The Girl He Used to Know

by Tracey Garvis Graves

Probably because no one has ever loved me as fiercely and unconditionally as she did.

It’s funny how the very trait that attracts you to someone is the same trait you can’t stand when you’re untangling yourselves from each other. And not funny ha-ha. Funny like how in the world could you not have seen it?

“Changing how you deal with something is not the same thing as changing who you are as a person.

“Our collections are like our gardens and we go through them looking for damaged or outdated books. I take my cart and pull off a big section to make sure the selection is something my patrons would like.

Then I told Ryan I didn’t like the way he treated me and the only time he was actually nice was when he wanted to have sex.”

“It’s like everyone around you has a copy of the script of life, but no one gave it to you so you have to go in blind and hope you can muddle your way through. And you’ll be wrong most of the time.”

“The only thing I’ll regret is passing up another opportunity to find out if we have what it takes to go the distance. I thought we were going to build a life together after college, but you changed your mind. Don’t you think it’s time we talked about it? Because if you’re going to avoid the hard stuff, no matter how unpleasant the memories, I’m not sure how we’re going to do this. And I want to do this. Very much. Do you?”