I'd loved in so many bodies, but never one I loved like this. Never one that I craved in this way. Of course, this would be the one I'd have to give up. The irony made me laugh, and I concentrated on the feel of the air that popped in little bubbles from my chest and up through my throat. Laughter was like a fresh breeze - it cleaned its way through the body, making everything feel good. Did other species have such a simple healer? I couldn't remember one.

It is a strange world," I murmered, more to myself than to the native soul. "The strangest," he agreed.

Don't be afraid," I said, "We belong together." I was immediatly overcome by the truth of my own words.

You’re still waiting for the running and the screaming, aren’t you?

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

I think being a teenager is such a compelling time period in your life--it gives you some of your worst scars and some of your most exhilarating moments. It's a fascinating place; old enough to feel truly adult, old enough to make decisions that affect the rest of your life, old enough to fall in love, yet, at the same time too young (in most cases) to be free to make a lot of those decisions without someone else's approval.

He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van - there was no other conclusion I could come to.