The Rest of the Story

by Sarah Dessen

But everything is welcome until you can’t stop,

“It’s a lot, all this new information,” I said. “I’m honestly having some trouble keeping up.” “Well, then you need to start asking people their five sentences.” I raised my eyebrows. “Their what?” “It’s a lake thing,” he explained. “The basic idea is that since you meet a ton of people at the beginning of every summer, everyone has to condense their bio down to the main ideas. Thus, five sentences.” “Right,” I said slowly. “What’s yours?”

Maybe there was a middle ground between living too hard and living at all.

Part of grieving is letting go of the past. But how can you let go if you never knew it in the first place?”

“You come back anytime, you hear? To Mimi’s or the Station or even here. We’ll be waiting.”

We’re blood. It’s messy. But we don’t need goodbyes, because we’re going to be stuck with each other forever. That’s what family is.”

“Who wants a relationship?” he asked. Me, I thought, surprising myself. But not with someone who’s been given everything. How could you value something if you never fought for it?

“I’m kind of in this, now,” he pointed out. “Yeah, but you don’t have to be,” she said. “I mean, you don’t have to save everyone just because you lost your dad.”

It’s like watching paint dry, but more frustrating.”