I mean, it's not surprising, really. Once you love something, you always love it in some way. You have to. It's, like, part of you for good. Sarah Dessen More Quotes by Sarah Dessen More Quotes From Sarah Dessen Lissa lowered her voice and added, "I might not even go to school anyway. I might defer and join the Peace Corps and go to Africa and shave my head and dig latrines." "Shave your head?" I said, because, really, this was the most ludicrous part of the whole thing. "You? Do you have any idea how ugly most people's bare heads are? They've got all kinds of bumps, Lissa. And you won't know until it's too late and you're flat-out bald. Sarah Dessen voice ideas school I wondered if emotions were like menstrual cycles, if you get enough women together. Give it time, and everyone was crying. Sarah Dessen emotion together giving Maybe we were all destined to just keep doing the same stupid things, over and over again, never really learning a single thing. Sarah Dessen stupid-things destined stupid Oh darling, don't be bitter. It's the first instinct of the weak. Sarah Dessen bitter instinct firsts I'd been through so much, falling short again and again, and only recently had found a place where who I was, right now, was enough. Sarah Dessen enough found fall It's hard to do," I said. Wes looked at me. "What is?" I swallowed, not sure why I'd said this out loud. "Get it right. Sarah Dessen not-sure loud said Life's too short to worry about the little things. Enjoy what you have today, not what you might get tomorrow Sarah Dessen worry littles might How it felt to have the world moving beneath me, a hand gripping mine, knowing if I fell, at least I wouldn't do it alone. Sarah Dessen knowing hands moving Despite our differences, we did have a history. No one understood where I was coming from the way he did. Sarah Dessen understood differences way But it was too early to know: there were always more pages to go, more words to be written, before the story was over. Sarah Dessen pages stories knows But even more so, it reminded me that this was all really happening. Stanford. The end of the summer. The beginning of my real life. It was no longer just creeping up, peeking over the horizon, but instead lingering in plain sight. Sarah Dessen real sight summer Times like this it did seem real I was leaving, and even more that my family, and this life, would go on without me. And again I felt that emptiness rise up, but pushed it away. Still, I lingered there, in the doorway, memorizing the noise. The moment. Tucking it away out of sight, to be remembered when I needed it most. Sarah Dessen leaving real sight Maybe, you just misplaced it, you know? It's been there. But you just haven't been looking in the right spot. Because lost means forever, it's gone. But misplaced... that means it's still around, somewhere. Just not where you thought. Sarah Dessen gone forever mean I drove off, with my friends watching me go, all of them grouped on Lissa's hood. As I pulled onto the road, I glanced into the rearview and saw them: they were waving, hands moving through the air, their voices loud, calling out after me. The square of that mirror was like a frame, holding this picture of them saying good-bye, pushing me forward, before shifting gently out of sight, inch by fluid inch, as I turned away. Sarah Dessen squares mirrors moving I was heading off to my new world. But I was taking a part of my past, and the future, along with me for the ride. Sarah Dessen headings past world Failing sucks. But it's better than the alternative." "Which is?" "Not even trying." Now he did look at me, straight on. "Life's short, you know? Sarah Dessen alternatives trying looks It was kind of soothing, these sounds of lives being lived all around me, for better or for worse. And there I was, in the middle of them all, newly reborn and still waiting for mine to begin. Sarah Dessen kind waiting sound Like a blinking cursor on an empty page, it was just the first thing. The beginning of the beginning. But at least it was done. Sarah Dessen pages done firsts Together, we looked down at the tiny house, the sole thing on this vast, flat surface. Like the only person living on the moon. It could be either lonely or peaceful, depending on how you looked at it. "It's a start," I said. Sarah Dessen lonely moon house If you have just one person believe in you, you'll always find your way Sarah Dessen persons believe way