There were so many levels to the unknown, from safe to dangerous to outright nebulous, scariest of all.

If you didn't love him, this never would have happened. But you did. And accepting that love and everything that followed it is part of letting it go.

It's only advice. Ignore it if you want.

There comes a time in every life when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your heart.

I had no illusions about love anymore. It came, it went, it left casualties or it didn't. People weren't meant to be together forever, regardless of what the songs say.

It's always very pure, that last moment before an ugly, unsettling truth hits someone. The most stark of before-and-afters.

It's all about you, Colie." She touched one finger to her temple, tap tap tap. "Believe in yourself up here and it will make you stronger than you could ever imagine." There is something infectious about confidence. And for that one moment, with my eyebrows burning and my eyes watering, I believed. "And good hair never hurt either.