Jessica Sorensen

“Why do I always have so many fucking questions in my head?”

“At least tell me you won? And that the scratches and dings were totally worth it." "Of course. They're always worth it," he says with a hidden meaning that only the two of us could ever understand.”

“He gazes at the people in the truck. "Are you driving back with them? Smiling, I nod. "Yes." "With a bunch of dudes?" "Yes." "Is that safe?" My smile expands into a face consuming grin. " I am safer in that truck than I am anywhere else.”

“It isn't as important to feel great about all the things we do. But how we feel toward the end when we look back at everything we've done.”

“You really need stitches," she tells me."Or you're going to have a scar." I try not to laugh. Stitches aren't going to help. They fix skin, cuts, wounds, heal stuff on the outside. Everything broken with me is on the inside. "I can handle scars, especially one's on the outside.”

“But no matter what happens, I spoke up, made a voice for myself, freed from the haunting memories that have owned me for the last six years. I found my courage.”

“So I let my shame own me, kill me, wilt me away into a thousand dead flakes, knowing if I kept it all in, she would never have to learn the dirtiness that was forever inside me--the bad, the ugly, the twisted. She could go on living her life happy, just like she deserved.”

“I realize that even through the hard times I’m sure we’ll face, I’ll never be able to walk away from her. -Micha”

“Quinton: I think if every person had a Nova Reed in this world, then life would be a little sunnier.”

“It's what's buried deep inside that frightens me because it's broken, like a shattered mirror.”

“You've always had a good grasp on what's right and wrong. You just have a hard time admitting that sometimes you choose the wrong.”

“Asher taps his fingers on his lips and I catch Amy licking her own as she eyes his mouth. "What exactly are Rocky Mountain Oysters?" he asks her.I restrain a laugh as Amy's face twists in confusion."Well...I think they're kind of meat. I'm not sure what kind, but I like them." She presses the end of the pen against her chin.I shake my head at Asher. "You don't want those. Trust me.”

“Seriously, it's like watching mild porn, watching you two eye fuck each other every two seconds.”

“I don't believe that. I don't believe that there are bad things about you. Only things that you think are bad.”

“I shrug and shuffle my toe across the carpet in front of me, feeling silly. "So? It's a compliment being like you." All the humor evaporates from his face and his honey-brown eyes. Within seconds he has me in his arms and he hugs me like I'm the most important thing in the world to him. "Don't ever change, Callie Lawrence," he whispers in my hair. "Promise me you won't.”

“To me, he is art, poetry for the eyes and heart. He is the most terrifyingly beautiful guy I have ever seen. And his scars have to tell a story...”

“Just you and me against the world.Always and forever.”

“There are no accusations with writing, no judgment, no shame, only freedom.”

“I'm not scared of death, just tired. So fucking tired of being alive yet never fully breathing.”

“I won't let that night ruin you forever." But it did, it broke me into a million pieces and blew them away in the wind, like crumbled leaves.”