I would tighten my lips, hoping to keep as much of his saliva out as possible. I was usually successful for the first minute or so. When we were connected by the face, I moved my lips as much as I could by shifting my jaw side to side, and forward and back. Sometimes, he was satisfied with that, and I didn’t have to open my mouth.

I tried not to groan out loud when Eli’s teeth scraped against my lower lip. His hands rose up to grip my shoulders so he could pull me even closer, which I hadn’t thought was possible. Each of my appendages was already pressed against each of his. Even through my closed lips, I thought I could taste just a bit of mouthwash from his. If nothing else, at least he cleaned thoroughly. I swallowed with difficulty as I was reminded of dental fluoride once again. They say you’re supposed to just swallow the mix of plaque, toothpaste, and saliva while you’re getting your teeth cleaned, but I refused to do that. Who wanted all that gunk getting into their system?

And I refused to do that now as Eli pressed his lips a little more firmly against mine, practically begging for access. I inwardly sighed before parting my lips very slightly. Eli’s tongue dove its way in like an eager dolphin slipping into the water, knowing it will get a treat after performing its stunt. Not unlike a gloved dentist's hand, Eli’s tongue swept over my teeth, as if checking for cavities and other imperfections. I usually went still during this part, not knowing what to do with my own tongue, which usually went still with fear. I imagined it trying to dry up so that the saliva didn’t mix with Eli’s. Instead, it seemed to produce more saliva because of the nerves, like linked sweaty hands of two teens on their first date. Ironically, my tongue was behaving like my hand did on my first date with Eli. We went on a long walk after the movie, just holding hands and talking about nothing. Every fifteen minutes or so, I slipped my dripping hand out of his so I could wipe it on my leggings before taking his hand again. He didn’t mind; he claimed to think it was cute.

I could tell he meant it too, and that was probably the moment I realized that I was going to be with Eli for a while.

Just when I thought that I was going to pass out from holding my breath for too long, my phone buzzed in my back pocket, loud and demanding.

“That’s probably Rosie,” I mumbled against Eli’s mouth as he pulled away.

He sat up, panting slightly as I rolled over onto my stomach so I could pull my phone out of my jeans pocket. The little cat charm got snagged on my belt loop, and I struggled to free it before I could look at the screen.

Text me when you’re on your way!

I swiped the notification away and checked the time.

“I gotta go meet Rosie pretty soon,” I announced.

His eyebrows crumpled together, but he grinned. “You mean your girlfriend?”

I smacked his arm with the back of my hand but laughed. “Don’t be jealous. You’re still my favorite guy.” I climbed over him so I could slip off the bed. I gave him a peck on the cheek as I rolled off and landed lightly on the floor on my hands and knees.

“Oh good,” he said sarcastically, but I could hear the smile still in his voice. “It’s every guy’s dream to be second to his girlfriend’s lesbian best friend.”

I glared at him over my shoulder as I shoved my chem book and papers into my bag. “Rosie isn’t a lesbian,” I said. I turned to face him so he could fully appreciate my raised eyebrow. “Or did you manage to forget that she’s dating your best friend?”

“I wish I could,” he said as he stood up from the bed. His expression changed from teasing to thoughtful, one corner of his lips dipping downward. “He seems distracted lately. I wonder if they’re fighting again.”

I put my bag on while searching for my flats. “Why do you always jump to that conclusion? They aren’t always fighting, y’know.”

Eli shrugged and bent to pick up my flats from underneath his desk. I took them a little less gratefully than I should have. “Maybe not always, but they seem to fight pretty often.”

“Not that often,” I mumbled as I slipped my shoes on. “They’re just in a rough patch right now. They’ve been together for almost a year. The honeymoon phase is pretty much over.”

Eli just shrugged again, clearly not convinced, and I felt my frustration simmering. He grabbed his keys off his desk. “I’ll drive you.” His eyes were hopeful as he said this, sensing my change in mood at our light argument.

“No, thank you,” I told him. “I need to start walking more anyway. I think I’m gaining weight.” I grabbed at the extra padding around my waistline and gave him an exaggerated grimace for effect. It was technically a lie since I had been dutifully weighing myself every morning before school, but I wasn’t losing weight like I’d been trying to do.

Eli frowned at me before kissing the tip of my nose. “You’re beautiful,” he said with so much conviction that I had to look away. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. “You sure I can’t drive you? I feel like we haven’t been spending that much time together.”

That was true, so I relented, and he followed me out the door like a puppy.

 

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