Right Where I Left You

One

Two things: This is the worst idea you ve ever had. And I m glad it s you I m stuck here with.

-Reverb, Disaster Academy Issue #10

Spoiler alert: I m in love with two boys.

Head over heels, smiling--at--nothing--while--walking--into--walls kind of love.

But they re not real people. They re comic book characters. Also, they might be in love with each other. Huge emphasis on the might.

You re doing that thing again, Isaac.

I tilt my head. What thing?

Diego, the virtuoso of bad imitations, gives me this exaggerated smile with wide, Disneyesque heart eyes, sighing loudly. One of those I m--helplessly--in--love sighs.

Shut up, I say halfheartedly.

It s very distracting. And annoying.

You re annoying, I tell him.

I m lying on my back, my head resting on the edge of Diego s bed, reading last month s issue of my favorite comic book, Disaster Academy. He s next to me, sitting upright, tongue between his teeth, focused on a video game.

Diego s right -I m making The Face.

I can t help it, though. The chemistry between my favorite characters, Charm and Reverb, while they re crowded in an air vent, awaiting the signal to attack the villains below, is too much. It s the proximity of their shoulders. Their easy banter. The way Charm s eyebrows lift when Reverb says he wouldn t want to be stuck with anyone else.

My heart would run through a brick wall for these two ridiculously--in--love teen superheroes.

Diego has heard all this before. He s too chill about everything -except video games -to complain about my obsession with this series. Like now, with my officially licensed Disaster Academy sock--covered feet propped against the wall, squinting at every panel, searching for the barest hint that Charm is finally going to confess his feelings to Reverb.

It doesn t happen.

Julian Winters is a bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary young adult fiction. His novels Running with Lions, How to Be Remy Cameron, and The Summer of Everything received accolades for their positive depictions of diverse, relatable characters. A former management trainer, Julian currently lives outside of Atlanta, where he can be found reading, being a self-proclaimed comic book geek, or watching the only two sports he can follow--volleyball and soccer.

Praise for Right Where I Left You

*"[A] bighearted friends-to-lovers romance . . . Isaac and Diego s intimate connection, facilitated by healthy communication and individual vulnerability, is one to be cherished. Employing a winsome queer and racially diverse cast, compassionate prose, and a joyful tone, Winters skillfully explores myriad walks of LGBTQ life."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

*"An enthusiastically queer story of friendship, family, and romance and the ways they empower one another."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

*"Winters has written a classic gay romance, which is enhanced by the all-too-rare fact that both heroes pursuing a happy ending are people of color. This is one summer romance that won t go out of season. --Booklist, starred review

"Smart, swoony, and pitch-perfect, Right Where I Left You is ideal for every reader who s just as likely to geek out over a new issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El as they are the quintessential meet-cute. LEAH JOHNSON, bestselling author of You Should See Me in a Crown and Rise to the Sun

Right Where I Left You is a swoony, nerdy delight, bursting with magic and heart that light up every page. Julian Winters is my hero! ADIB KHORRAM, award-winning author of Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Petition to have Julian Winters rewrite our collective reality with his signature openhearted sincerity. Is it even possible to read this book without smiling?" BECKY ALBERTALLI, New York Times bestselling author

A charming, funny, and insightful story about how sometimes what you re looking for was right there all along as long as you can learn to admit it to yourself. Right Where I Left You is Julian Winters at his wise, heart-burstingly joyous best. KELLY LOY GILBERT, author of Stonewall Honor book Picture Us in the Light

"An achingly heartfelt and unabashedly nerdy ode to adolescence . . . Although the central