You get older and you learn there is one sentence just four worlds long and if you can say it to yourself it offers more comfort than almost any other. It goes like this… Ready ” “Ready.” “At least I tried.

Don't ask me any questions right now. I'm grumpy and I'll probablly make fun of you. -Effie Kaligaris

She must have sensed she never really had him. That was a sadness of hers, he knew.

I always interpret coincidences as little clues to our destiny

She existed in her friends; there she was. All the parts of herself she'd forgotten. She knew herself best when she was with them.

People 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.

Their friendship was only one aspect of their lives but it seemed to give meaning to all the others.