I ignore my fear,” he says. “When I make decisions, I pretend it doesn’t exist.” I stare at him for a second. I can’t help it. To me there’s a difference between not being afraid and acting in spite of fear, as he does.

For me, it feels like driving from truth into a lie, from adulthood to childhoold. I watch the land of pavement and glass and metal turn into an empty field. The snow is falling softly now, and I can faintly see the city's skyline up ahead, the buildings just a shade darker than the clouds.

My problem might be that even if I did go home, I wouldn’t belong there, among people who give without thinking and care without trying.

Fear," she says, "is more powerful than pain.

What is wrong with you?' I shake my head. 'Pull it together.' And that's what it feels like: pulling the different parts of me up and in like a shoelace. I feel suffocated, but at least I feel strong.

It is more important for you to be safe than right, for the time being. Understand? (...) But please, when you see an opportunity...ruin them

Being honest doesn't mean you say whatever you want, wherever you want. It means that what you choose to say is true.