Quotes from Sarah Dessen

It's not that I believe everything happens for a reason, it's just that...I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the universe's way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It's how life is.

Big weddings meant big money and, with Bee's fiancé, Kevin Yu, from a family that owned a big pharmaceutical company, big attention. Personally, I wanted to know if she planned to change her name, switching from Bee Little to Bee Yu, but had not found a way to work this into a meeting. Yet.

That was the thing about being alone, in theory or in principle. Whatever happened—good, bad, or anywhere in between—it was always, if nothing else, all your own.

But as I dropped my hand from my eyes to say this to Jamie, I realized I couldn't see him anymore. My view was blocked by my sister, who had moved to stand between us, one hand stretched out behind her, toward me.

There was only what stretched out ahead, years full of new summers and promise, with all the time in the world left to start again.

It's incredible." I'd never seen him this excited about coffee. "I'll loan you one of my copies. If you don't mind highlights and margin notes." "I don't," I said.

I felt a surge of shame; I'd been so stupid to bring him here. Like I, of all people, didn't know better than to lead a total stranger directly to the point where they could hurt me most, knowing how easily they'd be able to find their way back to it.

But sometimes, we all need a little help, whether we want to admit it or not.

There's something just obvious about emptiness, even when you try to convince yourself otherwise.

it didn't make you noble to step away from something that wasn't working, even if you thought you were the reason for the malfunction. Especially then. It just made you a quitter. Because if you were the problem, chances were you could also be the solution. The only way to find out was to take another shot.

It was like Abe took some part of him when he went, you know? He's never been the same.

It was bad to be embarrassed, hard to be ashamed. But pitied? That was the worst of all.

Life's short, you know?" [...] But, suddenly, in that moment, it was like I could feel [Abe]. Sitting in the very seat where I was, riding along with us. Maybe he's been there the whole time.

What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed in there, regardless. It wasn't just about blood relations or shared chromosomes, but something wider, bigger. Cora was right—we had many families over time. Our family of origin, the family we created, as well as the groups you moved through while all of this was happening: friends, lovers, sometimes even strangers.

We all need to lose ourselves in a crowd once in a while.

The truth was, since our night stranded together, I felt comfortable around Wes. When I was with him, I didn't have to be perfect, or even try for perfect. He already knew my secrets, the things I'd kept hidden from everyone else, so I could just be myself. Which shouldn't have been such a big deal. But it was.

Strange how you could barely know a person and they were still able to bring out the worst in you.

You were happy at the time, though," I said. "That has to count for something.

You never knew what lay ahead; the future was one thing that could never be broken, because it had not yet had the chance to be anything. One minute you're walking through a dark woods, alone, and then the landscape shifts, and you see it. Something wondrous and unexpected, almost magical, that you never would have found had you not kept going. Like a new friend who feels like an old one, or a memory you'll never forget.

What you need," Kristy said, "what you deserve, is a guy who adores you for what you are. Who doesn't see you as a project, but a prize. You know?

You would have thought I'd feel brittle too, being such a bitter, angry bitch. But I didn't. I felt nothing, really, just the sense that now the circle I'd always kept small was a little smaller. Maybe Chris could be saved that easily. But not me. Never me.

But really, in a perfect wedding-or world-you wanted the best possible beginning.

You can't measure love by time put in, but the weight of those moments. Some in life are light, like a touch. Others, you can't help but stagger beneath.

The dead aren't the only ones who vanished: you, too, can disappear in plain sight if enough is taken from you.