If you didn't love him, this never would have happened. But you did. And accepting that love and everything that followed it is part of letting it go. Sarah Dessen More Quotes by Sarah Dessen More Quotes From Sarah Dessen It was becoming clear to me that I shouldn't bother to get too attached to anything. Turn your back and you lose it. Just like that. Sarah Dessen clear becoming bother But it was important to simply be sought, even if you didn‟t ever want to be found. Sarah Dessen important found want but accepting help doesn‟t have to mean giving up control. Sarah Dessen giving-up helping mean I just stood there, looking at her. My head was spinning, my mouth dry, and all I could think about was that I wanted to go someplace safe, someplace I could be alone and okay, and that this was impossible. My old life had changed and my new one was still in progress, altering by the second. There was nothing, nothing to depend on. And why was I surprised? Sarah Dessen progress dry thinking Maybe other writers have perfect first drafts, but I am not one of them. I always try to get the book as tight as I can, but you reach a point as the author where you have lost all Sarah Dessen perspective perfect book I was so thrilled that I was having a girl, because I just am so girly myself, but I think the teenage years are going to be very interesting. Sarah Dessen teenage girl thinking None of it meant anything, and all of it was important. Sarah Dessen important It's nice to have options even if you can't take them. Sarah Dessen nice ifs It's a great compliment that people think they're fast reads. It's always funny to me because it takes so long to get a book (written) -- for me, it's never quick. Sarah Dessen long book thinking During the long stretches of quiet two-lane highway, with the sun setting in the distance, it was somehow easier to say things aloud, and regardless of what was said, we just kept moving toward that horizon. Sarah Dessen distance two moving I am never happy when I finish a book. I always start feeling good, and then I get to about Page 75 and start losing momentum - and I kind of pull it together at the end, but by then I think it's just all over. It's become almost a running joke among my agent and my editor - I always say that, so they don't take me seriously anymore. Sarah Dessen writing running book I write thank-you notes the minute I throw the wrapping paper away. Sarah Dessen wrapping-paper notes writing The kind who live for music and are constantly seeking it out, anywhere they can. Who can't imagine a life without it. They're enlightened. Sarah Dessen enlightened imagine kind You're not supposed to have it all figured out in high school. If you knew it all, and it was the best, it's all downhill from there. Sarah Dessen high-school ifs school No," I snapped. "I mean, no. I'm answering. I'm just collecting my response." Another few seconds passed. Is there a time limit for this?" he asked. I shot him a look. "Just wondering. Sarah Dessen limits mean looks There was no way to take the story back, folding it neatly into the place I'd kept it all this time. No matter what else happened, from here on out, I would always remember Wes, because with this telling, he'd become part of that story, of my story, too. Sarah Dessen matter stories way Once, she'd been a pro at decompressing, loved to sit on the back deck of the beach house in one of our splintery Adirondack chairs for hours at a time, staring at the ocean. She never had a book or the paper or anything else to distract her. Just the horizon, but it kept her attention, her gaze unwavering. Maybe it was the absence of thought that she loved about being out there, the world narrowing to just the pounding of the waves as the water moved in and out. Sarah Dessen ocean beach book When he first put his arms around me, it was tentative, like maybe he expected I'd pull away. When I didn't, he moved in closer, his hands smoothing over my shoulders, and in my mind I saw myself retreating a million times when people tried to do this same thing: my sister or my mother, pulling back and into myself, tucking everything out of sight, where only I knew where to find it. This time, though, I gave in. I let Wes pull me against him, pressing my head against his chest, where I could feel his heart beating, steady and true. Sarah Dessen mother sight heart Sure, there was no guarantee any of these things would actually happen as he envisioned. But maybe that wasn‟t the point.It was the planning that counted, whether it ever came to fruition or not. Sarah Dessen fruition planning guarantees I sat up, sliding them off, and the quiet around me did not, for once, seem empty and vast. Instead, for the first time in a while, it felt like it already was full. Sarah Dessen empty quiet firsts