Teachers wondered why I didn't speak up more in class. Why would I when I knew how precarious words could be, how betraying they were, how vulnerable they made you?

You would be surprised what two hours of daily exercise and five hundred stomach crunches can do for you.

Hey, if it's a good philosophy, it works. Death is imminent. Live every day like it's your last.

What would it be like to look in the mirror and actually accept what you see? Not loathe the reflection, or despise it, or be resigned to it? But to like it?

He knew me in all the ways that truly mattered: the shape of my fears, the contours of my dreams.

Flawed, we're truly interesting, truly memorable, and yes, truly beautiful.

The pressure of his touch through my jacket and my sweater was more assurance than any promise ever made to me. It was a touch that said, I have your back and I am here for you. If a girl wasn't careful, she could fall in love with a touch like that.