Sean takes my ponytail in his hand, his fingers touching my neck, and then he tucks my hair into my collar out of the reach of the wind. He avoids my gaze. Then he links his arm back around me and pushes his calf into Corr's side.

Adam had once told Gansey, "Rags to riches isn't a story anyone wants to hear until after it's done.

Aren't you afraid?' 'Of what?' 'Of losing yourself.' 'That's what I'm hoping for.

She couldn't make it untrue.

The walls of the arch are covered with blood-red jellies that wink and glisten at me by the light of the moon. My father told me they were completely harmless. I don't believe him. Nothing is completely harmless.

It was about falling asleep with Sam's chest pressed against my back so I could feel his heart slow to match mine. It was about growing up and realizing that the feel of his arms around me, the smell of him when he was sleeping, the sound of his breathing -- that was home and everything I wanted at the end of the day. It wasn't the same as being with him and we were awake.

Gansey studied Adam's erratic handwriting. His letters always looked like they were running from something.