“Hi Clara. I thought you would need someone to walk with today, so here I am.” Sorin, her friend that lived in the trailer park around the corner beamed at her from the sidewalk. Maybe not the best looking, but he was a sweet boy, and someone that Clara considered a friend. And like her, he didn't fit in at school either. His strange obsession with science fiction books and obscure poetry may have been the catalyst for that reputation.”

“Hey Clara-Bell, how’s it going? Are you going to eat that?” Using his stupid pet name, he pointed at the vomit-like mass called peach cobbler.“No, you can have it. You like to eat more than me.” “What can I say? I’m a growing boy with a hollow leg.”

“I have to confess I’ve crushed on you since the sixth grade.” Sorin traced the edges of her face with soft fingers.“Good for you; I just figured out that I have a crush on you.”

“Quaint stone cottages lined the cobblestone streets, and an immense ocean lay to the far right, dozens of pirate-like ships riding its gentle waves. In the distance, a castle towered up to touch the blue-gray sky, its tallest spears hiding in the misty cloud cover. Paradise.Sorin stood up beside Clara.“What is this place?” “It’s where I belong.”

“A great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Ben wasn’t what I wanted or needed. I wanted someone who knew me, the real me. I needed the person who knew all my secrets and fears. I wanted a person who lived and fought passionately. I wanted my best friend.”

“Right then, hearing the tears that had to be falling from her beautiful brown eyes, I wanted nothing more than to take each piece and put it back together again until she was whole. I had to do it. I had to for her and for me. Maybe if Emily can be restored and healed, then maybe, just maybe, so could I.”

“His ears reached for the sky in a fight to see which one could be the most pointed.”