Knowing where she was in the world, even if he never touched her, gave him a deep satisfaction, and he half despised himself for being satisfied with so little.

Her vision of the world under the water represented a beautiful stillness, a version of heaven. It was the lost city of Lena, her alternate universe, the life she yearned for but didn't get to have.

You should find him because he loves you.

Shy” was the sympathetic interpretation she got from older people. “Snotty” was the interpretation she got from people her own age.

It took the real thing to show you the size of your delusions.

Let me love you, but don't love me back. Do love me and let me hate you for a while. Let me feel like I have some control, because I know I never do.

It's so much easier to have no expectations than to have big ones.