But this, too, wasn’t true. Leaving was easy. It was everything else that was so dammed hard.

“So this had been all I wanted, a boy who understood how I felt. Now, though, I …”

“Outside, the ocean was crashing, waves hitting sand, then pulling back to sea. …”

“In a way, I was almost happy to see her. The worst part of me, out in the flesh…”

“I like flaws. I think they make things interesting.”