This was our common ground, the secret we shared but never spoke aloud. I should have been with him; she should have left him alone. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. It's so easy in the past tense.
Sarah DessenYou know, when you think about it, thatโs kind of a weird thing. I mean itโs meant to be sympathetic, right? But itโs kind of not. Like youโre telling the person thereโs nothing unique about what theyโre saying I considered this as a couple of kids on Rollerblades whizzed past, hockey sticks over their shoulders. โYeah,โ I said, finally, โbut you could also look at it the other way. Like no matter how bad things are for you, I can still relate.
Sarah Dessenclosed my eyes and listened. It was like music I'd heard all my life, even more than "This Lullaby." All those keystrokes, all those letters, so many words. I brushed my fingers over the beads and watched as her image rippled, like it was on water, breaking apart gently and shimmering before becoming whole again.
Sarah DessenLike a blinking cursor on an empty page, it was just the first thing. The beginning of the beginning. But at least it was done.
Sarah DessenThere were so many levels to the unknown, from safe to dangerous to outright nebulous, scariest of all.
Sarah DessenYou didn't have to take a punch for me, you know,' he said. 'I'm a lover, not a fighter.' 'You're a freak is what you are,' I said. He stuck out his hand. 'Come on, slugger. Walk with me. You know you want to.' And the thing was, despite everything I knew-that it was a mistake, that he was different from the others-I did. How he knew that, I had no idea. But I got up and did it anyway.
Sarah Dessen