The Way We Met

The Way I Used to Be #2.5

by Amber Smith

Eden and Josh are in a good place – finally. But now Eden is facing down a new major milestone: spending the weekend with Josh’s parents. The last time she met them, it didn’t exactly go so well. She needs it to be perfect, for them to like her, and like her with Josh. As the weekend unfolds and she gets to know Josh’s family, the return home also brings back memories of the first time Eden met Josh. The real story, the one Josh doesn’t even know…

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Novella, Short Stories, Mental Health

48 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

Amber Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels for young adults, including the international bestsellers The Way I Used to Be and The Way I Am Now, as well as the critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels, The Last to Let Go and Something Like Gravity. Along with her middle-grade debut,Code Name: Serendipity, she also contributed to the award-winning YA anthology, Our Stories, Our Voices. An advocate for increased awareness of mental health, gendered violence, and LGBTQIA+ equality, she writes in the hope that her books can help foster change and spark dialogue. She lives in Ithaca, NY with her wife and their ever-growing family of rescued dogs and cats. Find her online at AmberSmithAuthor.com

Reviews

[Liyah's · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so sweet

GIVE ME MORE

And for anyone who wants to read this, it's ONLY available on a website called Simon Teens!! And it's all free

[isu ✮ · Rating 3 out of 5]

★ 3.75
«If a girl dies in a crowded room, but nobody sees it happen, did she ever really exist at all?»

[maddi ⋆˚ᨳଓ.⋆ (semi-ia) · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

✧˖°. ┆★★★ ¾ — 𝟯.𝟳𝟱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀

₊ 🥯 ⊹ 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 ⋆˚࿔
⤿ bebe rev!!

every book i read about them heals me even more <3 seeing edy and josh back together was the BEST and them talking abt their past and their future was the closure after b2 i needed 🙂‍↕️ eden's anxiety was so relatable and refreshing to read abt too


💌 𝑞𝑢𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 ⛧⋆˚࿔⋆

✧ ❛ 𝑖 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢. ❜

✧ ❛ 𝑖𝑓 𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛, 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙? ❜ - INSANE quote

✧ ❛ 𝑖 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑗𝑜𝑠ℎ, 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒, 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠. ❜

⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹

ᣟ𐚁˳┆ 𝑝𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 .ᐟ ₊ 🫂 ⊹

now why did it take me 20 MINS to get access to this 😐😩 i freaking hate the simon teen website 🙄 BUT ANYWAY I HAVE IT NOW !!

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I see you."😭

Such a sweet novella! Love them!

[im_just_vidu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would never get tired of Eden and Josh. And I'm glad that I can finally read something about them. Just them. I'm not the same person since I read "The way I used to be". And I'll never be. But this was a closure I needed for myself. (May23 2025- 2.01a.m.)

Edit: For everyone who's asking where to read it, it's on the "Simonteen website"-

https://ss-6b72361bafdbfb6d777d7bc29f...

[mandie ੈ♡˳ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book series means so much to me, i'm just glad eden is finally getting a happy ending

[autumn (ia) · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfection

[charlotte ✩ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ★

this healed something in me

[hajer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I see you" killed me

[lili · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love you edenjosh come home to me soon

[love&#x1f338; (semi-hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss my babies already

[ℳ ༊*·˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I see you”

[Jojyy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My precious babies. They mean more to me than anyone could ever imagine😞

-
“The glasses. The smile. Every time I look at this picture, I’m overtaken with such deep sadness. She doesn’t know what’s about to happen to her—how she’ll be changed by what’s about to happen to her.”
-
“If a girl dies in a crowded room, but nobody sees it happen, did she ever really exist at all?”
-
“I feel myself giving in, wanting all those versions of myself to be seen, to be witnessed, to matter, to be understood.”
-
“I look over at Josh, my person, my safe place, who has been showing me, for so long and in so many ways, that I can find my own safe places within me, too. That home can be wherever we are, because we have a past that belongs to both of us, and a future, and a right now. Right now, right here, we're together. And that's all that matters.”🥹

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨ "Was that girl really okay?"

A very short but sweet read that really tugs at your heartstrings 🥹

Can't get enough of Eden and Josh and would love to follow the rest of their story, even into adulthood. To know that there's life and love and happiness after trauma and abuse. Home.

✨ "If a girl dies in a crowded room, but nobody sees it happen, did she really exist at all?"

[★ reshika · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️/5⭐️

I eat up any EdenJosh content and we finally get to see about the first time Eden saw Josh but he didn’t notice her and how bad he feels because he couldn’t accept the fact that he never noticed someone like her
I actually cried again they’re my precious babies
“I see you” cried a whole damn river
I need more happy scenes of them in the third book 😭

[Valeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amo mucho a Eden y Josh.
Creo firmemente que una parte de la vida de las personas que leemos estos libros cambia por completo y te hace entrar en retrospectiva de muchas cosas.
Me gusta que Amber muestre esta parte de Eden y que pueda tener más contenido de ellos juntos.

Son muy especiales para mí y la historia en general es un ANTES Y UN DESPUÉS.
Aún recuerdo lo que lloré en el primer libro y el final especial del segundo.
Siempre es bonito reconectar con personajes que han significado algo para nosotros y esto me pasa con la historia.

Cada vez que veo un diente de león, pienso en Eden y me hace sonreír.
Pienso en su silencio, en su lucha, en su juicio y en quién es.
Tengo su historia grabada para siempre.

[bella ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“it’s like that old question: if a tree falls in the forest, but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? that’s what these pictures make me think of, except it goes like this: if a girl dies in a crowded room, but nobody sees is happen, did she ever really exist at all?”

[shana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t believe I just discovered this. It was a cute and comforting short story that made me miss Eden and Josh so much. Josh will forever remain the best book boyfriend. Wish it was longer though.

[Kelseylovesbooks(heated rivalry version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

that was so sweet

[Delcie McWilliams · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

[Autumn Bacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

sobbing

[Tiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a cute way to wrap up this short and sweet series ! I almost done want their story to end. I would love to keep reading more and more to see where they end up in the future. I actually fell in love with this couple and will never stop thinking of this series.

This series change the way I look at myself, my relationships & the importance of self-care.

This story healed something in me that I didn’t know needed to be healed.

***I found the book on TikTok; the Simonteen.com did not work for me.***

[Katie]

How do you even rate a book that was 48 pages….

I liked getting to see Eden and Josh again! I miss them lol I ALSO finally picked up a book after the longest time, so that’s exciting! School started back up again and so I just have been kind of a slump. But I’m hoping I can start to read soon again since I’m so close to my goal and it’s close to the end of the year already !

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mt fofo

[ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

my angels🤍🤍🤍

[Ava Tischler · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute little novella that still has such an impact. we see you, eden

[kenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that now it’s safe to say that I will read (and love) anything with Eden or Josh in it 🫠🥰🥹
(content review unavailable because of the book’s length)

[Lily Gatto · Rating 5 out of 5]

“if a girl dies in a crowded room, but nobody sees it happen, did she ever really exist at all?”

i will never get enough of eden and josh

[kimberley (thearieslibrary) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much. Such a beautiful way to finish it all off even though I am so sad that it is over as I love the messages it spreads, the world and the characters. This will be a series that I will always think about - it’s changed my brain chemistry in a way that I didn’t know I needed.

[Maria Almoner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story was acc everything I needed. I have not been the same since I read “The way I used to be” and “The way I am now” last year. Eden deserves the world and I’m so happy we got to see a little snippet of her and Josh.