Crossed (Matched, #2)

by Ally Condie

And it is strange that absence can feel like presence. A missing so complete that if it were to go away, I would turn around, stunned, to see that the room is empty after all, when before it at least had something, if not him.

Because once you love, it is gone. You love and you cannot call it back.

I don’t fool myself that I hold her together—she does that on her own—but holding her keeps me from flying apart.

You wouldn’t think you can forget but sometimes you can—for a moment or two. I’ve never been able to decide if I think that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Forgetting lets you live without the pain for a moment but remembering hits hard.

This is a cruel thing to do because when someone knows your story they know you. And they can hurt you.

We have all been carved out by our sorrow.