Sarah Dessen: Something

“Don't be a fool. Don't give up something important to hold onto someone who can't even say they love you.”

“Sometimes, we just have to be happy with what people can offer us. Even if it's not what we want, at least it's something.”

“I have to admit, an unrequited love is so much better than a real one. I mean, it's perfect… As long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential.”

“I just thought to my self, all of a sudden, that we had something in common. A natural chemistry, if you will. And I had a feeling that something big was going to happen. To both of us. That we were, in fact, meant to be together.”

“Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.”

“But if something was really important, fate made sure it somehow came back to you and gave you another chance.”

“Family isn’t something that’s supposed to be static, or set. People marry in, divorce out. They’re born, they die. It’s always evolving, turning into something else.”

“Like a word on a page that you’ve printed and read a million times, that suddenly looks strange or wrong, foreign. And you feel scared for a second, like you’ve lost something, even if you’re not sure what it is.”

“There's just something obvious about emptiness, even when you try to convince yourself otherwise.”

“If something doesn't work exactly right, or maybe needs some special treatment, you don't just throw it away. Everything can't be fully operational all the time. Sometimes, we need to have the patience to give something the little nudge it needs.”

“He was the closest thing I'd ever had to something, or someone, that mattered. But in the end, close didn't count. You were either in, or you weren't.”

“Who says there has to be a point?" He asked. "Or a reason. Maybe it's just something you have to do.”

“Total commitment," I said. "You know, the idea of discovering something that, for all intents and purposes, goes against your abilities, and yet still deciding to do it anyway. That takes guts, you know?”

“That's not a real answer.'
Says who?'
Says me. I mean real fear, like of failure, of death, of regret. Like that. Something that keeps you awake nights, questioning your very existence.'
Clowns.”

“It was like that part of my life, was just gone. It was almost too easy, for something I once thought had meant everything.”

“How weird was it that so many bits and pieces, all diverse, could make something whole. Something with potential. 'Perfect.”

“And no relationship is perfect, ever. There are always some ways you have to bend, to compromise, to give something up in order to gain something greater.”

“When you had to do something, you had to do it. And eventually, if you were lucky, you did it well.”

“Yeah. I mean, acknowledging is easy. Something happened or it didn't. But understanding… that's where things get sticky.”