He met me in the water. And then my mouth was on his, and I could feel him smiling, even while he was kissing me, and I was smiling too, because I’d had no idea what it would be like to kiss someone as Olive, let alone kiss Theo as Olive. He circled his arms around my waist, lifting me until the tips of my toes left the shore. I wanted to kiss him for the next eleven thousand years, until a volcano collapsed and an entire civilization sank into the sea.
My hand found his and our fingers laced together—locking into place. And we didn’t let go, not when we dragged lounge chairs out into the surf so we could stare up at the moon, or when the biggest wave of the night tried to carry us out to sea, and not when we climbed, dripping, back up to the party to join my newly rejoined family.
I still had a lot more finding to do. Not everything that had been lost had been found, but there was one thing I knew with absolute clarity. I’d keep looking. No matter what happened, I’d keep searching until every piece had been found.
Olive had always been good at that.
Acknowledgments
IF YOU’VE BEEN WITHIN A ten-mile radius of me over the past year, then you know that the fact that this book exists is a personal miracle. Thank you for witnessing it.
A volcano-size thank-you to my dad, Richard Paul Evans, for that hour we spent in my coffee shop talking about where this story was trying to go—I could not have written this without you. Thank you for always believing I could.
I also want to thank:
Atlantis Books in Oia for being so downright magical and for showing me their hidden bunk room.
Nicole Ellul for all of the amazing suggestions and enthusiasm, and for not allowing me to use the word “just” five hundred times in the final draft.
The team at Simon Pulse, thank you for being my first writing home and for all of the work and care you poured into my books. This includes Rebecca Vitkus, Nicole Russo, Caitlin Sweeny, Alissa Nigro, Jessi Smith, Sarah Creech, Tom Daly, Thandi Jackson, Savannah Breckenridge, Elizabeth Mims, Penina Lopez, Sara Berko, and Karina Granda for her artwork on this cover.
Mara Anastas for being lovely and committed and really fun to talk to. Five years ago you took a big chance on me, and I will never ever forget it.
Laurie Liss for the hundreds of phone calls and long-distance tear drying.
Garrett Despain for sneaking me onto a film set.
Anastasia Berco for giving me a glimpse of what life is like as a Greek teenager.
Chrystal Checketts for a lot of wisdom and love and that one smelly cigar, and most especially for the night of our backyard moon ceremony where it all became very clear.
Amanda Davis for telling me the perfect story and for loving our buddy.
Dr. Bilder for seeing what no one else did.
Rachelle at Scuba Utah for answering a lot of intense questions when she probably just wanted me to focus on breathing through my regulator.
The fabulously interesting community of people who write articles and books about finding Atlantis.
The friends and family who formed the net that made this book possible during an extremely difficult time. I’ll try to send you fewer Kermit the Frog desperation memes in the future. (No promises.)
David. This was really, really, really not easy on you. Thank you for every sacrifice you made to help me create this. When you read this, we will have officially crossed the mark of having spent more of our life together than not. Huzzah!
Sam and Nora, golden cities in their own right.
My readers—your existence is another personal miracle. I gave more than I had to give on this book, and I hope it lifts you up and brings you joy.
The Universe, for sending me a map and twenty-six things. Thank you, and please send me another story!
And finally, thank you to me, for being the only person who knows what it took to not give up.
Author’s Note
IT’S SAFE TO SAY THAT I spent a lot more time researching Atlantis than was strictly necessary, and by that I mean I spent three months in full-blown obsession mode and even underwent a brief time period in which I was telling everyone around me that not only did the lost city exist, but that I was pretty sure that I knew where it was.
I have some very lovely, very patient friends. Also Trader Joe’s clerks.
Although I consumed a truly shocking amount of information (Thanks, internet!), there were a few resources that I found myself coming back to on a near-daily basis, and I would be remiss if I did not call them out here in order to express my undying gratitude and affection. I could not have sent my characters on their own Atlantis hunt without the following.
“Can Santorini Be Atlantis?” is a video posted to YouTube by Harry Coote in 2015. If you were to check my computer for the number of times I watched this charming and informational sketch, you might worry about me. Watch it here and realize that Nico Varanakis really knew what he was talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbuHQR7URe0
“Lost City of Atlantis” is a documentary from the World of Mysteries series and the only show I’ve watched twice in a row (in a coffee shop) while also scribbling frantically in a notebook. My love for this documentary runs deep. (The geology! The archaeology! The late-nineties fashion!) I most especially loved Don Pastras’s contributions. I couldn’t track him down, but if anyone knows Don, will you please tell me so I can send him my book and possibly a bouquet of olive leaves? Thank you. And if you’d like to watch the documentary, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MScbhEYUgB0
Meet Me in Atlantis: Across Three Continents in Search of the Legendary Sunken City, a book by Mark Adams. Mr. Adams was clearly suffering from the same Atlantis-induced fever I was, and his book was not only highly educational but highly entertaining. Readers, you should read his book next.
And of course, if you really want to go to the source, then you’d better pick up Plato. I suggest Timaeus and Critias (Oxford World’s Classics), a new translation by Robin Waterfield, and might I suggest you pair it with a very large cup of coffee and your comfiest sweats?
And to the many, many other people who wrote blogs and posted in forums and published articles about Atlantis, thank you. I was completely charmed and intrigued by your community, and I’m so glad you’re out looking for magic. I hope you find your golden cities, but if you don’t, I hope you have a great time looking.
More from the Author
Love & Luck
Love & Gelato
About the Author
Author photo copyright © 2016 by Maggie Herbst/Echo Photography
JENNA EVANS WELCH was the kind of voracious child reader who had no choice but to grow up to become a writer. Her novels Love & Gelato and Love & Luck were both New York Times bestsellers and have been published in more than eighteen countries. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and two children. Find her on Instagram @jennaevanswelch.
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/teen
jennaevanswelch.com
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Jenna-Evans-Welch
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers