I always say that teenagers are the first to know if you're pandering to them.

So while it seemed like you were seeing everything, you really weren't. Just bits and pieces that looked like a whole.

I'm incredibly flattered when people tell me that my books helped them through high school. Because of my own experience, the thought that something I wrote might help someone who felt the way I did when I was a teen...that's huge. It awes me.

The kind who live for music and are constantly seeking it out, anywhere they can. Who can't imagine a life without it. They're enlightened.

So he didn't have to prove how he felt about me. Like so much else, I should just know.

From what I could see, the hardwood was just fine. Then again, I'd just see a windmill and an open sky, too, never feeling the need to conquer either. You think it's all obvious and straightforward, this world. But really, it's all in who is doing the looking.

So it just wasn't in my house. Anywhere, I looked like I knew about the toilet.