Reputation

by Sara Shepard

I feel the same as I always do—like we are distant islands, not really familiar to one another anymore.

We loved each other, sure, but marital love is complicated, whereas love between parent and child is pure.

People are assholes, but sometimes in gossip there’s a kernel of the truth.”

The past shapes much of why that is, but it’s also that I’ve been such a loner for so long, I’m more comfortable doing things by myself. When I’m alone, I don’t need to be anyone I’m not. I don’t need to search for things to say. I don’t need to have to anticipate reactions—or, in the worst-case scenario, be caught off guard by total changes in character.

And sometimes it doesn’t make much sense who you fall in love with.

“People can grow. They can become better versions of themselves. You just have to be bold sometimes; you just have to get up and shake yourself off and be like, Okay, I’m going to do this even though it goes against every ounce of who I think I am. Because I want to try.

keep picturing the strange, angry man in the woods, trying to configure him with someone Kit could love. It just goes to show there are so many sides to a person. It’s always so hard to know whom to trust.

It’s easier not to be a burden. It’s easier for everyone not to know. Then, everyone would know.

I guess appearances can be deceiving.

The thing that matters most is standing up for the people we love.

Maybe the best reputation is no reputation. Maybe it’s best not to care whatsoever how people see you. Maybe the only thing that really matters is how you see yourself.