Maybe the thing to do after you roll the dice-and lose-is simply pick them up and roll them again.

Luck is buying a lottery ticket along with your Yoo-hoo and striking it rich. Nothing about my life is lucky- it is all about hard work, it is all uphill struggle.

And like a favorite old movie, sometimes the sameness in a friend is what you like the most about her.

I'm glad you were both here," I finally manage, thinking how strange it is to be standing with the two people who made you, something most kids take for granted every day of their lives.

In days that follow, I discover that anger is easier to handle than grief.

Happiness is the best revenge, you know? Just be happy. It's a choice.

Despite the fact that I have no regrets about how things turned out in my life, I still can't help wanting to understand my intense relationship with Leo, as well as that turbulent time between adolescence and adulthood when everything feels raw and invigorating and scary-and why those feelings are all coming back to me now.