Here was a boy who liked flaws, who saw them not as failings but as strengths. Who knew such a person could exist, or what would have happened if we'd found each other under different circumstances? Maybe in a perfect world. But not in this one.

Just because we don’t see eye to eye on everything doesn’t mean we can’t be close.

I'm sorry," I heard him say again. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a sudden blur of movement as he slid out of his seat, left some bills for the breakfast he wouldn't eat, and walked away. And as he did, I thought again of those mornings in the hallway at school, way back in ninth grade. Everything had started in such sharp detail, each aspect pronounced and clear. Obviously, endings were different. Harder to see, full of shapes that could be one thing or another, with all the things that you were once so sure of suddenly not familiar, if they were even recognizable at all.

If you have just one person believe in you, you'll always find your way

'I don't get it,' Caroline said, bemused. 'She's the only one with wings. Why is that?'

You didn't fail. You just opted out. There's a difference.

My experience is that sequels are rarely as good as the originals.