"Lollipops turn into cigarettes. The innocent ones turn into sluts. Homework goes in the trash. Mobile phones are being used in class. Detention becomes a suspension. Soda becomes vodka. Bikes become cars. Kisses turn into sex.

Remember when getting high meant swinging on the playground? When protection meant wearing a helmet? When the worst thing you could get from boys were cooties? Mom was your hero? Your worst enemies were your siblings. Race issues were about who ran the fastest. War was only a card game. & the only drug you knew was cough medicine. When wearing the shortest skirts didn’t make you a slut. The most pain you felt was when you skinned your knees, & goodbyes only meant until tomorrow?

But when we grow up, everything changes.

I miss that feeling when you go to sleep at night & when you wake up in the morning. It’s the feeling that everything is alright in the world. You know, that amazing feeling when you’re whole, that you’ve got everything you want, that you aren’t missing anything. Sometimes when I wake up, I get it for a moment. It lasts a few seconds, but then I remember what happened, & how nothing has been the same since.

Oh, Love isn’t there to make us happy. I believe it exists to show us how much we can endure. From every wound there’s a scar, & every scar tells a story. I was deeply wounded. Everything around me seems so temporary right now. In fact, all these while… I’m as empty, barely filled at all…"

“The hurt began to fade & it was easier to just let go. At least I thought it was. But in every boy I met in the next few years, I found myself looking for you, & when the feelings got too strong I’d write you another letter. But I never sent them, in fear of what I might find. By then, you’d gone on with your life & I didn’t want to think about you loving someone else. I wanted to remember us like we were that summer. I didn’t want to ever forget that.” – Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook