“Hot heart-blood leaked from my face. From my eyes and my nose and my mouth. Not tears, because those would never stop. This was just liquid heartbreak seeping from my pores.”

“But we have to learn to be free. We have to, Nell. Doesn't mean happy all the time, or okay all the time. Its okay not to be okay. I told you that, but I'm relearning it myself. But not being okay ...”

“But I think youre beautiful. Youre lovely. I shifted uncomfortably under the intense scrutiny and prickling heat in his eyes. Thanks? He thinks I'mlovely? The idea that Kyle thought I was not just ...”

“It wasn't supposed to. It was just supposed to stop you from hurting yourself. It helps No it doesn't. It just pushes it away temporarily. Just like the booze. But I need You need to let yourself f...”

“Its not okay, I tell her. This gets her attention; its not what she was expecting. You dont have to be okay. What do you want from me? Her voice is ragged, desperate. I want you to let yourself be ...”

“She closes her eyes, and I can see the moisture. Shes deep-breathing again, and I notice her hands are clutched around the opposing wrists, nails digging in deep, hard, scratching. Pain to replace ...”

“But we have to learn to be free. We have to, Nell. Doesn't mean happy all the time, or okay all the time. Its okay not to be okay. I told you that, but I'm relearning it myself. But not being okay ...”

“She closes her eyes, and I can see the moisture. Shes deep-breathing again, and I notice her hands are clutched around the opposing wrists, nails digging in deep, hard, scratching. Pain to replace ...”

“The door slams in response, and I laugh. I'm glad she can laugh. It means she really is coping. I know shes internalizing a lot, though. Putting on a show for me. Shell have new scars on her wrists...”

“Falling in love is like getting hit by a truck and yet not being mortally wounded. just sick to your stomach, high one minute, low the next. Starving hungry but unable to eat. hot, cold, forever ho...”

“Sometimes it takes a good fall to really know where you stand”

“I have often wondered since at my own firmness. In that dreadful interview with my uncle I had felt, in the whirl and horror of my mind, on the very point of submitting, just as nervous people are ...”