Those were the people who made her something, and without them she was different. She'd held on to them and to that old self tenaciously, though. She clung to it, celebrated it, worshipped it even, instead of constructing a new grown-up life for herself. For years she'd been eating the cold crumbs left over from a great feast, living on them as though they could last her forever.
Ann BrasharesI don't have the life of a famous person. But I do feel like I've been able to connect with a lot of people.
Ann BrasharesShe got tired of herself. She got tired of not being able to say what she wanted or do what she wanted or even want what she wanted.
Ann BrasharesTheir friendship was only one aspect of their lives but it seemed to give meaning to all the others.
Ann BrasharesLove demands everything, they say, but my love demands only this: that no matter what happens or how long it takes, you`ll keep faith in me, you`ll remember who we are, and you`ll never feel despair.
Ann BrasharesPeople left a lot of things behind when they went in the water. Their clothes, their stuff, their makeup, their fixed-up hair, their voices, their hearing, their sight--at least as they normally experienced them....Some people lost their individuality in the water, but Riley always felt most herself. Water was supposed to symbolize renewal, she knew, but when Riley swam, pared down, alone, and unreachable--she felt a deeper sense of who she already was.
Ann Brashares