It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real.

But Mary Elizabeth felt different. She kept saying it was an "articulate" film. So "articulate." And I guess it was. The thing is, I didn't know what it said even if it said it very well.

Part of the reason I wrote the book was I wanted to understand for myself why such good people let themselves get treated so badly.

I can see it. This one moment when you know you’re not a sad story. You’re alive. And you stand up and see the lights and the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you’re listening to that song in that drive with the people you love most in this world. And in this moment I swear… we are infinite.

I just think it's bad when a boy looks at a girl and thinks that the way he sees her is better than she actually is. And I think it's bad when the most honest way a boy can look at a girl is through a camera.

I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everyone was, especially me.

The outside lights were on, and it was snowing, and it looked like magic. Like we were somewhere else. Like we were someplace better.