Far from the Tree

The older she got, the more human her parents seemed, and that was one of the scariest things in the world. She missed being little, when they were the all-knowing gods of her world, but at the same time, seeing them as human made it easier to see herself that way, too.

That’s what parents do. They catch you before you fall. That’s what family is.

Don't you get it? That's what happens when you love someone: they're brave when you can't be! I can be brave--for you, for both of us!

It took us fifteen years to find each other, but we still did! And sometimes, family hurts each other. But after that's done you bandage each other up, and you move on. Together. You've got us now, like it or not, and we've got you.

Content in the knowledge that no matter what happened with your parents, or your girlfriend, that your siblings will still be there, like a bookend that keeps you upright when you feel like toppling over.

words could shatter harder than a glass breaking against a wall, hurt more than a fist plowing through teeth.

nothing was worse than someone wanting you to talk when the words you needed to say hadn’t even been invented yet.

Maya was crying and she couldn't say anything, not because she didn't know what to say, but because there was too much of it.

Joaquin shook his head. "Look, you two are my sisters, right? You're my family. I won't hurt you like that." "Oh, for fuck's sake!" Maya suddenly screamed, and they both turned around to see her still standing next to the car, hand on hips. "That's exactly what family is, Joaquin!" Maya shouted at him. "It means that no matter where you go, no matter how far you run, you're still a part of me and Grace and we're still a part of you, too! Look at us! It took us fifteen years to find each other, but we still did! And sometimes, family hurts each other. But after that's done you bandage each other up, and you move on. Together. So you can go and think that you're some lone wolf, but you're not! You've got us now, like it or not, and we've got you. So get in this fucking car and let's go!

But the truth was far deeper. The truth was every single color in a rainbow spectrum, and Maya didn’t have the words to say what she felt. So she didn’t say anything. It was just easier that way.

He thought it was ironic that everyone was trying so hard to leave home, when all he wanted to do was stay in one.

I love you," Lauren whispered. "Even when you act like a brat sometimes." "And I love you, even when you call me a brat.

boys who get girls pregnant are heroes and girls who get pregnant are sluts.

how goes it? Rafe asked. it goes, Grace wrote back. you scared? terrified. it'll be okay. everything always works out. She wasn't sure if that was true or not, but she was glad that at least one person thought so.

I know you don’t believe it now, I know you might not ever believe it, but Mark and Linda are like those training wheels, too. What you described? That’s what parents do. They catch you before you fall. That’s what family is.

Well, if they don't like you, then the unfortunate fact is that you're related to idiots. I'm sorry. A lot of us are, though. You're in good company.

She got in line behind a woman who was paying with a check. A check. Grace wondered if the woman’s cart and oxen were double-parked outside.

Because I already have one sister, Lauren? She’s like their miracle baby—they had her right after me, oh joy—and sometimes she’s crazy annoying and I was like, ‘Another one? I don’t know about this.’ But then they told me about you, too? And I was like, ‘Get. Out.’ I mean, it’s like insta-family, right? Just add water. Like sea monkeys.

Lauren was good at it, being able to say whatever was on her mind so that people could understand, but for Maya, it was like describing colors: the sunset pinks and reds of first love, the stormy blues that clouded her brain when she was hurt or angry.

Maya's eyes grew wide, and Grace finally saw the little-sister potential in her. She could imagine Maya toddling after her, annoying her, pulling her hair and borrowing her clothes without asking first. She didn't tell Maya about all the people she'd talked to on the phone, trying to follow a seventeen-year-old trail of bread crumbs that had mostly blown to the wind and taken Joaquin with them. She didn't mention that some people had been rude, others had been so helpful that it made Grace's heart hurt, that Joaquin's family tree seemed to have way too many scraggly branches and not enough roots, not the kind of roots you would need when the storm was strong.

We've got all the time in the world." They didn't, of course. Grace chose to believe Rafe anyway, as they sat together, lying in wait at the edge of the world.

You can be scared!” Birdie was still shouting. “Don’t you get it? That’s what happens when you love someone: they’re brave when you can’t be! I can be brave—for you, for both of us!

(At Mark and Linda’s, Joaquin had adapted to eating vegetables at every meal. Broccoli and spinach were fine; brussels sprouts were death, even when they were cooked in butter.)

Maya thought that if everyone had to die eventually, this wouldn't be the worst way to go, with the sun on your face and your head in the lap of someone you loved.

The problem with power, though, is that having it doesn't always make you a good person. Sometimes, it makes you the bad guy.

Maya had never realized how much power there was in loving someone. At first, she thought it was a source of strength, but now she was realizing that, in the wrong hands, on the wrong day, that power was strong enough to destroy the very thing that had built it.

Peach was born at 9:03 p.m. on homecoming night, right when Max was being crowned homecoming king because, Grace thought bitterly, boys who get girls pregnant are heroes and girls who get pregnant are sluts.

Maybe she just wants you. Pictures are the past, that's all. Maybe you're her future.