Open Road Summer Quotes
"The world doesn’t seem nearly big enough to outrun our problems."
"She’s the only real friend I’ve ever had—the one who comes running even though I’d never admit I need someone by my side."
"I owe Dee for so much, for the pinkie links and kindnesses and phone calls and bail-outs."
"When things went too far in April, and even I knew it, Dee pulled me out and directed me straight into her world."
"This is the currency of friendship, traded over years and miles."
"When you’re on the floor, there’s nowhere farther to fall."
"Hearing Dee work through a new song reminds me of when we were younger, before she even started performing."
"You shoot from the hip with a machine gun."
"It seems crazy to me, that they're both hurting so much by being apart. Seems like they should just be together."
"But it must be nice to have someone love you like that, you know?"
"It's just fun to have conversations that don't revolve around my work."
"You were so teeny when you were born, I could hold you in the crook of one arm."
"Tonight was a series of questionable-at-best choices, but I still feel my mouth forming a small smile."
"We're better. Tyler's wife just had their first baby, so that's been huge for all of us."
"We're saying a lot within the silence: 'We can't' and 'I know' and 'But I want to' and 'Me too'."
"The air smells salty and fresh as I wind my way down the streets. As I pass by each sight, I snap pictures of the Spanish-style homes, the railings painted bright aqua, the leather-skinned man walking a hairless dog."
"The ocean water hits the horizon line right beneath a bed of clouds, and I take a picture, even though I wish I could be here for sunset instead."
"When I’m done, I take my time going up the streets back to the high school. I’m not ready to face reality yet—the reality of at least half the summer left, trying to keep myself from Matt."
"She’s in a large classroom, with all the desks pushed to the back to make room for lighting and assistants. They have Dee in an argyle sweater and pleated skirt, posing in front of a blackboard."
"I’ll give you everything I’ve got, till you’re giving me a shot."
"In the water, I place my hand on my hip and, just to throw him off, I say, 'Enough with the winking. Not gonna happen.'"
"But if I didn’t channel it into somewhere, I’d be going crazy, alone on my tour bus thinking about you."
"It’s the best day I’ve had in a long time—the most carefree I’ve felt since April."
"This is my gut feeling, which I usually defy just for the thrill of it. I never knew the rush that comes with following your gut feeling exactly."
"Hell, it could have been caused by a deep breath."
"It's all happened so fast that I'm always on to the next thing before I have a chance to process."
"If emotional wounds showed up on the body like physical wounds, Dee's dress would be blood-soaked."
"Sometimes I think about flying home, showing up at his doorstep, saying I'll do whatever it takes."
"I'm not sure why, exactly, but she does."
"I'll write crazy songs, and you'll take crazy photos, and we'll start a collection of antique teacups."
"The photograph captured will probably be nothing more than a blur of us."
"I could sink into the Nashville night like a plush lounge chair."
"I'm not the cute little pastry of a girl you bring home to meet your family."
"The world halts, suspending this scene for what feels like a lifetime."
"I'll be Reagan O'Neill, the girl from the bathroom-stall graffiti."
"The clouds looked like a whole kingdom, and I felt as small as I ever have."
"His voice is quiet now. He's not fighting back. He knows he's done."
"I dare myself to go five more minutes without resorting to a cigarette."
"Most complicated things in life are actually pretty simple at the core."
"You’re complicated and hard-shelled and impossible."
"Life is short. And I don’t want to waste my time with anyone who would make me feel... happy enough."
"You’ll just have to go easy on each other at first."
"I know my mistakes like the back of my hand, but I can chart my future by the underside of my wrist."
"We’ll fight with each other—I know that, too—but we’ll also fight for each other."
"It’s the damnedest thing, how you’re most vulnerable to the people you care about most."
"I’m addicted to his confidence and kindness; to his stupid, cheeky comments; to the dimples that show up only when he’s really amused."
"But the mess becomes a map once you know how to use it."
"We’re a mess, too. But it’s still him and still me, and there’s still that feeling of possibility."