I can say I made a lot of mistakes, but I don't regret things. Because at least I didn't spend a life standing outside, wondering what living would be like.
Sarah DessenIf he'd been any other boy, and this was any other world, I would have kissed him. Nothing could have stopped me.
Sarah DessenAll those clean, fresh starts had made me forget what it was like, until now, to be messy and honest and out of control. To be real.
Sarah DessenWhat did it feel like, I wondered, to love someone that much? So much that you couldn't even control yourself when they came close, as if you might just break free of whatever was holding you and throw yourself at them with enough force to easily overwhelm you both.
Sarah DessenHe's very nice. He's something I replied. She considered this zipping her purse shut. Then she said Well everyone is. Everyone is Something. For some reason that stuck with me simple and yet not every since she'd said it. It was like a puzzle as well two vague words with one clear one between them.
Sarah DessenWes wants to be with Macy. And Macy, whether she'll admit it or not, wants to be with Wes. And yet they're not together, which is not only unjust, but when you think about it, tragical!
Sarah DessenYou asked me to go out with you. I know you probably changed your mind. But you should know, the answer was yes. It's always been yes when it comes to you.
Sarah DessenI don't lie." "You don't lie," I repeated. "That's what I said." "Ever." "Nope." Sure you don't, I thought.
Sarah DessenCan she be divorced?" I asked. "And famous for her commercials and ideas?" She can be anything," Boo told me, and this is what I remember most, her freckled face so solemn, as if she knew she was the first to tell me. "And so can you.
Sarah DessenHome wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.
Sarah DessenLife is long. Just because you don't get your chance right when you want or expect it doesn't mean it won't come. Fate doesn't punch a time clock or consult a schedule.
Sarah DessenThere was something so heavy about the burden of history, of the past. I wasn't sure I had it in me to keep looking back.
Sarah DessenIt's just that...I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the universe's way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It's how life is.
Sarah DessenI'd seen another shade of him, and if it had been light where we were now, he'd have seen the same of me. So I was grateful, as I had been so often in my life, for the dark.
Sarah DessenYou could just tell when a person belonged somewhere. That is something you can't fake, no matter how hard you try
Sarah DessenI got back in my car, starting the engine, then drove off. It wasn't until I pulled onto the highway that it all really sunk it, how temporary our friendship had been. We'd been on our breaks, after all, but it wasn't our relationships that were on pause: it was us. Now we were both in motion again, moving ahead. So what if there were questions left unanswered. Life went on. We knew that better than anyone.
Sarah DessenLike it takes so little not only to change something, but to make you forget the way it once was, as well.
Sarah DessenI'd chosen instead to just change my route, go miles out of the way, as if avoiding it would make it go away once and for all.
Sarah DessenWriting a novel is like childbirth: once you realize how awful it really is, you never want to do it again.
Sarah DessenNot for the first time, I wished both of us could just say what we meant. But that, like so much else, was impossible
Sarah DessenAgain, it occurred to me how weird it was to be permanent in a place that to everyone else was only temporary. Like I could never be sure if they were the ones who weren't real, or if I was.
Sarah DessenThis is the problem with dealing with someone who is actually a good listener. They donโt jump in on your sentences, saving you from actually finishing them, or talk over you, allowing what you do manage to get out to be lost or altered in transit. Instead, they wait, so you have to keep going.
Sarah DessenYou know, when it works, love is pretty amazing. It's not overrated. There's a reason for all those songs.
Sarah DessenI'd learn that it's not just where you go, but how you choose to get there. So I pulled that sign off the green bike - ENJOY YOUR RIDE! - and went inside to take the first step toward doing just that.
Sarah DessenNever would forever, with all its meanings, be so clear and distinct as in the true, guaranteed end of the world.
Sarah DessenNow, see," Wes said, nodding at my plate, "this is going to blow your mind." I looked at him. "It's a waffle, not the second coming.
Sarah DessenBut if something was really important, fate made sure it somehow came back to you and gave you another chance.
Sarah DessenOkay," he said. He took a breath. "What would you do, if you could do anything?" I took a step toward him, closing the space between us. "This." I said. And then I kissed him.
Sarah DessenThat was the thing: Once, the difference between light and dark had been basic. One was good, one bad. Suddenly, though, things werenโt so clear. The dark was still a mystery, something hidden, something to be scared of, but Iโd come to fear the light, too. It was where everything was revealed, or seemed to be. Eyes closed, I saw only the blackness, reminding me of this one thing, the most deep of my secrets; eyes open, there was only the world that didnโt know it, bright, inescapable, and somehow, still there.
Sarah DessenIt's a funny feeling, being suddenly airborne. Just as you realize it, it's over, and you're sinking.
Sarah DessenI looked at the sweatshirt again. "'You swim' is a philosophy?" He shrugged. "Better than 'you sink', right?
Sarah DessenThere's something nice about the silence of a car ride in the dark, going home. When you were tired of the radio and conversation, and it was okay to just be alone with your thoughts and the road ahead. If you're that comfortable with someone, you don't have to talk.
Sarah DessenLife's too short to worry about the little things. Enjoy what you have today, not what you might get tomorrow
Sarah DessenThis was our common ground, the secret we shared but never spoke aloud. I should have been with him; she should have left him alone. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. It's so easy in the past tense.
Sarah DessenHe was looking at me, jsut as I'd thought he would be, but like Bert's, his light was not what I expected. No pity, no sadness: nothing had changed. I realized all the times I'd felt people stare at me, their faces had been pictures, abstracts. None of them were mirrors, able to reflect back the expression I thought one I wore, the feelings only I felt.
Sarah Dessen