Quotes from Sarah Dessen

She took the sun when it came and the rain the same way.

What if even if I had told, or did tell, nobody believed me? Or even worse, blamed me for it?

And I felt comfort. Finally. All I'd wanted for so long was for someone to explain everything that had happened to me in this same way. To label it neatly on a page: this leads to this leads to this. I knew, deep down, it was more complicated than that, but watching Jason, I was hopeful. He took the mess that was Macbeth and fixed it, and I had to wonder if he might, in some small way, be able to do the same for me. So I moved myself closer to him, and I'd been there ever since.

Then I'd crawl back into bed, smelling her all around me, and tell myself that next time, I would lock that window. But I never did.

This felt right. Not just leaving, but how I was doing it. Without regret, without second guessing. And with Wes right there, holding the door open for me as I walked out into the light.

Then, a life was ending. Here, one was about to begin. I didn't believe in signs. But it was hard to ignore the fact that someone, somewhere, might have wanted me to go through this again and see there was another outcome.

The dark was still a mystery, something hidden, something to be scared of, but I'd come to fear the light, too. It was where everything was revealed, or seemed to be.

There was something really great about being able to put something out into the world—a song, an introduction, even my voice—and let people make of it what they wanted. I didn't have to worry about how I looked, or if the image of me people had fit who I really was.

I'd been caught up in some wild cyclone, like Dorothy throw into Oz, with not a good witch in sight to save me.

So it had been me. Maybe I'd known that all along, and that was why I had run. Because I didn't show weakness: I didn't depend on anyone. And if he'd been like the others, and just let me go, I would have been fine. It would have been easy to go on conveniently forgetting as I kept my heart clenched tight, away from where anyone could get to it.

I mean, at least with an argument, you know what's happening. Or have some idea. Silence is...it could be anything.

I was bored. Sad. Lonely. It was only a matter of time before I cracked.

I think she loves him, Lia said. And love is needing someone. Love is putting up with someone's bad qualities because they somehow complete you Love is an excuse to put up with shit that you shouldn't,I replied.

Who would have thought that grieving and old relationship and enjoying a new one could happen simultaneously, in parallel?

How ballsy it was to just assume you know, with one glance, the things another person could live without. As if it was the same for everyone, that simple.

Later, though, I wished I had spoken up, or at least tried to explain that once I knew Cora better than anyone. But that was a long time ago, back when she wasn"t trying to save the whole world. Only me.

Stop it. Seriously. This isn't funny.' 'You're right.' A pause. 'It's pathetic.

Listen,Kristy said, the truth is,nothing is guranteed. You know better than anybody. She looked at me hard,making sure I knew what she meant.I did.So don't be afraid.Be alive.

Because' I repeated, as a breeze blew over us, sometimes things just happen. That aren't expected. Or on the list. Such as? he asked I don't know, I said, frustrated. That's the point. It would be out of the blue, taking us by surprise. Something we might not be prepared for. But we will be prepared, he said, confused. We'll have the list.

I had to wonder whether it was possible that this wasn't already decided for me, and if maybe, just maybe, this was my one last chance to try and prove it. There was no way to know. There never is. But I reached out and took it anyway.

The thing about Whitney, I said, is that she was always really private. So you never knew if anything was wrong with her.

It all depends on how you choose to live it. It's like forever, always changing.

Just because someone's pretty, doesn't mean she's decent.

It felt like I'd taken everything for granted up until right now, when suddenly my entire world and all in it became precious and fleeting. I should have paid more attention, soaked it in more. Which you always realize once it's getting too late to do just that.