“Once more, we were to start anew in the world. I was afraid they would come back for me if they realized that their devices were faulty, so I played their game. I pretended to forget New Haven. I pretended to forget my friends. I even pretended to forget Chase. Most importantly, I pretended that I couldn’t feel the emotions of those around me or bend the laws of gravity with my mind.”

“I realized then that it was a game we were playing; from the very beginning. But we weren’t playing the same game and when it came down to it, he wasn’t playing by the rules.”

“I could feel it then like I feel it now, like a palpable thing inside me, like a physical touch; what we shared was not accidental and nothing close to normal. It was not imagined or fabricated out of loneliness or the conditions under which we were brought to New Haven. It was given to us, meant only for us. It was a gift much like the "special gifts" that brought us to New Haven.”

“As we flew down the highway I started to think seriously about what I was doing and what would happen. I felt Beau’s hand slide over mine, holding my hands tighter to his chest. It was then I realized that I didn’t care what was going to happen. I didn’t care that we had just left everything I knew or that we’d committed grand theft auto. It didn’t feel wrong to me. I felt like those moments were what life was all about; seizing the ones that make you feel alive and never letting go.”

“The downside of feeling again was that, along with compassion for others came the full realization of my feelings for Beau. I truly surrendered to my love for him; I let him in completely. It was the one thing that could hurt me if it went badly and it was the one thing I couldn’t stop.”

“His voice was terrifying and seemed to scrape across my skin as if it were a tangible thing. Something inside me agreed, as if it were even possible to give something like that. I didn’t even really believe in a soul, but in that moment I could feel it writhing inside me.”

“I don’t remember my life before being brought to New Haven.”