In the end....everything matters.

They were like two magnets who couldn't decide whether to attract or repel.

Josh will begin disappearing into a future where the only place he and I remain friends is on the Internet.

Watching those guys pummel each other so no one would suspect them of being weak was too much for me. Their reputations were more important than their faces.

I hate not knowing what to believe anymore. I hate not knowing what's real.

Personally, I never understood the power of having books written about your experience - whatever that experience may be - until I wrote one and started hearing from teens. I just got an email from a reader who said that "Thirteen Reasons Why" was the first time they had felt understood. A book shouldn't be anybody's first time feeling understood and that's where censorship bothers me. These books need to be out there.

A week went by and nothing. But eventually, as they always will, the rumors reached me. And everyone knows you can't disprove a rumor.