I'm used to a feeling of doubleness, of thinking one thing and having to do another, a constant tug-of-war.
Lauren OliverMost of the time-- 99 percent of the time-- you just don't know how and why the threads are looped together, and that's okay. Do a good thing and something bad happens. Do a bad thing and something good happens. Do nothing and everything explodes.
Lauren Oliverit's weird how much people change. for example, when i was a kid i loved all of these things..and over time all of them just fell away, one after another, replaced by friends and IMing and cell phones and boys and clothes. it's kind of sad, if you think about it. like there's no continuity in people at all. like something ruptures when you hit twelve, or thirteen, or whatever the age is when you're no longer a kid but a "young adult," and after that you're a totally different person. maybe even a less happy person. maybe even a worse one.
Lauren OliverThatโs just the kind of thing that kids do to each other. Itโs no big deal. Thereโs always going to be a person laughing and somebody getting laughed at. It happens every day, in every school, in every town in Americaโprobably in the world, for all I know. The whole point of growing up is learning to stay on the laughing side.
Lauren Oliver