The past did affect the present and the future, in ways you could see and a million ones you couldn't. Time wasn't a thing you could divide easily; there was no defined middle or beginning or end. I could pretend to leave the past behind, but it would not leave me.

I mean, it's impossible to fake anything if you've already seen the other person in a way they'd never choose for you to. You can't go back from that.

There's just something obvious about emptiness, even when you try to convince yourself otherwise.

Life is full of screwups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existance.

The mistakes you make now count. Not for everything, and not forever. But they do matter, and they shape you.If you take nothing else from what I've been through, at least remember this: make your choices well. Because you'll always be accountable for them. That's what being an adult is all about.

The way I see it," she continued, "is that some things are just meant to be the way they are.

I've found in my own life that if my writing isn't going well, not much else will. It is the one constant, the key to everything else.