cassiesullivan:

He pulled my hand into his, and a little voice rose up from deep inside: Ben. That little voice belonged to the frizzy-haired-middle-schooler who refused to die, the freckly-nosed, introverted-know-it-all, self-conscious and awkward despite dance lessons and karate lessons and pep talks from her parents, toting around a bulging bag of secrets, the silly, mundane, melodramatic secrets of adolescence that would shock the popular, pretty kids, if only they knew.