Along for the Ride

More and more lately, I'd been realizing that my life had again shifted, almost reversing itself. I now stayed home at night, studying and sleeping, and was out in the early morning and afternoon, almost like a normal person.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

The night changed things, widening out the scope. What we said to each other, the things we did, they all took on a bigger meaning in the dark. Like time was sped up and slowed down, all at once.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

Don't change for a guy, ever. If they're worthy, they'll like you just the way you are.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

It was nice to be memorable, even in a somewhat embarrassing way.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

Because you were still just hanging on, torturing yourself, thinking he was coming back. And now you have to let go.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

In the end, I went away for the summer, fell in love, and everything changed. It's the oldest story in the world.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

It was terrible and awful when someone left you. You could move on, do the best you could, but an ending was an ending. No matter how many pages of sentences and paragraphs of great stories led up to it, it would always have the last word.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

Lately I've been thinking it would have been better to have just been by myself. That way, at least all of high school wouldn't be tinged with his memory.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

Relationships don't always make sense. Especially from the outside.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

He was the closest thing I'd ever had to something, or someone, that mattered. But in the end, close didn't count. You were either in, or you weren't.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

And now, you can really start to get over him. If you think about it, this is probably the best thing that could have happened.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

Just because we don't see eye to eye on everything doesn't mean we can't be close.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

The last thing I need right now is another reminder of how much of my life I wasted on him.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

We'd had this one night where we really connected…and the next day, I just shut down on him. It was so stupid of me.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride

It was just one boy, that same boy I always started to think about more and more as the hours passed.

—Sarah Dessen in Along for the Ride