The Truth About Forever

by Sarah Dessen

Shoulda, coulda, woulda. It’s so easy in the past tense.

“It’s not that I believe everything happens for a reason,” she said. “It’s just that . . . I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It’s the universe’s way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It’s how life is.”

For any one of us our forever could end in an hour, or a hundred years from now. You can never know for sure, so you’d better make every second count.”

But it was okay not to fit in everywhere, as long as you did somewhere.

Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, to how it holds you to a place.

Just because someone’s pretty doesn’t mean she’s decent. Or vice versa. I’m not into appearances. I like flaws, I think they make things interesting.”