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1 " Our coating, our shell, our packaging—however you want to think of it—is the first thing we see when we wake up. It’s the first thing we bring into every interaction. People look. Judge. A split-second determination is made that can and does impact who we are and what people make of us. Being who you are starts with the physical. "
― Gregg Olsen , The Hive
2 " Social media owned the promotion of anything worth doing. Or, apparently, worth dying for. "
3 " Beauty is more than a skin-deep issue. Our outer covering is our calling card. In order to feel great, to do great things, we need to understand that undeniable truth. Everything I’ve ever done has been to help others in a world that judges them every second of the day. "
4 " couples, Lindsay had heard from too many sources, the RV life was hardly a vacation. They had to cook with mini appliances and clean tables that morphed into beds. The men mostly sat around and drank beer and poked at campfires with sticks they’d whittled to spear a marshmallow or hot dog. Even as Lindsay pulled onto "
5 " Shutting up and just blinking at them is like giving them an information Heimlich,” he’d said. “Be patient, and they’ll cough it up all over you.” Sure enough, Dina hacked it up. "
6 " Watanabe "
7 " I should have gotten a dog. "
8 " somewhat sad mill city north of Seattle that seemed always on a futile hunt for a lasting jolt of optimism. "
9 " Nobody gets paid what they think they’re worth. "
10 " Down the back stairs, to the door, where she stood quietly, listening. Not a single sound other than the ticking she was sure was her heart. She pressed numbers for the lock securing the door—the factory-issued numbers that were supposed to have been temporary: one, two, three, four. She turned the handle, flipped on the lights, and studied the cavernous space. She released a sigh of relief. Nothing had changed. She’d worried that records would have all been scanned by then—that what she needed had been committed to a data file somewhere and would be retrievable only by someone with a computer science degree. Maybe a hacker. But not her. She’d never learned those skills. "
11 " Greta worked her way toward the back, skipping past racks and stacks of records marked with the year. One after another. It was as if she were going back in time, getting younger as she went and heading toward the girl she’d been back then. Young. Impressionable. A follower. The spark of memories made her shake her head. She’d come so far since then. "
12 " She was bitter toward her parents, estranged from her sisters, and simply marinated in negativity. It was as if she felt some deep hatred of her fate and was too weak to fight against the middleness that was consuming her. "
13 " Truly gifted predators—those born to it—just know. "