Forever,” I echo, and for the first time, I know that forever is a promise I can keep. I will love her forever, until the world crumbles and this memory is the only thing keeping me sane.

I am only a child, too innocent to realize that there is no salvation without darkness, no triumph that doesn’t carry the seeds of its own destruction bouncing in its pocket.

Most people assumed Aaron was gay just because he was on the cheerleading squad. I, on the other hand, assumed a guy who would endure severe social stigma in the name of getting his hands under a bunch of girls’ skirts when he lifted them into the air was probably pervier than your average bear.

Maybe the mind of the majority is always the healthy mind, simply by virtue of its numbers.

The only thing scarier than feeling so alone is fearing you’ll always feel that way, that no one will ever see you for all the things you are, and the things you’re afraid to be, and the person you want so desperately to become.

Beauty is wherever you find it, and Beast is there when you need to defend it.

In love? You’re crazy, and even if you weren’t, you’re too young to get married.

I am always alone, pretending to be someone else or lost in a vast emptiness. I miss life. I miss conversation and laughter and shared joy and hurt. I miss dancing and painting. I miss waking up to a day with no evil in it – at least, none that I can see.

God, I love you,” I whisper, and come crashing back into my body with a suddenness that makes me gasp. I don’t know what’s more shocking – that I’ve called on the god I don’t believe in, or that the lie I told felt so much like the truth.

I’ll be a girl... pretending to be a boy... pretending to be a girl. The thought alone is enough to make me dizzy.