Excerpt from All the Major Constellations by Pratima Cranse, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Oh, the mercy of your touch.

With her eyes still closed, Carrie took his hand and gripped it tightly. Well then, this is kind of awesome, Andrew thought, but it was not Carrie whom he wanted. He was smart enough to realize she didn't want him, either. One thing Andrew prided himself on was his ability to keep his cool around pretty girls and their meaningless flirting. He knew that he'd learned this trick from Sara, who, throughout their friendship, had always flirted with him, touched him, put her head on his shoulder when they studied from the same book, and settled herself into his chest when they watched movies. He knew that the physical intimacy between him and Sara had made him seem pretty cool, thereby easing his passage through high school. She had emboldened his sense of self with her friendship, her affection, her love. Because of Sara, his identity had been transformed from Brian Genter's geeky little brother to that of a quiet, smart guy who was somehow on touchy-feely terms with one of the hottest girls in school.

Beside me, inside me,
An angel in my life, in my life.

What was up with these lyrics? But now he was trembling and thinking about Sara. Sara in the cafeteria, flopping down in between him and Marcia and instantly making them cool. Sara in his car, turning up the music and howling out the window. Sara in her bathroom, half naked, flirtatious, and making him feel attractive and . . . confident. His eyes welled up. The singing grew louder. He covered his face with his hands and tried to control himself. Matt put his arm around Andrew's shoulders, and at first Andrew felt a violent urge to shrug him off. But then Carrie released his hand and encircled his waist with her tiny arm. He leaned back into them both and quietly cried.

Excerpted from All the Major Constellations by Pratima Cranse. Copyright © 2015 by Pratima Cranse. Excerpted by permission of Viking. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.