“I will not be someone who abandons my principles as soon as they become inconvenient. I will not be someone who says that certain things have to be done… as long as somebody else does them.”

“I knew what he was saying, and I wished to God he was someone else, someone who didn't have to say things out loud.”

“I wanted what most people wanted—love, companionship.I wanted someone to touch. I wanted someone to touch me back.I wanted someone to laugh with, someone who would laugh with me, laugh at me.I wanted someone who looked and sawme . Not my power, not my position.I wanted someone to say my name. To call out, “Merit,” when it was time to go, or when we arrived.Someone who wanted to say to someone else, with pride, “I’m here with her. With Merit.”I wanted all those things. Indivisibly.But I didn’t want them from Morgan.”

“Have you ever noticed' I said 'how everyone says they want to be different, but as soon as they meet someone who really is different, they ostracize them?”

“I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance.”

“But who have the ability to know what will fit into a new individual? And who can say to someone else what happiness looks like, who can say what someone else wants to be?”