Blood Is A Strange Color. It's Darker

Oh, Are We At The Insult Part Of The Breakup?" She Says. "because I Got In A Lot Of Practice After What Happened With Will. I Have Several Choice Things To Say About Her Nose.

Noise And Activity Are The Refuges Of The Bereaved And The Guilty.

I Tell Myself, As Sternly As Possible, That Is How Things Work Here. We Do Dangerous Things And People Die. People Die, And We Move On To The Next Dangerous Thing. The Sooner That Lesson Sinks In, The Better Chance I Have At Surviving Initiation.

When I Get Home, I Sit On The Front Step And Take Deep Breaths Of The Cool Spring Air For A Few Minutes. My Mother Was The One Who Taught Me To Steal Moments Like Those, Moments Of Freedom, Though She Didn't Now It. I Watched Her... But I Learned Something Else From Watching Her Too, Which Is That The Free Moments Always Have To End.

How Can You Fail A Test You Aren't Allowed To Prepare For?