Welcome back, Arrowheads! This week, we’ll be taking a sneak peek of my upcoming release, On the Flip Side! Keep scrolling to check out Chapter One from Kennedy’s POV, and Chapter Two from Katie’s.

Chapter One

Kennedy

“Simon says convince me to buy these.”

Morgan laughs, holding up the pair of earrings she told me would “never work with my ear shape”. Whatever that means. The silver strands dangle, shimmering in the light of our favorite boutique. Biting my tongue, I jab my credit card’s chip into the reader, which accepts the two hundred and fourteen-dollar payment. Here’s hoping these cropped sweaters will remedy my remorse over not getting the earrings last week.

“They’d look perfect with the dress you bought for the winter formal,” Jennette comments, making the earrings’ delicate ends swish with her pinky.

Accepting the receipt from the cashier, I wad up the mile-long paper and toss it into my biggest shopping bag.

“Facts!” Morgan beams at Jennette, then narrows her gaze on me. “Ken, why so quiet? Something bothering you?”

Simon says convince me to buy these.

Defiance weighs in my mind. I should snatch the earrings from her, head back to the checkout line, and tell her the same thing she told me last week. That she’s not cut out for them.

But we can’t defy what Simon says if we want to win the game.

“I’m alright,” I lie, moving my hair out of my face. “You should get them. Jen’s right, they’ll go great with the dress.” And the heels she stole from my closet, but let’s not open that door.

Morgan gives me a satisfied smirk and sashays past me to the checkout counter.

My sister used to call me her Simon. Growing up, the four of us battled it out every day on the Riverside Prep playground, doing what we all learned from our parents: setting impossible standards of conduct no one wanted to follow.

Jennette and Katie were the least power-hungry. When the commands edged into extreme territory, they’d be the first to question leadership. What if we got caught? The consequences could impact us forever.

But what those two have never understood is that to win is to be Simon. And to become Simon, one must be the last one standing when the dictator narrows out the competition.

Then again, I’ve felt like the last one standing for a while, and no matter how hard I chase it, the winner’s circle keeps moving out of reach.

Leaning against the counter, Morgan texts away, the cashier’s expression tight as she waits for her to pay. “Simon says we hit the food court next. The boys want burgers.”

Perfect, something I don’t mind doing. Maybe seeing Harris will get me out of my funk.

Once Morgan meets us outside the boutique, we head down the bustling first floor of the Warner Grove Mall, catching sight of our boyfriends halfway.

“Y’all wait up. We’ve got another three minutes on these bad boys,” my boyfriend calls, waving from his seat on one of those rideable dragons parents rent for kids.

“You two are officially on my story!” Morgan giggles, pulling out her phone. She aims the camera at her knight, Wilson, who scoots down the mall on a shark and almost runs into an elderly couple. Harris takes advantage of the spotlight, trying and failing to make the dragon pop a wheelie.

I check my phone, doing my best to ignore my gnawing stomach. The grapefruit I ate this morning is long gone after all the shopping we’ve done. The burger place’s sign catches my eye, and while the boys finish up their ride, I pull up the online menu, hoping they have something under five hundred calories available. Scrolling through the options, I find a barbecue turkey burger is half the amount, and I could get a kid’s fry. I haven’t eaten fries in weeks.

“Who are you texting?” Harris asks, peeking over my shoulder. Morgan, Wilson, and Jennette continue on to the food court.

“No one.” I slide my phone into my bag. “Just trying to save time. I’m starving.”

“You hangry, Babe? Come on, we can fix that.” Grabbing my hand, he takes off running, dragging me along behind him to catch up with our friends. Mall-goers shoot us annoyed looks as we bustle by, shopping bags bumping them, but I can’t help but squeal along the way. Reaching the end of the line, we run straight into Morgan’s back.

“Ugh, y’all make me cringe,” she comments, edging up in line.

“Jealous much?” Harris croons, planting a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

“Um, I have a boyfriend?” Morgan points to Wilson, who orders for her.

“And I love the dude like a brother, but he’s got the personality of a trained poodle. Then again, so do you.”

“Shut up, Harris.” Morgan rolls her eyes and faces the front.

That’s what I love about Harris. He’s not subject to Simon’s rules. In fact, he doesn’t follow anyone’s rules. And I envy his freedom of choice.

“Next!” the petite blonde cashier calls, waving us over.

Harris steps up to the counter. “I’ll take the quarter-pounder with extra cheese and onions. The lady here will have the garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.”

I gawk, stepping forward to correct him. “Actually, I wanted to try the turkey burger today.” Not to mention the thought of lettuce has my fry craving soaring to new heights.

“Sorry, Babe. I was just looking out for you. Didn’t you say you were trying to lose weight before the formal? Plus,”—he glances at the cashier’s nametag—“Miss Veronica here has already put it in.”

“Fine,” I relent, masking my disappointment for Veronica’s sake.

“We’ll have that right up for y’all,” she says, her fingers poised over the register’s keys. “Name, please?”

“Harris. Harris Sutton,” he says, shooting her his signature wink.

She types his name into the register, and I swear she’s blushing. Harris could charm the last dime off a con artist. “Alrighty. That’ll be fifteen dollars and forty-seven cents, Harris Sutton.”

Harris throws his arm around me, sticking out his lower lip. “Dang it. Babe, I left my wallet in my other jeans. Do you mind getting it today?”

Fumbling under the weight of his arm combined with my shopping bags, I manage to pry my card out and hand it over to an overeager Veronica.

I guess I have no choice.

---

Chapter Two

Katie

“Ah, so we have the place to ourselves again tonight, my dear?” Ethan surmises, seconds after I approve his video chat request. He sits at the desk in his dorm room, munching on a bowl of fruity cereal.

Sitting alone in front of my laptop at our twelve-seat dining room table, I take a bite of my own meal: a multi-meat and cheese sandwich I threw together and drowned in honey mustard. “Yeah, you know. Only the fourth time this week.”

“Where’s your crowd tonight?”

I tick off the ever-growing list on my crumb-ridden fingers. “Mom’s at a school board meeting. Dad’s schmoozing at the clubhouse, because he’s bought more land to put cookie-cutter houses on. And Kennedy, you know, is anywhere but here.”

Ethan pouts onscreen, a milk mustache visible on his upper lip. “I wish it wasn’t like that, Katie.”

A corner of my mouth lifts, and I let out a defeated laugh. “How’s college life, mustachio?”

He swipes the milk off his lip. “A portal of blah and romance.”

I quirk an eyebrow. “Romance, you say? That doesn’t sound too blahish.”

“Yeah, get this.” He leans closer to the webcam. “Carter called me earlier asking for romantic advice. He said he’s gonna ‘prop the question’ to Riley tonight.”

I’m mid-bite, but lower my sandwich, honey mustard threatening to dribble onto the tabletop. “He’s gonna what?”

“Prop the question. Duh.”

“Um… isn’t it pop the question?” I swap my sandwich for a gulp of Dr. Pepper.

Tapping his fingertips together, he blows out a breath. “Tell that to Cuz. He graduated with honors from a top school with an engineering degree, of all things, but thinks it’s ‘prop the question’ because ‘prop’ is supposedly short for ‘propose’.”

His dry delivery sends cherry-flavored cola out my nose and all over my laptop. As gross as it was, Ethan’s unfazed, laughing harder than me. Waving my hand in front of my face, I bolt to the sink, wetting a paper towel to clean up my spewage. “He’s engineering words now!” I wheeze. Ethan falls face-first on his desk, giving in to his own laughing fit.

A gaudy designer bag plops on the table in front of me. I muster the courage to peek up, and my sister crosses her arms. “I realize you and Redneck Monthly’s cover star are having a hoot-and-holler fest, but would you please move that to your room? We’re gonna watch the series finale of Caroline’s Cove.”

Kennedy hovers over me, Morgan and Jennette standing behind her, like they’re the poster-children of a mid-2000s pop group.

Morgan notices my uneasiness and raises her eyebrows. “Don’t worry, Katie. Harris isn’t here. Everyone’s safe.” Jennette snorts into her palm. Kennedy trudges into the living room, shaking her head.

Stacking my plate on the laptop’s keyboard and tucking my drink bottle under my arm, I follow the pack of wolves into the living room, then make a break for the staircase.

Ethan fusses via video chat all the way to my room, though he’s muffled by the covered speakers. When I plop the laptop back on my bed, he huffs. “Stop letting her interrupt your life, Katie. You have just as much right to be there, and—”

“I’d rather know she’s safe here than out with him,” I interrupt. Ethan’s eyes fall downcast, so I add, “I’ve got some stuff I want to work on anyway. Talk to you tomorrow night. I love you.”

His grin returns full force at those three words. “Love you too, Katie Katherine.” He reaches up to click off the video chat window. “I’ll keep praying for you. Both of you.”

“Thanks.” I flash him a smile as he waves goodbye, the screen fading to black.

© Copyright 2026 Allyson Kennedy. All rights reserved.

If you liked this sneak peek of On the Flip Side, you’re in luck!

Spots for On the Flip Side‘s ARC team will remain open until September 14, 2026! If you would like an advanced reader copy of the book, please submit an application via the form below or this link: Apply here!

Note: I realized after posting last week’s blog post where I initially opened ARC applications that the form mistakenly asked “Do you typically read and enjoy YA Romance books?”. I would like to clarify that On the Flip Side is NOT a YA Romance book like my previous works, but rather a contemporary YA novel about sisterhood and the dangers of dating a narcissist. When making On the Flip Side‘s Google Form, I had duplicated the form for The Dream (the third book in my Christian YA Romance trilogy), and had overlooked changing the wording of that question. I apologize for any confusion!

If you’d rather save On the Flip Side on Goodreads for future reference, you can do so here:

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What did you think of this sneak peek? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀