Excerpt from Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Please tell me her locker isn't right over there," I say to Sarah in a stage whisper. "I found out over the summer I'm allergic to PVP. Now I have to carry an EpiPen in my bag."

"Oh," Faith says in her snippy voice. "I'm PVP? That's . . . People . . . People . . ."

"Polyvinylpyrrolidone. Used in hair spray, hair gel, glue sticks, and plywood."

"Well, I think PVP means People who are Very Popular."

I laugh, breaking character. "Fay-Fay! Did you just think that up?"

"Of course I did! I'm not as dumb as you look."

The odor of kiwi-strawberry tells me what's about to happen and I brace myself. I'd call it a bear hug except Faith is too skinny to do anything bearish. I hold on a bit too long and then let go.

"Do you really have an EpiPen?" she asks.

"God, Fay," Sarah says. "Do you even know what that is?" "My nephew's allergic to peanuts. And do you know you're a pretentious, condescending bitch?"

"Yes, I doooof !" The rush of air and Sarah's answer tells me Faith gave her a hug, too.

"Can you believe all these strangers?" Faith says, making no attempt to whisper. "This place is a zoo."

"At least it's them invading us," Sarah says, "and not the other way around."

All true. The town of Coastview can't support two high schools anymore, so Jefferson closed and everyone came here to Adams. The halls are so jammed with people who don't know The Rules, and not just the freshmen, that I had to hold on to Sarah's arm to get through the chaos to my locker. Breaking in this many newbies will be messy, but at least I don't have to learn the layout of an entirely different school.

"Oh, hey, here comes another one," Faith says, closer and softer, this time remembering Rule Number Two, and she hugs me again. "I'm sorry I was stuck in Vermont all summer. You know I'd have come if I could, don't you?"

"I'm fine," I say quickly, hoping that will end the subject. "Did I see you guys talking to Marissa this morning? Was she crying?"

"New year, same bullshit," Sarah says.

"Please tell me it's over a new guy. Really? No . . ."

I imagine various facial expressions and nods and eyebrow waggling filling in the gaps.

"That's what you spent the morning talking about? Pretty selfish of her . . . Wait." I can hear that Faith has turned to face me. "Does she even know? Didn't you tell her?"

"Right," I say. "Oh, Marissa, while you spent the sum- mer crying over some complete stranger, my dad died and my aunt's family moved here because my house is better than theirs."

"So . . ." Faith says. "That's something you just thought, or you actually said that?"

"Jesus, Fay. I'm honest but I'm not mean." "Some exceptions apply," Sarah says.

"I have to go." I unfold my cane. "With all these noobs in the way, it's going to take a while to get to Trig."

"Haven't they assigned her a new buddy?" Faith asks Sarah as I tap down the hall. "Who is it? Didn't Petra move to Colorado or somewhere?"

I'm grateful they can talk about my buddy without sounding awkward. It can't be one of them—Faith is too busy socially (translation: popular) and Sarah doesn't qualify because she's not taking enough of my honors and AP classes. But there's a girl from Jefferson who's in all my classes, and she was willing, so the choice pretty much made itself.

.. .. ..

. . .

As soon as I settle into my usual seat for every class—in the back right corner and reserved for me with a name card—it starts.

"So you're blind, huh?"

I cock my head toward the unfamiliar male voice, coming from the seat directly in front of me. Low-pitched, a bit thick around the vowels. The voice of a jock, but I just keep that as a working hypothesis awaiting more evidence.

Excerpted from Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom. Copyright © 2015 by Eric Lindstrom. Excerpted by permission of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.