Cammie McGovern Quotes

The real problem with his type of OCD
chronic fear of hurting other people
was that you thought so much about not running over children, not sideswiping pedestrians, not poisoning strangers with germs on your hands
essentially not killing a world full of strangers
that you ended up hurting the people you loved most. He saw that now.

What's a strapless bra?" he finally asked.
"LIKE A TOURNIQUET FOR YOUR CHEST."
"Can you breathe if you're wearing it?"
"BARELY

It used to be she didn't get dressed a lot of days. Now she comes out of her room most mornings dressed like she's ready to go. She still doesn't go anywhere, but the important part is, she could.

You have to know things like: don't spend the whole time talking about yourself. I used to have a problem with this because silence makes me nervous and I fill it with whatever is in my head...

What you do if you fall in love with a character in a movie is decide what you like about that person and start looking for those qualities in a real person you know from life.

This feeling will pass. The fear is real but the danger is not.

Oh God, this is my fantasy! Where those just-friend boys suddenly realize they love me.'
'I don't know if this was like that.'
'What happened?'
He thought for a moment. 'Well. I realized I loved her.'
Hannah gasped. 'Oh God, that's so sweet.

Let's don't wait forever for our lives to start. Let's begin them ourselves. Let's be fearless for once and say, we can do this.

I've decided that it is possible to love someone for entirely selfless reasons, for all of their flaws and weaknesses,and still not succeed in having them love you back

I've decided that it's possible to love someone for entirely selfless reasons, for all of their flaws and weaknesses, and still not succeed in having them love you back. It's sad, perhaps, but not tragic, unless you dwell forever in the pursuit of their elusive affections.

It surprised me because she put it as well (or better) than I could have and made a simple point she didn't even intend: being disabled wasn't the main thing about her.

Freakishness could happen to anyone at any time.

You don't have to date me, just don't date her. Please, as your friend, I'm begging you not to date someone who doesn't appreciate you.

It was about acceptance, he thought. About realizing no one is perfect and no one can expect to change someone else. Which

that love is a feeling. You don't always kiss people you love. 'Sometimes you just love them,

YOUR FEAR MAY SEEM REAL BUT THE DANGER IS NOT. YOU'RE SAFE. YOU'RE ALL RIGHT. YOU'RE HAVING A PANIC ATTACK.

This is what we do, my mother's life said. We find ourselves in the sacrifices we make.

After that, a strange thing happened: Amy couldn't stop her expectations from rising. She imagined herself transformed and beautiful, like Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink, with her homemade dress and mysterious lace boots. She pictured her hair in an upsweep of loose curls. In the fantasy, her prom face looked like the one she only wore asleep, loose and relaxed. She imagined a photographer asking her to smile and, for the first time in her life, being able to do it.

WHY DID YOU TELL PEOPLE MY ESSAY WASN'T TRUE?"

"I don't know," he said, breaking out in a sweat. "Because I don't believe it. I don't believe anyone could be so well adjusted."

She typed. "WHY NOT?"

"You said you look at your friends' lives and feel like your own is better, which is fine, except that you don't have any friends."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?"

"I sit behind you. I notice things."

"WHAT KIND OF THINGS?"

"It's not your fault that you don't have any friends. You always have an aide with you. No one is going to be themselves when there's a teacher standing right there. Plus, you talked about parties and dances, but I don't think you've even been to any, so how would you know what you're not sorry to be missing?"

He kept going. He started saying too much, telling her all the things he'd noticed - that she never said hi to other kids, that she never answered questions when people asked her things before class. "I'm not pretending I'm Mr. Popularity or anything. I'm just saying you've got this whole message that doesn't seem believable. To me, anyway."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SAYING THIS."

Her facial expressions were impossible to read. He couldn't tell how mad she was. Probably pretty mad. "I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have said anything. It's none of my business. Like, none at all. I don't know why I just said all that. I had this theory that you're trying

JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO SCARED TO TAKE ANY RISKS DOESN'T MEAN THE REST OF US SHOULD BE.

It was electrifying the way he watched her so carefully that he forgot himself.

There isn't any one big test or way to validate ourselves in the world. There's just a long, quiet process of finding our place in it

I just slipped into my mother's office to look at the names of my new peer helpers, and I'm so happy! Your name is on the list! I thought maybe I'd scared you by coming right out and asking you to apply. I realize it's an unusual setup, but try not to think of it as my parents offering to pay people to be my friend. I know there's something unsettling and prideless in that. I prefer to think of it this way: my parents are paying people to pretend to be my friend. This will be much closer to the truth, I suspect, and I have no problem with this. I'm guessing that a lot of people in high school are only pretending to be friends, right? It'll be a start, I figure.

I have learned that some people who look fine are more crippled than I am, by fears they can't explain. Other people are held back by shyness, or anger. In making friends, I see the way some people handicap themselves. I believe there are choices each of us make every single day. We can dwell on our limitations or we can push ourselves past them.

According to Sarah, who had gone two years ago, prom was famous for being an overpriced disappointment where most people had no fun.