“Beneath the conversations and silences and reconnecting intimacy, I tried to reconcile the adult Hardy had become with the boy I had known and longed for. It troubled me to realize they weren't the same...but of course I wasn't the same either.”

“I was a lonely boy. I spent all my time reading books and watching the world. [some] tried to draw me out at first, but their hearts weren't in it. And after all, they had enough troubles of their own.”

“As I walked back to civilization, I realized that for the first time in the six months I had known Curran, we had managed to have a conversation and part ways without wanting to kill each other. I found that fact deeply troubling.”

“The incredible blue of his eyes and the intensity with which zeroed in on me made my heart jolt, made me feel as if I were on an elevator that had suddenly dropped beneath me. All I could do was stare at him, surprised. Of course the character of Helena would have acted the same way. I wasn't acting but I looked like I was”

“I've learned to write the truth. But to do that, I had to figure out what the truth was-and I had to realize that the truth isn't always the same for everyone. I had to realize that my truth may not be the same as your truth.”

“There was just a moment when things weren't quite the same, weren't quite as they had always been through the long friendship”