Introduction

In high school, Charlotte Windham went through a typical ugly duckling phase - glasses and all, while harboring a crush on Garrett Stephens, the school's athletic heartthrob.

Fifteen years later, Charlotte and Garrett have a chance encounter at a Los Angeles restaurant. However, this time around, Charlotte has leveled the playing field. She’s a bestselling novelist and no longer “Glasses,” the humiliating nickname Garrett gave her. She’s a catch and, thanks to corrective eye surgery, it’s not just her eyes that see better…so does her heart!

Garrett hasn’t fared poorly either, transforming from teen heartbreaker to adult lothario and is now a successful professional golfer suffering from a possible career-ending injury.

Can Charlotte forgive Garrett for his past ways, and more recent Don Juan lifestyle? Will she even want to? And, can Garrett change his ways for a second chance with Charlotte, who may just be perfect for him?

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Excerpt

Prologue

1999

Charlotte Windham did a quick check of her teeth in the small compact mirror hanging from her key ring before knocking on the oversized wooden door. She undoubtedly had some remnants from lunch trapped within the metal wires of her braces. She pulled out a piece of apple peel from her right incisor and patted down her dark brown hair which, despite seeming an impossibility, was both simultaneously stringy and frizzy. She let out a loud exhale and knocked on the door.

A housekeeper, wearing a grey uniform, opened the door and welcomed her in. She led her past a formal entry and proper living room into the kitchen -- a large, modern space with granite countertops, light wooden cabinets and enough kitchen gadgets to stock an upscale home goods store. Despite coming here twice a week for the past three months to tutor the Stephens brothers, Charlotte always stared in awe at the amazing home which was such a far contrast from the small two bedroom apartment she shared with her mom.

"The boys will be right down," said Norma kindly, gesturing to the kitchen counter which housed an array of soft drinks and snacks. Charlotte fidgeted with the silver locket around her neck -- a gift from her father who died in Somalia when she was a young girl while serving in the Marines. Before she could dwell on it further, Garrett and Marcus bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"You're such a wuss." Garrett punched Marcus in the arm.

"Dude!" Marcus countered, reaching out to swat his twin brother, but finding him already out of reach. "Oh, hey Charlotte."

"Hi, Marcus." Walking up, Charlotte gave him a little wave. "Hi Garrett," she breathed, looking at him for a nanosecond, before shifting her eyes to the floor.

"Oh hey, Glasses," Garrett casually tossed out. Charlotte instinctively adjusted the oversized black frames perched atop her nose. The glasses were a necessity since she was eight. While she would have loved to get contact lenses, they were a luxury her mother couldn't afford. She looked through the slightly smudged lenses and took in the image before her.

Marcus and Garrett Stephens were identical twins but couldn't have been more different in Charlotte's eyes.

At age sixteen, both Stephens brothers were already five foot nine and if their growth patterns and genetics were on track, they were well on their way to being more than six feet tall. Hazel eyes were offset by dark eyelashes, the kind women yearn for. Straight white teeth were the centerpiece of a dazzling smile punctuated by a large dimple on the left cheek.

To the untrained eye, it was difficult to tell them apart save for the small cleft in Garrett's chin, which she mused must be a mark left by the gods to name him as one of their own. To Charlotte, he was a god of perfection (unless you counted his lackluster academic performance.)

The personality differences between the twins were a bit starker than the physical ones. Both boys were exceptionally ambitious about their future goals. Garrett was determined to be a professional golfer. As a junior, he was already the star player of his high school team. The intense schedule of practice, private lessons, matches and rigorous weight training sessions coupled with his disinterest in school left him teetering precariously between a pass and fail in several classes, most notably, English. Without keeping his grade to at least a C, he would be forced off the team, on the bench and out of the sightline of those who could make his dreams of playing college and, one day, professional golf, a reality. Hence his need for a tutor -- Charlotte.

Mr. and Mrs. Stephens had originally hired a local teacher to assist Garrett, but found the attractive young woman to be too much of a distraction. When Lindsay, their daughter, brought Charlotte over to work on a school newspaper project, they quickly realized the mousy teenager would pose no distraction to Garrett and would serve as the perfect tutor because the two were in the same English class.

Marcus, on the other hand, was determined to go to a top college and medical school. Though he earned high marks in all his classes, he wouldn’t be guaranteed acceptance without a higher score on the reading and writing portion of the SATs. Charlotte would serve a dual purpose in helping both brothers, as she had earned one of the top scores in the state on her SATs and was recently honored at a school assembly.

So twice a week, Charlotte would spend an hour helping Garrett with class assignments and an hour with Marcus working on SAT prep.

"Dude. Just ask her to prom. What's the worst that can happen?" Garrett grabbed a handful of chips from a bowl and shoved them in his mouth.

"Uh, she could say no and humiliate me in front of everyone," Marcus replied. "Enough about me. You going to take Gabriella?"

"Nah. Already tapped that."

"One and done, huh?" Marcus smiled wryly.

"Yeah. You know me. Love the chase; hate the commitment."

Charlotte cleared her throat, reminding them she was indeed neither invisible nor deaf. They both looked at her and she grinned at them, gesturing with her head to the table.

"You go first. I got a call to make," said Garrett. "Let me show you how it's done." Marcus sat at the table and pulled out his SAT prep workbook. Charlotte sat next to him and smiled.

"Let's get started with page sixty-two today," she began as Norma continued to tidy up the kitchen. Marcus looked at the question and studied the multiple choice responses. Meanwhile, Charlotte glanced at Garrett, who pulled out his cell phone while cracking open a diet soda.

"Hey Christy. It's Garrett."

Marcus turned the page to Charlotte, who nodded in acknowledgment as he selected the correct answer.

"Nothing. Just hanging out. What about you?" continued Garrett.

"Remember the root words we talked about last week," Charlotte advised Marcus, while maintaining an ear to Garrett's conversation. Marcus continued to go through the options.

"Listen, I really liked the way your hair looked, all pulled up in a bun today. I was wondering if you'd wear it like that when we go to the prom together. Whadaya say? Wanna go with me?" Garrett crooned smoothly into the phone. Charlotte sighed and looked at Garrett longingly, not wishing he would notice her hair as it was a mess most of the time, but that he would at least notice her.

"Yeah? Cool," said Garrett. Marcus tilted his head to the side in a few quick bursts, ushering Garrett out of the room

"Perfunctory. Is that the right answer?" Marcus said to Charlotte, whose eyes had followed Garrett to the living room. His question snapped her back to the task at hand.

"Yes. That's correct," she said, faking a smile. The hour dragged on as Charlotte wrapped her head around the fact there was no chance -- ever -- she would go to the prom with Garrett, let alone have him notice her. Once her time with Marcus was done, he shut his practice book and grabbed his soda from the table.

"Thanks, Charlotte. See you at school tomorrow," he said before walking out of the kitchen and shouting, "You're up, loser!"

"No, no, no. Watch your language, Mr. Marcus," chastised Norma, who was in the kitchen preparing stir fry vegetables for dinner. She had started working as a nanny for the Stephens when Garrett and Marcus were babies and stayed on as a housekeeper as they grew. Marcus rolled his eyes, but with his back turned to Norma so she didn't see.

Garrett came into the kitchen a few minutes later -- late as usual. Charlotte straightened herself up and pushed her hair back off her face and her glasses up higher on her nose. She smiled at him. He reluctantly sat down and took out a spiral notebook and his copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

"Can we only do a half hour today? I've got plans to meet the guys at the gym." Before she could answer, Norma chimed in.

"No, no, Mr. Garrett. You know the rules. One hour." Norma shook her head. Garrett scowled at her as he was now on the receiving end of a finger wag from Norma. "You know your parents say school is very important."

"Yeah, yeah." He turned to Charlotte. "So, where do we start, Glasses?"

"Well, what Norma just said is a perfect segue into talking about the themes of the book, one of which is the important role education plays in Francie's life."

"Uh huh," he said, walking over to the bowl of chips and bringing it to the table.

"Why don't you find three places in the book illustrating why or how education is important to Francie."

Garrett exhaled loudly, stuck his pencil in his mouth, and flopped open his notebook, noisily shuffling the papers until finding a blank sheet.

While he poured through the text, slightly huffing with annoyance, Lindsay walked into the kitchen. In strong contrast to her brothers, Lindsay was a petite and bubbly girl who favored her mother's looks -- a perfect blond bob and bright green eyes.

"Hi Charlotte," she said, making eyes at her like she knew Charlotte was enjoying her proximity to Garrett. Charlotte's eyes bugged out and she shook her head, warning Lindsay from saying anything. Lindsay just grinned at her and giggled. "Come up to my room when you're done."

"Okay," replied Charlotte as Lindsay walked away. Garrett continued to write on his paper and let out a loud huff, realizing he had made an error. He grabbed for an eraser and grazed Charlotte's hand as he did.

Every stringy and frizzy hair on the back of Charlotte's neck stood up on end. She let out a shaky exhale and tried to calm her emotions. Just his slightest touch -- accidental though it was –- set her heart afire. If only he would see her as anything but a brain in oversized black frames. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

Author Lisa Becker had such a fierce crush on a boy in high school, she willingly sat with him in the bathroom at parties while he puked up wine coolers, just so she could spend time with him. Share with the group your unrequited crush story. Did your crush know? How did you get over it?

Has someone had an unrequited crush on you? How did it make you feel? Did you ever discuss/confront it?

Given the prevalence of social media, do you still keep in touch with an unrequited crush? How much interaction do you have? How does that make you feel?

In the Prologue and Chapter One, Garrett refers to Charlotte as “Glasses,” a humiliating nickname he assigned her. Did you have a nickname in high school? How did it make you feel? Does anyone still use it?

In Chapter Forty-Two, Charlotte bumps into a former high school bully who comments in a snarky way that Charlotte is exactly the same. How do you think Charlotte has changed since high school? How do you think she's stayed the same? Are you the same person you were in high school? In what ways have you changed?

In Chapter Forty-Four, Garrett accuses Charlotte of unfairly judging him based on his teenage behavior. Do you still harbor resentment toward someone based on how they acted as a teenager? What would they need to do to change your perceptions? Would you even give them a chance?

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