“It wasn't like I was some expert on the meaning of being supportive. Was it being loyal even against your better judgement? Or, like Olivia, was it making your displeasure known from the start, even when someone didn't want to hear it?”

“Eventually, it wasn't even your dad I wanted, just anybody. Anybody at all.”

“It wasn't about being happy or unhappy. I just didn't want to be me anymore.”

“Because you can never go from going out to being friends, just like that. It's a lie. It's just something that people say they'll do to take the permanence out of a breakup. And someone always takes it to mean more than it does, and then is hurt even more when, inevitably, said ‘friendly' relationship is still a major step down from the previous relationship, and it's like breaking up all over again. But messier.”

“That was the thing about being on the inside: the world was just going on, even when it seemed like time for you had stopped for good.”

“It was like discovering that some part of you wasn't yours at all. And it made me wonder what else I couldn't claim.”

“Being nice wasn't as easy as it seemed especially when the rest of the world could be so mean”