“What question?" I ask, breathless."Whether you're as beautiful in the morning as you are during the rest of the day.”

“You want to go out?" he asks suddenly.I blink. "As in a date?""Yes. That's what a guy usually means when he asks that question.”

“I won't leave you! Do you know how unbearable it's been without you? You're not like the rest of them." His hand swipes through air almost savagely. I stare at him, my eyes wide and aching. "You're not some well-trained puppy content to go along with what you're told. You have fire." He laughs brokenly. "I don't mean literally, although there is that. There's something in you, Jacinda. You're the only thing real for me there, the only thing remotely interesting.”

“But you're worried I'll get in trouble?" I try not to show how much this pleases me. I've managed to ignore him for days now and here I sit. Lapping up his attention like a neglected puppy. My voice takes on an edge. "Why do you care? I've ignored you for days."His smile fades. He looks serious, mockingly so. "Yeah. You got to stop that.”

“What good is safety if you're dead inside?”

“I will never see him again. Never know why he let me go. Never learn if he really whispered what I think he did. Beautiful.”

“Because I know what it feels like to be used, valued only for what you can do... not who you are, not who you want to be.”