I never know what people are thinking. It's like visiting a country where you don't speak the language and you're trying so hard to understand but no matter how many times you ask for juice, they keep bringing you milk.

All I wanted was to show you that I've changed. That I'm not the same person I was in college." She sounds defeated."Well, guess what? You haven't changed all that much. You're still the same girl I fell in love with at twenty-two. And here's a newsflash: I like that girl and always have, and I never once said I wanted her to change.

It's hard to see at first because it's dark, but there's a cardboard box, and in it are a cat and five small kittens. I don't have any pets, and if I had to choose, I'd probably consider myself a dog person. But I can't deny how cute the kittens are. The love Annika feels for these tiny animals transforms her face, and I'm reminded of how protective and nurturing she can be.

As the words tumble from her mouth, she looks down at her shoes, over my shoulder, toward the barista. Anywhere but at me. I don't mind. Annika's mannerisms are like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes, and though I feel bad admitting it, even to myself, her nervousness has always made me feel at ease.

Though she has trouble deciphering other people's facial expressions, her face is an open book and no one would ever have trouble understanding hers. I've always wondered if she exaggerates them to help people understand what she's thinking, the way she wishes they would for her. I find it endearing.

I'd spent the preceding twenty days swirling in a paralyzing vortex of loud sounds and bad smells, overwhelming stimuli, and confusing social norms, and I'd had just about all I could take.

He had the whitest teeth I'd ever seen, which made me think his kisses would taste like Pep O Mint Life Savers. Joe's kisses probably tasted like pot and Funyuns. And failure.

Jonathan made concessions for me, and I didn't need Janice to tell me that. He kept me away from loud noises before they could overwhelm me. He was always kind- to people, to animals, to strangers. He made me feel special and smart.

He seemed calmer, but he kept bringing up all the times I'd said or done the wrong thing. It made me feel like crying. But then I remembered that no one can make me feel inferior without my consent.""Did Janice tell you that?""Eleanor Roosevelt did. But Janice is the one who gave me a whole book of her quotes, and I memorized all of them. I also really like the one that says 'A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.

The constant vigilance and my heightened anxiety that I'd screw it up anyway exhausted me, but I persevered.