I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t think he’d ever really notice me, and in the end, he didn’t.

I liked him first, but it doesn't matter. I still like him. That doesn't matter either. Or at least, it's not supposed to.

I'll always remember taking your hand and telling you that everything would be okay.

I think...I think sometimes that's how it is. Sometimes people have to go before you get stuff. Before you can really get it.

...sometimes, you have to break your own heart.

He's looking at me as if the whole world waits for my next breath, with an intensity that makes my heart pound and my palms sweat and then he smiles, a sweet curve of his mouth, and my breath catches, but then I freeze because there is something about it, something beyond it that I know, that makes my mind go blank with fear and pain.

I don't know how I know that, but I do. I can feel the beat of that truth inside me. Taste it bitter on my tongue. Sometimes, like now, I didn't think I want to know who I really am.