Sometimes, she has nothing to say. Only it's not nothing--it's never nothing. She always has something to say, feelings to express. It's just that there are days when he looks at her a certain way, or they aren't speaking, or her mother is in the hospital and she's scared. On those days, she knows what she wants to say, but not how to say it. The words are lost on her, descriptions she's been comfortable using for years gone with the wind. She hates these days. Being inarticulate is something she has never struggled with, so when the malady strikes her, it's more crippling than any sickness. What's worse is ...

Sometimes he's amazed at how fast the people in his life seem to change. One minute he knows clearly who his best friends are and what each of them wants to do with their futures, and the next he is floundering to find any semblance of the knowledge he possessed what feels like seconds ago. Everyone is altering their plans and behaving differently and he isn't sure how to handle the changes because he's always been a really steady guy. His plans are his plans because he can't seem to consider any other options, even when he tries. He makes a point of exploring other avenues, other hobbies, other people, ...

This is how she loves herself. She cuts her hair and eats too little and digs her thumbnails into her hips until she can feel the bones. She watches porn and worships Barbie and spends too much money on clothes. She loves herself by being the perfect picture of what society wants her to be and she spends her mornings, noons, and nights walking on heels that make her feet bleed. She loves herself by being with men who like that she's a little bit fragile. She opens her legs and lets them in and comes back again even when they beat her. She does not speak unless spoken to ...

When it ends, he tries his best not to think about her. It's impossible to avoid, especially after she permeated so much of his life for so long, but he does remarkably well at coping with her insistent presence even after they stop making an effort to be near each other. He doesn't talk about her, tries not to think about her, and gives all of her stuff back early so that he isn't tempted by anything. Facebook becomes a chore because he can't go through his photos without finding hundreds of her, and he unfollows her on Twitter but still sees friends mentioning her in @replies all the time. ...