“The reason you’re being treated so badly is because you don’t belong in Mimbeye. As long as you’re there, you’ll experience pain. If you want to escape it, you should come where you belong.”

“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.”

“You’ll get over being mad at me.”“Not likely.”Step, step, step—“I promise not to gloat about it when you do.”“I won’t.”Step, step, step—“Because I want to be with you so badly I don’t care if you’re screaming at me the whole time as long as I’m with you.”I stop dead in my tracks.”

“Is it so bad being directed if you like where you’re headed?”

“Are you really going to catch us and take us back to Esther? We don’t belong to her, you know.” Embarrassed, Victor stared at his shoes. “Well, children all have to belong to somebody,” he muttered. “Do you belong to someone?”“That’s different.”“Because you’re a grown-up?”

“But what I can do is paint you a picture of what you’ll never see when you’re with a guy who’s really into you: You’ll never see you staring maniacally at your phone, willing it to ring. You’ll never see you ruining an evening with friends because you’re calling for your messages every fifteen seconds. You’ll never see you hating yourself for calling him when you know you shouldn’t have. What you will see is you being treated so well that no phone antics will be necessary. You’ll be too busy being adored.”