“She's still beautiful. Not in an obvious Vanessa LeGrande or Byrn Shraeder kind of way. In a quiet way that's always been devastating to me.”

“I force my eyes upward and look at Mia for the first time. She's still beautiful. Not in an obvious Vanessa LeGrande or Bryn Shraeder kind of way. In a quiet way that's always been devastating to me. Her hair, long and dark, is down now, swimming damply against her bare shoulders, which are still milky white and covered with the constellation of freckles that I used to kiss. The scar on her left shoulder, the one that used to be an angry red weld is silvery pink now. Almost like the latest rage in tattoo accessories. Almost pretty.”

“She was beautiful, in the quiet way that lonely, unnoticed people are beautiful to those who notice them.”

“That's so her. You know, torn between Big Ideas and a party. She's always been that way.”

“That's the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they've been all along.”

“But then we have to leave, have to. It's always been that way, and it will always be that way, Jane. That's just.. how it works”