“LoveMy soul was a light-blue gown, sky-coloured;I left it on a cliff by the seaand naked I came to you, resembling a woman.And like a woman I sat at your tableand drank a toast with wine and breathed in the scent of several roses.You found me beautiful, resembling something you'd seen dreaming,I forgot everything, I forgot my childhood and my homeland,I knew only that your caresses held me captive.And, smiling, you took up a mirror and bade me look.I saw that my shoulders were made of dust and crumbled away,I saw that my beauty was sick and had no desire other than to - disappear.Oh, hold me close in your arms, so tightly that I need nothing.”

“All my life, since I came to the Institute, you were the mirror of my soul. I saw the good in me in you. In your eyes alone I found grace. When you are gone from me, who will see me like that?”

“I knew that last glimpse of his face would haunt me until I saw him smile again.And right there I vowed that I would see him smile, and soon. I would find a way to keep my friend.Edward kept his arm tight around my waist, holding me close. That was the only thing that held the tears inside my eyes.”

“You turned your head to look at me. Your eyes looked so big in your face, so mysterious — wide and flickering like a butterfly-wing mask. When you saw me the wails turned to sobs, and then just quieter heaves of your body. I held out my finger through the bars. Then you reached out and curled your fingers around mine, so tight. I knew you recognized me. That was the first time I knew I had a heart inside my body.”

“Even though I was drunk as a skunk at the time, I still remembered what happened after that. Less than two seconds later he was inside me and I was waving good-bye to my virginity. I wanted it to last forever. I saw stars, came three times that night and it was the most beautiful experience of my life. Yeah right. Are you kidding me? Have you lost your virginity lately? It hurts like a mother effer and it's awkward and messy. Anyone that tells you she had anything even close to resembling an orgasm during the actual event itself is a lying sack of sh*t. The only stars I saw were the ones behind my eyelids as I squeezed them shut and waited for it to be over.”

“I wanted to cry because I needed you there with me so bad. I knew in that moment that I was in love with you. I was in love with the way you loved me. When you wrapped your arms around me and held me, I knew that no matter what happened with my life, you were my home. You stole the biggest piece of my heart that night.”