She is the only one who knows
of the Coldness: a feeling that comes sometimes when I’m
lying in bed, a black, empty feeling that knocks my breath
away and leaves me gasping as though I’ve just been
thrown in icy water. On nights like that—although it is wrong
and illegal—I think of those strange and terrible words, I
love you, and wonder what they would taste like in my
mouth, try to recall their lilting rhythm on my mother’s
tongue.

Author: Lauren Oliver