I think readers are just looking for things that maybe they recognize or can relate to in the books.

I just do the best I can under the circumstances.

During this time we've been apart, it's you I've thought of when I'm at my weakest, and you who have pulled me through.

I'd been through so much, falling short again and again, and only recently had found a place where who I was, right now, was enough.

Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.

I'd been convinced I was on the outside, but really, I'd always been within arm's reach. All I had to do was ask, and I, too, would be easily brought back, surrounded and immersed, finding myself safe, somewhere in between.

At the same time, though, I was beginning to wonder if this was just how it was supposed to be for me, like perhaps I wasn't capable of having that many people in my life at any one time. My mom turned up, Nate walked away, one door opening as another clicked shut.