merino gemma the crocodile who didn t like water
Seventeen-year-old Gemma's favorite kind of beach is an empty one. Social interactions are too much for her to handle, and while she wishes she had more friends, she'd rather observe people from afar than risk embarrassing herself during a face-to-face interaction. She always says the wrong thing - if she even manages to say anything at all. The few times her longtime crush, Beau Booker, spoke to her, she went completely mute. During a solo outing to her favorite beach, Gemma realizes, to her horror, that the popular kids from school have suddenly shown up to throw a party. Before she can sneak away (and possibly puke behind her car) Gemma is pulled into the action and ends up talking to Beau . . . who asks her to "pretend to be his girlfriend." Gemma is too flustered and flattered to refuse, and spends a glorious afternoon boating with Beau . . . until he falls off the boat, hits his head, and almost drowns. Gemma pulls him out of the water and gives him CPR. At the hospital, Gemma whispers to herself that she's in love with Beau and is overheard by a nurse who mistakes Gemma for Beau's girlfriend and introduces her to his family as such. Beau's Mom is thrilled to find out that Beau had a girlfriend, and Gemma becomes so overwhelmed and anxious and can't bring herself to tell them the truth. The more time Gemma spends with the Bookers, the more she falls in love with the entire family (although it seems that Beau's sister suspects the truth). Then, Beau wakes up, but since he has short term memory loss, he has no trouble believing that Gemma IS his girlfriend. For the first time in her life, Gemma has everything she's ever wanted. But how can she embrace her new dream life when everything is built on a lie?
