Just like that, with one phone call, she was a daughter again.

Lissa lowered her voice and added, "I might not even go to school anyway. I might defer and join the Peace Corps and go to Africa and shave my head and dig latrines." "Shave your head?" I said, because, really, this was the most ludicrous part of the whole thing. "You? Do you have any idea how ugly most people's bare heads are? They've got all kinds of bumps, Lissa. And you won't know until it's too late and you're flat-out bald.

All I'd wanted for so long was for someone to explain everything that had happened to me in this same way. To label it neatly on a page: this leads to this leads to this.

Despite our differences, we did have a history. No one understood where I was coming from the way he did.

There has to be a middle. Without it, nothing can ever truly be whole. Because it is not just the space between, but also what holds everything together.

There comes a point when things are undeniable and can't be hidden any longer. Even from yourself.

Hey, and for what it's worth? Friends don't leave you alone in the woods. Friends are the ones who come and take you out.