I thought this was a cookout. You know, dogs and burgers, Tater Tots, ambrosia salad" Dexter picked up a box of Twinkies, tossing them into the cart. "And Twinkies." "It is,"..."Except that it's a cookout thrown by my mother." "And?" "And my mother doesn't cook." He looked at me waiting. "At all. My mother doesn't cook at all." "She must cook sometimes." "Nope." "Everyone can make scrambled eggs, Remy. It's programmed into you at birth, the default setting. Like being able to swim and knowing not to mix pickles with oatmeal. You just KNOW.
Sarah Dessen
Related That's my entire weekend. I had plans" "A Vampire Dairies marathon is not plans." She loo... DARYNDA JONES Anthony sneezed and pushed them aside. "Mother, I am trying to have a conversation with the duke." JULIA QUINN My mother is my teacher Her words make me richer I thank you oh my mother May you gro... ISRAELMORE AYIVOR My phone pinged. It was a text from Cookie.I'm not good at cocking guns. DARYNDA JONES ....And then I turned and saw a guy staring at me.... "What are you looking at, idiot?" I... KRISTAN HIGGINS Did you know that wasn’t me, the other Max?” I asked. “Yeah.” “When?” “... JAMES PATTERSON A grim expression came over Syah’s face. “The colt you speak of lost its mother during a storm. ... D.M. RAVER Like the moon shining bright Up high with all its grace, I can only show you at night ANA CLAUDIA ANTUNES Buckley followed the three of them into the kitchen and asked, as he had at least once a day, “Whe... ALICE SEBOLD You're next Claire." She laughed. "Nope, not ready. See, we know about this thing called ... TONI ALEO THE THREE LAWS OF ALL You are never to worship a living soul, Except for three entit... SUZY KASSEM A Woman's Question Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing Ever made by t... JOSHUA HARRIS With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide, And many a childing mother... ROBERT SOUTHEY I love my mother. My mother loves my dad. Those two facts are undeniable. JOHNA PASSARO It's not her fault she can't cook." "You are too nice natured, darling. You won't get anywhere ... RHYS BOWEN I drove by all the places we used to hang out getting wasted I thought about our last kiss, how... 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER Could you just call me Pigeon?” he asked the teacher when she read his name. “Does your mot... BRANDON MULL When I look at you And the world's all right with me Just one look at you And I know it'... BILL WITHERS You are your mother's trueborn son of Lannister." "Am I?" the dwarf replied, sardonic. "D... GEORGE R.R. MARTIN It is raining in my heart. Humanity is shedding a tear. I asked, “Who is suffering?” DEBASISH MRIDHA M.D. If You Forget Me I want you to know one thing. You know how this is: PABLO NERUDA My mother made a squeaking sound that might of been either "yes" or "help". Poseidon took it as... RICK RIORDAN I would love to say that you make me weak in the knees but to be quite upfr... TYLER KNOTT GREGSON Scenes from the Playroom Now Lucy with her family of dolls Disfigures Mother with a... R.S. GWYNN Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter... PABLO NERUDA My mother tells me that when I meet someone I like, I have to ask them three questions: CAITLYN SIEHL Soul Alone by Hannah Baker I meet your eyes you don't even see me You hardly re... JAY ASHER Questions, I've got some questions I want to know you But what if I could ask you only one... JACK JOHNSON God! You'll do anything to avoid it.' Avoid what?' my mother said. The past,' Caroline sai... SARAH DESSEN BE REAL Bring it on- And let truth be my existence. Value my life- And tel... GIORGE LEEDY my mother is pure radiance. she is the sun i can touch and kiss SANOBER KHAN Well,” he said with an affected sigh, “you have my approval, at least.” “Why?” Hyacin... JULIA QUINN At birth and at dawn for each and every day it triumphs over the eclipse. It i... AKILNATHAN LOGESWARAN A son says to his Mother: "Mother, today I fought with my friend." His Mother says: "Why did yo... VERONICA ROTH Two of us in this room, Ace, two keycards," he said and my eyes went to him. When they did, he jerke... KRISTEN ASHLEY I love you.” I stared stupidly at him. Was he joking again, reciting another line from ... JENNIFER ECHOLS i can't tell if my mother is terrified or in love with my father it all looks the sam... RUPI KAUR I keep my kindness in my eyes Gently folded around my iris Like a velvety, brown blanket... SANOBER KHAN No sight so sad as that of a naughty child," he began, "especially a naughty little girl. Do you kno... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Sour Milk You can't make it turn sweet again. Once it was an innocen... DIANE WAKOSKI Brother—” “I thought we’d already decided we weren’t that, either.” MOLLY MCADAMS I wouldn’t know what to do with daughters,' he says. 'Exchange them for sons?' 'But the... KAUI HART HEMMINGS “I think we need food.” “As long as I don’t have to cook it.” He t... KIERA CASS Elm BY SYLVIA PLATH I know the bottom, she says. I know it with my great tap r... SYLVIA PLATH But my heart is an old house (the kind my mother grew up in) hell to heat and cool CLEMENTINE VON RADICS I cry often. I cry and cleanse my face with my tears and swim to the center ... A.P. SWEET Did you eat my Twinkies?" She gulped. Keeping her eyes glued to the whip, she said, "Exactly wh... SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS I look at you And I want to build things Four walls A roof A room with a view JOSé N. HARRIS Featherweight by Suzy Kassem One evening, I sat by the ocean and questioned th... SUZY KASSEM I am too alone in the world, and yet not alone enough to make every moment holy. I am too ... RAINER MARIA RILKE Why is my love for you, dyed in wool? What is the hindrance to moving on? Why in lov... ZUBAIR AHSAN She looked at me, confused. “He hardly knew me. My parents dated and got married before we knew wh... DARYNDA JONES I had an accident." "That seemes to happen a lot." "It wasn't my fault." ... RICHELLE MEAD You know my mother thinks the waltz is indecent." "Your mother would find the sight of a ... ELIZABETH MAY Giving Birth by Marcus Amaker do you remember when the earth was just a bab... MARCUS AMAKER Something about you caught me by surprise Though I always knew you’d be my demise. R.S. GREY I twist like a flower at the sound of your voice But you leave the receiver static ... KAIT ROKOWSKI Simon whispered to me, “But is everything okay?” “No,” Tori said. “I kidnapped her an... KELLEY ARMSTRONG You blast me open and then You stand back and watch My feeble attempts To deal wit... KATE MCGAHAN He gave her a sly, sideways look. "Did you bring it?" "My list? Heavens, no. What ca... JULIA QUINN You adopted him," I said when Romeo sat on the coffee table in front of me. "You love him," he ... CAMBRIA HEBERT Rehvenge, I’m talking to you more than I speak with my mahmen.” “I thought your mother wa... J.R. WARD STAINS With red clay between my toes, and the sun setting over my head, the ghost of ... BRENDA SUTTON ROSE Or perhaps we should just ask Todd." I pound the glass right at his face. He doesn't even flinc... PATRICK NESS I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, And Mourners to and fro Kept treading – treading – till... EMILY DICKINSON I opened my eyes And looked up at the rain, And it dripped in my head And flowed into... SHEL SILVERSTEIN What if you died?" "I'd sit up there on the edge of my cloud and throw stuff at you." GRASSHOPPER You know, honey, Natalie's expecting her second." I arched my eyebrows at my mother, not follo... RACHEL VINCENT Why did you marry Dad, Mom?" My mother sniffled through her nose, looked at me, then smiled. <... MARGARET MCMULLAN Sure you are," Jack replied. He sashayed up next to me, and yes, it was a sashay, he was far too dam... CANDICE GILMER Stop being so...optimistic, its getting on my nerves." "No problem. Do you want me to be all gl... STEPHENIE MEYER A learned man came to me once. He said, "I know the way, -- come." And I was overjoyed at ... STEPHEN CRANE And your will shall decide your destiny," he said: "I offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of al... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Women of the Gallagher Academy, who comes here?" she asked. Just then, every girl at eve... ALLY CARTER My grandfather would have loved to have met you," he told her huskily. "He would have called you 'Sh... PATRICIA BRIGGS Don't you do that. Don't you look at what I had for you and call it weak. Not when you wer... CAITLYN SIEHL Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines he wrote a poem And he called it "Chops"... STEPHEN CHBOSKY She looked at him and smiled. “Hey, you took my advice about the skinnier tie.” She reached up a... JULIE JAMES Flipping to the front, I caught Aiden's gaze and offered a sympathetic smile. "Skittles?"... JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT I want you to tell me about every person you’ve ever been in love with. Tell me why you loved... ANDREA GIBSON There are moments in every relationship that define when two people start to fall in love. A fi... COLLEEN HOOVER This town must learn, even against its will, how much it costs to scorn a God's mysteries ... EURIPIDES I drop my face to my hands and scrub hard. "I wish I had your boobs," I hear Sam announc... KRISTEN PROBY We were both quiet a long time and I was about to fall back asleep in the curve of his arm with his ... KRISTEN ASHLEY So look," he began, leaning over the desk, "I was—" "Excuse me?" Bethany said. Her voice was ... SARAH DESSEN We try a new drug, a new combination of drugs, and suddenly I fall into my life again JANE KENYON Have you ever been in love?" I ask, turning on my side to look at him. He stares up at the sky. Blin... TAHEREH MAFI And besides, we’re not really all that different. Although I think I’m a little more . . . ” JILL SHALVIS ... Lies and lies... lies ... not understanding properly ... <... DEYTH BANGER She raised an eyebrow. "You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?" You'd probably ki... RICK RIORDAN sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and th... CHARLES BUKOWSKI I really am a unicorn?' I asked again. 'You think Janis and I escaped from an asylum, don... DEEPIKA KUMAARAGURU My tactic is to look at you To learn how you are Love you as you are My tactic is to... MARIO BENEDETTI GOD made a wonderful mother, A mother who never grows old; He made her smile of the sunshine,... PAT O'REILLY My mind is like a little house, My peers break into. They rearrange my furniture, And... MARGO T. ROSE I didn't want to be ordinary," I mumbled. My mother looked up. "What ordinary, Charley?" "... MITCH ALBOM This is what it's all been about with you," he said in an even tone. "All the fear, all the run... KRESLEY COLE 6 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, and I still don’t know which month it was then or what day it... CHARLOTTE ERIKSSON I have studied many times The marble which was chiseled for me— A boat with a furled sai... EDGAR LEE MASTERS Original Poems for Infant Minds My Mother Who ran to help me when I fell, And would some prett... ANON.
More Sarah Dessen
It's okay to accept things from people. It doesn't make you weak or helpless. SARAH DESSEN When I pictured myself, it was always like just an outline in a colouring book, with the inside not ... SARAH DESSEN But you don’t have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.” “You don’t have to assum... SARAH DESSEN The best gifts come from the heart, not the store. SARAH DESSEN He wasn't the type for displays of affection, either verbal or not. He was disgusted by couples that... SARAH DESSEN Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend. SARAH DESSEN So you're always honest," I said. "Aren't you?" "No," I told him. "I'm not." "Well, t... SARAH DESSEN There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single f... SARAH DESSEN And that was it. All this buildup to a great leap, and I didn't fall or fly. Instead I found myself ... SARAH DESSEN You, have this whole tall, dark stranger thing going on. Not to mention the tortured artist bit. SARAH DESSEN But it was okay not to fit in everywhere, as long as you did somewhere. SARAH DESSEN Okay,' he said. He took a breath. 'What would you do, if you could do anything?' I took a step ... SARAH DESSEN The choices you make now, the people you surround yourself with, they all have the potential to affe... SARAH DESSEN But that was the problem with having the answers. It was only after you gave them that you realized ... SARAH DESSEN I realized how truly hard it was, really, to see someone you love change right before your eyes. Not... SARAH DESSEN But if something was really important, fate made sure it somehow came back to you and gave you anoth... SARAH DESSEN But if everything was always smooth and perfect, you'd get too used to that, you know? You have to h... SARAH DESSEN I don't know. Just because someone's pretty doesn't mean she's decent. Or vice versa. I'm not into a... SARAH DESSEN I don't get it,' Caroline said, bemused. 'She's the only one with wings. Why is that?' There we... SARAH DESSEN If this was my forever, I wouldn't want to spend it here. SARAH DESSEN the truth about forever is that it is happening right now SARAH DESSEN Life can be long or short, it all depends on how you choose to live it. it's like forever, always ch... SARAH DESSEN I have to admit, an unrequited love is so much better than a real one. I mean, it's perfect... As lo... SARAH DESSEN Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, how it holds you in place. SARAH DESSEN We'd start slow, the way we always did, because the run, and the game, could go on for awhile. Maybe... SARAH DESSEN What you have to decide... is how you want your life to be. If your forever was ending tomorrow, wou... SARAH DESSEN But I'd long ago learned not to be picky in farewells. They weren't guaranteed or promised. Yo... SARAH DESSEN Shoulda, coulda, woulda. It's so easy in the past tense. SARAH DESSEN It was just one of those things," I said, "You know, that just happen. You don't think or plan. You ... SARAH DESSEN What you need, what you deserve, is a guy who adores you for what you are. Who doesn't see you as a ... SARAH DESSEN Some people, they can't just move on, you know, mourn and cry and be done with it. Or at least seem ... SARAH DESSEN I like flaws. I think they make things interesting. SARAH DESSEN It's all in the view. That's what I mean about forever, too. For any one of us our forever could end... SARAH DESSEN That was the thing. You never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone. Just when you think it... SARAH DESSEN It's just that...I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the ... SARAH DESSEN If you try anything, if you try to lose weight, or to improve yourself, or to love, or to make the w... SARAH DESSEN There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you'd bet... SARAH DESSEN All I'd ever wanted was to forget. but even when I thought I had, pieces had kept emerging, like bit... SARAH DESSEN I knew, in the silence that followed, that anything could happen here. It might be too late: again, ... SARAH DESSEN Don't think or judge, just listen. SARAH DESSEN I wondered if emotions were like menstrual cycles, if you get enough women together. Give it time, a... SARAH DESSEN How it felt to have the world moving beneath me, a hand gripping mine, knowing if I fell, at least I... SARAH DESSEN Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, w... SARAH DESSEN There are some things in this world you rely on, like a sure bet. And when they let you down, shifti... SARAH DESSEN If you didn't love him, this never would have happened. But you did. And accepting that love and eve... SARAH DESSEN You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it. SARAH DESSEN Life is full of screwups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human exist... SARAH DESSEN Your past is always your past. Even if you forget it, it remembers you. SARAH DESSEN If you expect the worst, you'll never be disappointed. SARAH DESSEN It shouldn't be easy to be amazing. Then everything would be. It's the things you fight for and stru... SARAH DESSEN Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and a... SARAH DESSEN He thought about this for a second. "True. But if you never really make friends, you probably don't ... SARAH DESSEN Hey, and for what it's worth? Friends don't leave you alone in the woods. Friends are the ones who c... SARAH DESSEN You know, when it works, love is pretty amazing. It's not overrated. There's a reason for all those ... SARAH DESSEN No relationship is perfect, ever. There are always some ways you have to bend, to compromise, to giv... SARAH DESSEN Love is needing someone. Love is putting up with someone's bad qualities because they somehow comple... SARAH DESSEN I don't know," I said. "What else did you do for your first eighteen years?" "Like I said," he ... SARAH DESSEN Music is a total constant. That's why we have such a strong visceral connection to it, you know? Bec... SARAH DESSEN Some things don't last forever, but some things do. Like a good song, or a good book, or a good memo... SARAH DESSEN I am coming to terms with the fact that loving someone requires a leap of faith, and that a soft lan... SARAH DESSEN This is the problem with dealing with someone who is actually a good listener. They don’t jump in ... SARAH DESSEN I don't lie." "You don't lie," I repeated. "That's what I said." "Ever." "Nope."... SARAH DESSEN for once, you believed in yourself. you believed you were beautiful and so did the rest of the world... SARAH DESSEN I don't live in New York or California. I'm in the grocery store, at the park with my kids, ... SARAH DESSEN I'm always hopeful. I feel like I'm at the prom sitting against the wall waiting for someone... SARAH DESSEN When I was a teen, I was never really into the captain of the football team or the student body pres... SARAH DESSEN It's not always easy being her daughter.' I think,' she said, 'sometimes it's hard no ma... SARAH DESSEN Oh, God," I said. "No, it's Dexter," he replied, offering me his hand, which I ignored. He... SARAH DESSEN What the hell," I said, pushing off the wall, ready to take off the head of whatever stupid salesper... SARAH DESSEN But you, fine sir." John Miller clapped Dexter on the shoulder, a bit unsteadily. "You have problems... SARAH DESSEN Plastic ware," he said slowly, "like knives and forks and spoons?" I brushed a bit of dirt off ... SARAH DESSEN Are those the only options? Nothing or forever? SARAH DESSEN I just thought to my self, all of a sudden, that we had something in common. A natural chemistry, if... SARAH DESSEN I was born in 1970 in Illinois, but all the life I remember I've spent in Chapel Hill, N.C. SARAH DESSEN Outside, the ocean was crashing, waves hitting sand, then pulling back to sea. I thought of everythi... SARAH DESSEN Maybe if I'd agreed to do the debutante thing like she wanted. Or taken up pageants instead of ridin... SARAH DESSEN Relationships dont always make sense. Especially from the outside SARAH DESSEN Maybe the truth was, it shouldn't be so easy to be amazing. Then everything would be. It's the thing... SARAH DESSEN Accepting all the good and bad about someone. It's a great thing to aspire to. The hard part is actu... SARAH DESSEN Stuff that would be weird in the bright light of day just wasn't so much once you passed a certain h... SARAH DESSEN Really, it had been stupid to expect anything anyway. A few late nights does not a habit, or a relat... SARAH DESSEN I sat up, sliding them off, and the quiet around me did not, for once, seem empty and vast. Instead,... SARAH DESSEN Look, everyone mourns at their own pace. Maybe you're just a little bit ahead of her, but she'll get... SARAH DESSEN She bought seeds and raided nurseries and mulched and composted and spent full days with her hands f... SARAH DESSEN But anyone can begin. It was the part with all the promise, the potential, the things I loved. More ... SARAH DESSEN There's just something obvious about emptiness, even when you try to convince yourself otherwise. SARAH DESSEN Macy: “In Truth,” I said, “there are no rules other than you have to tell the truth.” W... SARAH DESSEN funny how a beautiful song could tell such a sad story SARAH DESSEN Life shouldn't be about the either/or. We're capable of more than that, you know? SARAH DESSEN Not everything's perfect, especially in the beginning. And its all right to have a little bit of reg... SARAH DESSEN Well, it's true that I have been hurt in my life. Quite a bit. But it's also true that I have loved,... SARAH DESSEN She knew I could tell with one glance, one look, one simple instant. It was her eyes. Despite the th... SARAH DESSEN I didnt pay atteniton to times or distance, instead focusing on how it felt just to be in motion, kn... SARAH DESSEN Wherever you will go, I will let you down, But this lullaby goes on. SARAH DESSEN I am still the center sister. But I see it differently now. There has to be a middle. Without it, no... SARAH DESSEN Maybe not," she said as we came to the car. "But maybe that isn't so bad. You can't love anyone that... SARAH DESSEN Remy: Did you really believe, that first day, that we were meant to be together? Dexter: ... SARAH DESSEN Love is so unpredictable. That's what makes it so great. SARAH DESSEN Silence is so freaking loud SARAH DESSEN Maybe other writers have perfect first drafts, but I am not one of them. I always try to get the boo... SARAH DESSEN You're not supposed to have it all figured out in high school. If you knew it all, and it was th... SARAH DESSEN I'd still thought that everything I thought about that night-the shame, the fear-would fade in time.... SARAH DESSEN Despite my dad's assurances I was strangely nervous my stomach tight ever since we'd hung up. Maybe ... SARAH DESSEN That was the hard thing about grief, and the grieving. They spoke another language, and the words we... SARAH DESSEN because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. no matter what... SARAH DESSEN I've never envied the person who had to put my books together in one script. SARAH DESSEN Sometimes, you get things right the first time. Others, the second. But the third time, they say, is... SARAH DESSEN He glanced over at me. 'Scared? Of Reggie? What, she thinks he might force her to give up caffeine f... SARAH DESSEN In midair, dangling lost above the world. SARAH DESSEN And so we stood there in the kitchen, my mother and I, facing off over everything that had built up ... SARAH DESSEN And to know me, as you have discovered, is to love me. SARAH DESSEN Sometimes you dont even want to think aout what people are doing with their groceries. SARAH DESSEN Best Friends. And I thought of what she had done all the millions of times I cried to he... SARAH DESSEN Why don't you ever wait a second and see what I'm planning, or thinking, before you burst in with yo... SARAH DESSEN I didn't want to leave things the way we had, unresolved, ... and tried to tell myself he cared abou... SARAH DESSEN It was something I couldn't put my finger on or define clearly, but a whole mishmash of words and in... SARAH DESSEN As far as I was concerned, we'd come to a draw: I hadn't wanted to come, and she didn't want me to l... SARAH DESSEN The language of solace, and comets, and the girls we all become, in the end. SARAH DESSEN This world is an awful/ugly place not to have a best friend. SARAH DESSEN its reall bad SARAH DESSEN Just like that, with one phone call, she was a daughter again. SARAH DESSEN I hoped that Grace would be a little bit of the best of all of us: Scarlett's spirit, and my mother'... SARAH DESSEN If you have just one person believe in you, you'll always find your way SARAH DESSEN You can't just plan a moment when things get back on track, just as you can't plan the moment you lo... SARAH DESSEN And that was it; it was so easy for her. My own memories did not even belong to me. But I knew she w... SARAH DESSEN I knew I had to keep him to myself, as I'd slowly begun to keep everything. We had secrets now, trut... SARAH DESSEN He wasn't what I'd thought he was; maybe he never had been. I wasn't what I'd thought I was, either. SARAH DESSEN When I pictured myself, it was always like just an outline in a coloring book, with the inside not y... SARAH DESSEN Mom." I couldn't believe she was doing this again. She was taking this moment, this time when I was ... SARAH DESSEN I wondered again why the right thing always seemed to be met with so much resistance, when you'd thi... SARAH DESSEN Macon: “It’s true. And if that doesn’t work, use the Jedi Mind Trick. But only if you really h... SARAH DESSEN Don't be a fool. Don't give up something important to hold onto someone who can't even say they love... SARAH DESSEN I've given lots of people chances," she said suddenly, as if Marion was still in the room to hear us... SARAH DESSEN I watched my mother do what she did best, and realized there would never be a way to cut myself from... SARAH DESSEN You can't just turn your heart off like a faucet; you have to go to the source and dry it out, drop ... SARAH DESSEN You can't just plan a moment when things get back on track, just as you can't plan the moment you lo... SARAH DESSEN What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they we... SARAH DESSEN Because this is what happens when you try to run from the past. It just doesn’t catch up, it overt... SARAH DESSEN Sometimes it seems safer to hold it all in, where the only person who can judge is yourself. SARAH DESSEN The bottom line is, what defines you isn't how many times you crash, but the number of times you get... SARAH DESSEN An ending was an ending. No matter how many pages of sentences and paragraphs of great stories led u... SARAH DESSEN So many times it seemed like there were chances to stop things before they started. Or even stop the... SARAH DESSEN Friends are honest with each other. Even if the truth hurts. -Maggie SARAH DESSEN Two a.m.' He swallowed, then said, "You know. The person you can call at two a.m. and, no matter wha... SARAH DESSEN So much had happened that morning. Yet it was this image, this moment, that i kept going back to hou... SARAH DESSEN [Adam picks up the camera] "I have to get a shot of this." The reaction in the room was swift, ... SARAH DESSEN You get what you give, but also what you're willing to take. SARAH DESSEN It didn't make you noble to step away from something that wasn't working, even if you thought you we... SARAH DESSEN There's a kind of radar that you get, after years of being talked about and made fun of by other peo... SARAH DESSEN You can't make any one person your world. The trick is to take what each can give you and build a wo... SARAH DESSEN Hate Spinnerbait! SARAH DESSEN It's a lot easier to be lost than found. It's the reason we're always searching and rarely discovere... SARAH DESSEN It doesn't matter, anyway, why you like me. Just that you do. SARAH DESSEN Suddenly, I was just sure he was going to kiss me. He was there, I could feel his breath, the ground... SARAH DESSEN There was something so heavy about the burden of history, of the past. I wasn't sure I had it in me ... SARAH DESSEN Oh for God's sake,' Heather said, 'I wish you two would just go out, fail miserably as a couple, and... SARAH DESSEN It's a great compliment that people think they're fast reads. It's always funny to me because it tak... SARAH DESSEN Wherever you will go, I will let you down, But this lullaby goes on. SARAH DESSEN I think my mother characters have changed a lot since Sasha was born, just because I understand what... SARAH DESSEN With love like that, you can't get pick about how it finds you or the details. All that matters is t... SARAH DESSEN You want me to give her a key?" the guy asked. "I want you to give her a possibility," she told... SARAH DESSEN What was it like to be so confident even in your failings that you weren't the least bit bothered wh... SARAH DESSEN Look,” he said, “the point is there’s no way to be a hundred percent sure about anyone or anyt... SARAH DESSEN Your mother won a special reward," she told me, "because everyone had a head in her pictures. We all... SARAH DESSEN Rogerson," I asked him sweetly as we sat watching a video in the pool house, "where would I find the... SARAH DESSEN I'd heard of Evergreen Care Center before. Cass and I had always made fun of the stupid ads they ran... SARAH DESSEN Nothing like being scolded by a hippie. SARAH DESSEN After all, it's all kinds of things that make up a life, right? The big, like falling in love and sp... SARAH DESSEN I knew this feeling, the 2 a.m. loneliness that I'd practically invented. SARAH DESSEN Maybe we were all destined to just keep doing the same stupid things, over and over again, never rea... SARAH DESSEN After the group vet appointment--during which Lyle scratched the vet, the vet tech, and some poor wo... SARAH DESSEN It [I'm leaving] wasn't really necessary to say, especially if you were already walking away. Almost... SARAH DESSEN It was so risky and so scary, and yet at the same time, so beautiful. Maybe the truth was, it should... SARAH DESSEN When you don't know where you're going, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have more than you need. SARAH DESSEN That's not a real answer.' Says who?' Says me. I mean real fear, like of failure, of death... SARAH DESSEN It's hard to be nice when the rest of the world is so mean. SARAH DESSEN I want the white one SARAH DESSEN As Isabel acted out her date, both of them laughing, I stayed in the kitchen, out of sight, and pret... SARAH DESSEN Isn't it weird," I said, "the way you remember things, when someone's gone?" What do you mean?"... SARAH DESSEN I can still see Boo sitting there on the floor, cross-legged, holding my Ken and watching my face as... SARAH DESSEN So what's your doll's name?" Boo asked me. "Barbie," I said. "All their names are Barbie." SARAH DESSEN Why should I even bother? What's the point, really?" He thought for a moment. "Who says there h... SARAH DESSEN I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be one of so many, to have not just parents and siblings... SARAH DESSEN If someone is really close with you, your getting upset or them getting upset is okay, and they don�... SARAH DESSEN Restoring order of my personal universe suddenly seemed imperative, as I refolded my T-shirts, stuff... SARAH DESSEN There were so many places in my time with Rogerson that I wished I could go back to, hitting the sto... SARAH DESSEN That's what this has been all about for you, correct? Make it clear. That you and me--it was nothing... SARAH DESSEN And for one second, it was like I could feel the timing clicking together, finally pieces falling in... SARAH DESSEN Sometimes, you have to manufacture your own history. Give fate a push, so to speak. SARAH DESSEN It was amazing how you could get so far from where you'd planned, and yet find it was exactly were y... SARAH DESSEN These were always the weirdest trips for me, when it was midnight or even later, and we pulled up to... SARAH DESSEN You couldn't just pick and choose at will when someone depended on you, or loved you. It wasn't like... SARAH DESSEN Story of my life. SARAH DESSEN instead, we just sat there, together but really apart, watching a show about a stranger and all her ... SARAH DESSEN I understood now. This voice, the one that had been trying to get my attention all this time, callin... SARAH DESSEN I am the middle sister. The one in between. Not oldest, not youngest, not boldest, not nicest. I am ... SARAH DESSEN I'd been convinced I was on the outside, but really, I'd always been within arm's reach. All I had t... SARAH DESSEN Because this is what happens when you try to run from the past. it doesn't just catch up: it overtak... SARAH DESSEN Because the truth sometimes hurts," I said. Yeah," he said. "So do lies, though. SARAH DESSEN So while it seemed like you were seeing everything, you really weren't. Just bits and pieces that lo... SARAH DESSEN