Sometimes you weren't supposed to share pain. Sometimes it was best just to deal with it alone.

I think Heaven will be like a first kiss.

When Josey woke up and saw the feathery frost on her windowpane, she smiled. Finally, it was cold enough to wear long coats and tights. It was cold enough for scarves and shirts worn in layers, like camouflage. It was cold enough for her lucky red cardigan, which she swore had a power of its own. She loved this time of year. Summer was tedious with the light dresses she pretended to be comfortable in while secretly sure she looked like a loaf of white bread wearing a belt. The cold was such a relief.

Don't you wish you could take a single childhood memory and blow it up into a bubble and live inside it forever?

Men of thoughtless actions are always surprised by consequences.

The words were strung in the air like garland. She could almost see them.

Blank-slate friendships were thin and temperamental. She knew that. There was no history there to cement people together, for better or worse.