“If my heart were a compass, you'd be North.”

“Traveling at night toward the stars, I thought yet again how very far away they were, and how you could travel your whole lifetime and never reach even the closest one. But even if you knew you couldn’t have something, it didn’t stop you wanting it. I wondered if Kate was to be my star, and I’d spend my life gazing upon her but never reaching her.”

“Beyond the lake, over the mountains, the clouds were illuminated from within by a brilliant stutter of lightning, and in that split second Elizabeth and I were etched against the sky.”

“You two were in a cave together?’ said Miss Simpkins in horror.‘Yes,’ said Kate, ‘and it was very, very dark.”

“I felt like I was seeing Shannon through a new lens, undistracted by Jennifer's nuclear glow. I could see how pretty she really was, how kind her eyes were.”

“Why do you need to fly so much?” she asked.“If I don’t, it’ll catch up with me.” The words just came out.“What will?”I took my hands from my face, panting. I stared out at the storm.“Unhappiness.”

“We all knew no respectable physician would remove my fingers just for the asking, and we had no time anyway.”