“For two hours I'd felt myself stretching tighter and tighter, like a rubber band pulled to the point of snapping. And now, I could feel the smaller, weaker part of myself beginning to fray, tiny bits giving way before the big break.”

“Some people were like rubber bands--willing to stretch but eager to snap back into place at the first opportunity.”

“I'd like to thank myself, and congratulate myself, and give myself a big pat on the back.”

“My hands were gripping his arms, pulling myself tighter to him, my mouth glued to his and answering every unspoken question his asked.”

“So what?" I challenged, pulling the quilt tighter around myself. “All you're telling me is I won't betray my friends or family. If that's a weakness, it's one I want.”

“But this was how I'd always been... finite in my capacity for tolerating simple day-to-day contact. I could handle it just fine, all the way up to the point that I couldn't anymore, as if I existed on a tether, and not a particularly long one, finding myself able to wonder only so far into the territory of another human being before snapping back into myself. ”