Standing there in-between two disgusting Dumpsters in some crappy alley
with the whole world crumbling down around me, and hearing Alex say those
words, all the fear I have carried with me since I learned to sit, stand, breathe—
since I was told that at the very heart of me was something wrong, something
rotten and diseased, something to be suppressed—since I was told that I was
always just a heartbeat away from being damaged—all of it vanishes at once.
That thing—the heart of hearts of me, the core of my core—stretches and unfurls
even further, soaring like a flag: making me feel stronger than I ever have before.

Author: Lauren Oliver