Pretend to be a delinquent?" I asked clarifying. "You can do it," Dave advised me. "Just don't smile, and try to look like you're considering stealing something.

And I felt a sudden whirl in my head, knowing this leap was inevitable, that I wasn't just standing on the cliff, toes poking over, but already in mid-air.

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

The language of solace, and comets, and the girls we all become, in the end.

Love is so unpredictable. That's what makes it so great.

But as i lay there, it only seemes like silence filling my ears. And the thing was, it was so freaking loud.

Morris was not the type to offer a hug or even hold your hand. But there was something in his quiet indignation at the universe then--and Luke, now--that was just the kind of comfort I needed. "I'm such a mess," I said. "We're almost off the island and I didn't even ask you where you were going." He shrugged. "No place. Wherever you are.