Teaching was great for me, because I got to show people how writing can really change the way you see not only yourself but the world.

That was the thing. You just never knew. Forever was so many different things. It was always changing, it was what everything was really all about.

Because maybe, the best of times were yet to come. You never knew.

When he first put his arms around me, it was tentative, like maybe he expected I'd pull away. When I didn't, he moved in closer, his hands smoothing over my shoulders, and in my mind I saw myself retreating a million times when people tried to do this same thing: my sister or my mother, pulling back and into myself, tucking everything out of sight, where only I knew where to find it. This time, though, I gave in. I let Wes pull me against him, pressing my head against his chest, where I could feel his heart beating, steady and true.

And so really, you have given me no choice but to take you shopping by force.” She sighed, then reached up, dropping her sunglasses down from their perch on her head to cover her eyes. “Do you even realize how happy the average teenage girl would be in your shoes? I have a credit card. We’re at the mall. I want to buy you things. It’s like adolescent nirvana.” - Cora

Some things you don't have to tell. Some things, between sisters, are understood.

It's still a memory worth having, even if it's not exactly what you imagined.