It hurts every day, the absence of someone who was once there.

to. I will trick you and deceive you, lie, cheat and steal to find you, tempt you out of your hiding place, and chase you until you have nowhere else to run. I make you this promise: your life is mine

The first time I saw you, when you stepped into that Skiz ring against Kaede, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. I could've watched you forever. The first time I kiss you..." That memory overpowers me now, taking me by surprise. I remember every last detail of it, almost enough to push away the lingering images of the Elector pulling June to him. "Well, that might as well have been my first kiss ever.

For a small moment, I fix my eyes on his, telling him silently everything that I'll never say to him aloud.

Boys are different from girls, but boys are also different from other boys, just as girls are different from other girls. Calling a book “for boys” or “for girls” is well-meaning, but to me, not terribly helpful.

The memory fades, and I’m left hanging on to the ghosts of his words.

My heart's been torn wide open, just like I feared it would be, and I have no willpower to close it back up.