61
" Okay," I said, "what's your biggest fear?"
As always, he took a second to think about the answer.
"Clowns," he said.
"Clowns."
"Yup."
I just looked at him.
"What?" he said, glancing over at me.
"That is not a real answer," I told him.
"Says who?"
"Says me. I meant a real fear, like of failure, of death, of regret. Like that. Something that keeps you awake nights, questioning your very existence."
He thought for a second. "Clowns. "
― Sarah Dessen , The Truth About Forever
69
" You," I said, "have this whole tall, dark stranger thing going on. Not to mention the tortured artist bit."
"Bit?"
"You know what I mean."
He shook his head, clearly discounting this description. "And you," he said, "have that whole blonde, cool and collected, perfect smart girl thing going on."
"You're the boy all the girls want to rebel with," I said.
"You," he replied, "are the unattainable girl in the homeroom who never gives a guy the time of the day."
There was a blast of music from inside, a thump of bass beat, then quiet again.
"I'm not perfect," I said. "Not even close."
"I'm not tortured. Unless you count this conversation. "
― Sarah Dessen , The Truth About Forever
73
" Then," Kristy continued,nodding at her,"life was very short,literally.But now that I'm better,it seems so long I have to squint to see even the edges of it. It's all in the view,Macy.That's what I mean about forever,too.For any one of us our forever could end in an hour,or a hundred years from now.You can never know for sure,so you'd better make every second count. "
― Sarah Dessen , The Truth About Forever
77
" Okay,' he said. He took a breath. 'What would you do, if you could do anything?'
I took a step toward him, closing the space between us. 'This,' I said. And then I kissed him.
Kissed him. There, in the middle of the street, as the world went on around us. Behind me, I knew Jason was still waiting for an explanation, my sister was still lecturing, and that angel still had her eyes skyward, waiting to fly. As for me, I was just trying to get it right, whatever that meant. But now I finally felt I was on my way. Everyone had a forever, but given a choice, this would be mine. The one that began in this moment, with Wes, in a kiss that took my breath away, then gave it back- leaving me astounded, amazed, and most of all, alive. "
― Sarah Dessen , The Truth About Forever