Fifteen minutes later, Betsy came thundering down the stairs. "I'm going to the mall with Sierra to see a movie." Michael leaned forward, switched off the television. "Can you please rephrase that in the form of a question?" "Sure. Can I have some money?

He is a man, and he is afraid. This is not a good combination.

If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.

It's not intentions that matter. It's actions. We are what we do and say, not what we intend to.

From the first time we met, we knew everything that mattered about each other, didn't we? We just knew. I guess that's what best friends are: parts of each other.

Thoughts - even fears - were airy things, formless until you made them solid with your voice and once given that weight, they could crush you.

Alice started to cry. It came with no sound, no shuddering, no childlike hysterics, just a soul-deep release that turned into moisture and dripped down her puffy pink cheeks. She touched her tears, frowning. Then she looked up at Julia and whimpered two words before she fell asleep. ‘Real hurts.’