Excerpt from The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

The other guys on the soccer team were freakishly skinny. Like, skinnier than most girls. Not Jesse. I knew for a fact that he had actual six-pack muscles because he had this terrific habit of peeling off his sweaty soccer jersey after games and slinging it over one shoulder. For that reason, I never, ever, ever missed a home game.

Our little comedy routine got the attention of Levi Hamrick, son of Sheriff Hamrick and president of Key Club. He walked by us, glaring over the megaphone he'd taken from his dad, and said, "Pick up the pace."

I took great offense at this, because, okay, sure I was joking and probably slowing things up a little bit, but I was also working extremely hard, and if not for the adrenaline that my proximity to Jesse Ford afforded me, my arms would have functioned about as well as cooked spaghetti.

Jesse leaned in close. Close enough that I smelled the pancakes he'd had for breakfast on his breath. Close enough that I spotted three freckles in a perfectly straight line across his earlobe. "I think Levi Hamrick has a crush on you."

"Gross."

"No, seriously. This is like the third time he's walked over here to check on you. You should go for it. He's a catch. He's . . ." Jesse cleared his throat and switched into a corny announcer's voice. "A Guy Who's Going Places!"

A Guy Who's Going Places! was the headline of the local newspaper article that had run the week before, along with a picture of Levi holding up two handfuls of thick envelopes spread out like an oversize deck of cards. He'd received acceptances from every single college he'd applied to, which surprised a grand total of no one. Levi ate his lunch in the library. He won the science fair four years straight. His name always topped the honor roll. He scored the highest on the SATs out of the entire senior class. He clearly did nothing but study. He didn't seem to have any real friends, just nerdy acquaintances, because I never saw him at the movie theater on the weekend, or in the stands for home games. The one place he'd hang out was outside the police station with the officers, folding metal chairs circled up around an open garage bay while they waited for a call or a shift change. He was like a little cop-in-training.

The article was only interesting because of a dumb thing Levi said. The reporter asked him which of the schools he was leaning toward, and he answered, "Probably the one that's farthest away."

Obviously, that kind of snobbery rubbed a lot of kids the wrong way. Aberdeen was not a town of privilege, where people regularly got opportunities to seek bigger and better things. I heard someone giving Levi hell for it in the hall, and he looked baffled as to why. I bet he thought that because he was being honest, no one could be offended. Actually, I don't think anyone was offended. More like they had proof of what they'd secretly suspected, Levi Hamrick was a pompous jerk. I, on the other hand, already knew that for a fact, because Levi Hamrick was the reason I'd quit Mock Congress my freshman year. The only black mark on my high school transcripts.

I leaned in to Jesse and cupped my hands around my mouth. "Levi Hamrick isn't hot for me." I was already second-guessing the joke that popped into my head, but it came tumbling out of my mouth anyway. "He has such a hard-on for rules, I bet he jerks off to the school handbook."

Jesse backed away, a shocked-yet-delighted look lighting up his face. Like even though we'd been chatting for the last few minutes, he actually saw me now for the first time, like I'd materialized before his eyes.

It sent a surge through me.

A pop of thunder cracked just as the last sandbag came off the dump truck. Everyone scattered. I wondered if Jesse might say good-bye to me, but I couldn't find him in the melee and I didn't want to linger like a stalker. Well, I did, but Elise and Morgan were hungry, so the three of us hustled, sore and limp, back up the river toward Morgan's car.

Excerpted from The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian. Copyright © 2016 by Siobhan Vivian. Excerpted by permission of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.