Quotes by Jennifer E. Smith

No matter how long it’s been or how far you’ve drifted, no matter how unknowable you might be, there were at least two people in the world whose job it was to see you, to find you, to recognize you and reel you back in. No matter what.

It was his fault, all of it, and yet her hatred for him was the worst kind of love, a tortured longing, a misguided wish that made her heart hammer in her chest. She couldnt ignore the disjointed sensation that they were now two different pieces of two different puzzles, and nothing in the world could make them fit together again.

The important part is that you had someone to stick by you all that time. Even when everything sucked.

There are certain things in life that youll be forgiven for, no matter how thoughtless or stupid or reckless, but if you do that same thing twice, youre on your own.

Its just one more thing she hadnt considered, and as the idea of it settles over her, she realizes again how entwined their lives are. Theyre like two trees whose branches have grown together. Even if you pull them out by the trunks, theyre still going to be twisted and tangled and nearly impossible to separate at the roots.

Just like when youre young and in love, a seven-hour plane ride can seem like a lifetime.

Maybe this was why Owen had been so desperate to travel, why shed longed for it herself without ever really knowing why. It wasnt just that you got to be somewhere else entirely. It was that you got to be someone else entirely, too.

and the boys eyes are searching hers with something like loneliness, like the very last thing he wants is to be left behind right now.

They were just so different, and she kept wondering if hed realize this was a mistake at some point; if, once she stopped being the novelty, the random American, he would recognize who she really was -- a nerdy bookworm, a happy loner -- and move on.

...and it struck her as the truest form of kindness, the most basic sort of love: to be worried about the one who was worrying about you.

Because even this --being so close to her --was no longer the same. That light hed felt when he first saw her --he understood now that it was only a lightbulb. It was quick and easy, full of electricity, but there was something artificial about it. What he wanted was fire: heat and spark and flame.

Just because you painted a house didnt mean the furniture inside was any different. It had to be the same with people.

Here. There. Everywhere. Somewhere. Home.

And the geography of the thing--the geography of them--was completely and hopelessly wrong.

But the crowds are surging around them and her backpack is heavy on her shoulders and the boys eyes are searching hers with something like loneliness , like the very last thing he wants is to be left behind right now. And thats something Hadley can understand, too, and so after a moment she nods in agreement, and he tips the suitcase forward onto its wheels, and they begin to walk.

And being here like this, so suddenly close to him is enough to make her lightheaded. Its a feeling like falling.

She filed those moments away like precious documents, wore them smooth with memory, collected them like bits of prayers.

Childhood memories were like airplane luggage; no matter how far you were traveling or how long you needed them to last, you were only ever allowed two bags

Clares been called a lot of things- smart and funny, driven and talented- but memorable certainly isnt one of them. The most important things about her- the ones shes most proud of- are apparent only once you get to know her.

Someone once told her theres a formula for how long it takes to get over someone, that its half as long as the time youve been together. Hadley has her doubts about how accurate this could possibly be, a calculation so simple for something as complicated as heartbreak.