“A couple of words is all it'll take to make everything in my life Before and After.” — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
“So our crew is back to being all girls, and stays that way for the rest of lunch. The only other guy who’d sit… — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
“Sure, sure. No rush, no pressure. It’s entirely up to you, Cooper.” People always say that but it doesn’t feel true. About anything.” — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
“The first seven years of the Joshua tree's life, it's just a vertical stem. No branches," she told me while we were hiking. "It takes years before it blossoms. And every branching stem stops growing after it blossoms, so you've got this complex system of dead areas and new growth." I used to think about that, sometimes, when I wondered… — Karen M. McManus Copy Share
“She cocks her head at me and adds, "I don't need your commentary if you disagree, by the way." I hold up my hands.… — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
“You don’t think about what’s outside. Or who. Especially if she’s better off forgetting you exist.” — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
“I don't know why it's so hard for people to admit that sometimes they're just assholes who screw up because they don't expect to… — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
“I let myself out and climb onto my bike, putting on my helmet. As soon as it’s clipped tight I push up the kickstand and I’m pedaling hard down Jake’s driveway. Once my heart finds a comfortable pounding rhythm, I remember how it almost beat out of my chest when I confessed to cheating on Jake. I’d never felt so… — Karen M. McManus Copy Share
“Jake still won’t talk to me, and I miss him so much, it’s like I’ve been hollowed out by a nuclear blast and there’s nothing left but ashes fluttering inside brittle bones. I’ve sent him dozens of texts that aren’t only unanswered; they’re unread. He unfriended me on Facebook and unfollowed me on Instagram and Snapchat. He’s pretending I don’t… — Karen M. McManus Copy Share
“That's the kind of person you can get away with killing: someone everybody else wants dead.” — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
“No matter how awful the rest of my life is, my hair still manages to look good.” — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
“You're not going to wither up and die from this, Addy," Ashton lectures me as she shoves me toward the shower. "He doesn't get… — Karen M. McManus Copy Share Image
