I knew the answer to thay immediately. It was like swimming under the stars, like sleeping outside, like climbing a tree in the dark and seeing the view. It was scary and safe and peaceful and exciting, all at the same time. It was the way I felt when I was with him. “Like a well-ordered universe.

For the first few weeks after we’d gotten back together, I’d been worried that things might fall apart again, not sure that I was up to being in a real relationship, one with actual stakes and feelings and something to lose.

I know,′ I said, thinking about the trip my mother had wanted me to take, and the trip we’d ended up taking, and how much better ours had been.

But as long as you know your constellations, you’re never lost.

It’s always a risk. Wherever there is great emotion. because there is power in that. And few people handle power well.

I realized there was a piece of me that had been waiting for this to happen ever since we’d become friends – the moment when Sloane would realize I wasn’t cool enough, or daring enough, to be her best friend.

I looked at my brothers, and Linnie, and Rodney, and felt something within me that had been clenched tight start to loosen a little. So maybe I wasn’t just the youngest, the one who didn’t get told things. I was also the one who came to help, who tried to make things work, who they called when they were in trouble.

And I was realizing that it was pretty terrible to be sitting in silence with someone who you always used to have something to say to.

What do you think a Chick-fil-A is?” Roger asked, as we pulled off the interstate and into the parking lot.

It was like she knew a secret, a good one, and if you got close enough, maybe she’ll tell you, too.