“Hmmm. What you’re saying is that you’ve never been kissed?” He picked at a string on the blanket under us.” — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I could’ve gone on and on but the truth was all that mattered. “My brother died because someone was jealous.” — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“What I know about you, Henry,” he said. “Is that you, as big as you are, know how to walk gently on… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Wyatt told me once that if tenderness were a disease, I’d be terminal.” — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I smiled at him. Not even Wyatt would have known how to be this honorable when talking about a girl that had… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I get that. For you, it’s more than following a bunch of rules—no sex, no booze, no swear words, pray every night… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“He’d had to fold his long legs into his desk. His boots had seen better days, and his jeans unraveled in a… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Thanet is having a moment,” I said, leaning forward so Quinn could see him. “What’s wrong, man?” Quinn said. “Were you not… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Camus and Henry waved to me from that muddy truck. They both wanted me to get over myself. So, this was me,… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Uncommon anxiety came to us in common hours when other people were doing mundane things like taking out the trash or checking… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“With a damp palm, I turned the knob and cracked open the door. She was asleep in her freshly made bed. I… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“In my mind, I saw a string stretching from Henry’s heart at Quiet Waters to my heart. It was taut and it… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Grayson noticed me next to the lockers. He pointed at me then held his arms out magnanimously. “You’re welcome, new girl,” he… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I found I could only glance at him for tiny moments and then I had to look away. He was perfect enough… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Here’s what I learned about life when we were going through that. We’re all human and mortal. We’re all going to suffer… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I couldn’t stop crying because it was so intimate, in that way I always thought being physical with him would feel. If… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“We bumped into other silent lines of kids going in the same direction. We looked like we were much younger and our… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Here was what I wanted to happen when I walked through the door after my first real date and my first ever… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“We formed an impromptu circle just so we could look at each other and memorize faces. We hardly noticed the waiting officials.… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“When Dad was in the middle of a description of the hotel’s laundry facility, I interrupted. “Why haven’t you told me today,… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I’m not sure about all the particulars that led to this moment. Do I believe life is a series of dots to… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Okay, news flash. Jealousy is not something I enjoy. I hadn’t felt it much before. But I’d also never been in love.… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I’d felt this before, when my granddad was in the hospital before he died. We all camped out in the waiting room,… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Every moment of our lives we make choices. Most we don’t even know we’re making, they’re so dull or routine or automatic.… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I recognized Meg’s swirly handwriting and crooked my index finger into the side of the envelope to rip it open. There was… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I thought back to Meg’s advice about Hemingway sentences—simple declarative statements that showed the truth and distilled the meaning. My first attempt… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Hearing my brother’s words coming out of Henry, this stranger in a strange town, made me feel wild with all the loss—wild… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“My mom told me once that Wyatt loved her the way a boy will love his mother, but I loved her the… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“He leaned toward me and said his name like he was sharing a secret and it made me think he probably kept… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“You look incredible, Kavanagh,” Quinn whispered close to my ear. “Are you trying to kill me?” “Ssshhh,” I hissed. “They’re going to… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Wait,” Quinn said. “There’s one more thing.” I turned around and raised an eyebrow. His eyes were wary and he lacked his… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“On the best nights, he’d appear outside the bookstore window and wait for me to unlock the door. He usually hadn’t had… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“The ice cold fear I’d felt, not knowing if Wyatt was alive, pressed into the wall with other girls and surrounded by… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“It was about how men walk into a forest afraid because they know all the things that can happen. They might wake… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Most kids grow sullen and angry when they’re working through issues, but Thanet mustered up another kind of bull-headed strength. The kind… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Quit worrying so much about the boards and nails of your life. Focus on the stuff that lasts.” He glanced through the… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Then let me be your mercy,” he said. “I’ll never be able to give you smart answers about why we suffer, but… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I’d known cruelty in a school—cruelty that would keep these amateurs up all night. But this kind of scene—crowds batting around a… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I finally understood why so much monkey business happened in the backs of buses. Put us in close proximity, with wheels spinning… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“But I understood, now, that we don’t live only for ourselves. We’re connected by millions of shared experiences and dreams and nightmares,… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
