Erica O'Rourke

People fail each other all the time, Mo, and they forgive each other, and start again. It's a question of knowing the other person's limitations. Knowing what's fair to expect of them. Knowing what's fair for them to expect of you.

Justice is about making them pay for [her] pain. Revenge is making them pay for yours.

People spot a big black lens, and they worry about what they're doing, or how their hair looks. Nobody see the person holding the camera.

You're jealous," I said. His face went cold and remote, and I knew I should shut up, but my humiliation had been festering since the game, turning to anger, thick and oily in my veins. I couldn't stop myself. it was leaking out, contaminating everything, poisoning the one good thing I had left. "You're jealous because I actually go after what I want, and I get it.

Given a choice, it seems like pity would be easier to bear than mockery, but that's not true. Mockery hardens defenses; pity slips through, finds the softest places you have, and slices to the bone. Pity will break you, every time.