Welcome to the free world. We give people the power to choose. They can even choose the wrong thing. Beautiful, isn't it?

i suppose that's the secret, if you're ever wishing for things to back the way they were. You just have to look up.

Are you sure that being like everybody else will make you happy?" "I don't know any other way." "Let me show you." And then we're kissing. Or at least, I think we're kissing—I've only seen it done a couple of times, quick closed-mouth pecks at weddings or on formal occasions. But this isn't like anything I've ever seen, or imagined, or even dreamed: this is like music or dancing but better than both.

I get that rush that comes when you know you're doing something wrong and are getting away with it, like stealing from the school cafeteria of getting tipsy at a family holiday without anyone knowing it.

I'd rather die my way than live yours.

And in that moment, the wordless thing passed between us, the thing that wasn't quite love but was so close I could believe in it sometimes.

For a moment, my heart aches for him. I should never have asked him to join me here; I should never have asked him to cross.