“Eyes bloodshot, I want to say. Eating a lot of Cheetos. Staring into space. Eating moreCheetos. It must be love. What else could it possibly be?”

“I notice you, I want to say. Even when no one else does, I do. I will.”

“I have never wanted a lover. In order to have a lover, I must go back to the root of the word. For I have never wanted a lover, but I have always wanted to love, and to be loved.”

“I love you,” she says.“I love you,” I say.And then we hang up, because nothing else needs to be said after that.I want to give Zara her life back. Even if I feel I deserve something like this, I don’t deserve it at her expense.”

“As long as we can conjure, who needs anything else? As long as we can agree on the magical lie and be happy, what more is there to ask for?“I loved you from that moment on,” I say.“I loved you from that moment on,” you agree.”

“Danger comes in many forms, I suppose. For some people, it might be jumping off a bridge or climbing impossible moutains. For others, it could be a tawdry love affair or telling off a mean-looking bus driver because he doesn't like to stop for noisy teenagers. It could be cheating at cards or eating a peanut even though you're allergic. For me, danger might be getting out from the protective cloak of my family and venturing into the world more of my own, even though I don't know what- or who- awaits me.”

“you know, how people say it's good luck if a bird shits on you? and people believe it! i just want to grab them and say, 'dude, don't you realize this whole superstition was made up because no one could think of anything else good to say to a person who'd just been shit upon?”