Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow

by Rainbow Rowell

“All right,” I say, “look. I don’t want to tell you this. I don’t even know if I should. But it’s your mum, and I don’t think it’s right to keep it from you.” “What about my mother?” His arms unfold, and he leans forward, grabbing at my notebook. I whip the notebook away. “I’m telling you, okay? Just listen.” His eyes narrow. I’m stupidly flustered. “When you were gone—you were gone when the Veil lifted.” He guesses it immediately—his nostrils flare, and his eyes go a little wild—he’s so fucking smart, I don’t know how I’m ever going to get the best of him. “My mother . . . ,” he says. “She was looking for you. She kept coming back. Here. Where were you that she couldn’t find you?” “My mother came through the Veil?” “Yeah. She said she was called here, to our room, that this was your place. And she was pretty hacked off that you weren’t here. Wanted to know whether I’d hurt you.” “She talked to you?” “Yeah. I mean—yes.” I run my hands through my hair. “She came looking for you and scared the living shit out of me, asking if I’d hurt you. And then she said that the Veil was closing. . . .” I look down at my notebook. Baz grabs it from me, scanning the page hungrily, then hurls it back at my chest. “You write like an animal. What did she say?”