“... We're just different.""Yeah," I say. "I'm mute and you have verbal diarrhea.”

“When I was in the hospital, Jeremy made a bet. That you would go to the Winter Ball with Clark." "Really?" I smile. "We're just friends." I tell her. She nods. "They're the best kind.”

“You don't have to say yes to everything, you know. It's okay to say no.”

“I just wanted a chance. You know. Like everyone else.”

“I lie in my bed and think about poking something sharp into my skin. To see if it will hurt, to see if I'll bleed, to test whether I'm still alive. I don't though. For one, because moving means effort. Two, because I'm afraid if [I] start bleeding that I won't stop myself from draining all life from my body. Or worse, that I will.”

“I grab a snap pea and bite off the end of it, and then I pick up my glass of milk. I'm overwhelmed by the emptiness in my middle that food won't fill.”

“You belong, Jaz. You’re a human being. Color isn’t what you are.It’s just your shade. You’re beautiful. Inside. Where it counts.”