He smiles in my memory. A curled lip. Straight teeth. Light in his eyes. Laughing, teasing, more alive in memory than I m in reality. It was him or me. I chose me. But I feel dead too.

Like a wild animal, the truth is too powerful to remain caged.

To me, when someone wrongs you, you both share the burden of that wrongdoing - the pain of it weighs on both of you. Forgiveness, then, means choosing to bear the full weight all by yourself. Caleb's betrayal is something we both carry, and since he did it, all I've wanted is for him to take its weight away from me. I am not sure that I'm capable of shouldering it all myself - not sure that I am strong enough, or good enough.

I feel empty, not because of sadness, but because of relief, all the tension flowing out of me.

The cruelty of fate is that I must travel with the people I hate when the people I love are dead behind me.

He looks like a man who has spent most of his life frowning.

If you see someone in trouble, you should help them. Experiment or not.