You're not a sucker. You're just nice. You give people the benefit of the doubt.

I mean, it's not surprising, really. Once you love something, you always love it in some way. You have to. It's, like, part of you for good.

You just had to know where to look.

He doesn’t love me. He might still love me as I was at fifteen, when I didn’t know any better. When I trusted everyone. I’m not that person any more. He’s just a boy. He was the first to really hurt me, but he’s just a boy. There were a lot of them.

And don't change for a guy, ever," Leah added. "If they're worthy, they'll like you just the way you are.

As I rolled over, stretching out, my only thought was to go back to the dream I'd been having, which I couldn't remember, other than that it had been good, in that distant, hopeful way unreal things can be.

I write thank-you notes the minute I throw the wrapping paper away.