I will never get over this book.

the perks of being a wallflower.
stephen chbosky.

August 25, 1991
"Dear Friend,
I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have. Please don't try to figure out who she is because then you might figure out who I am, and I really don't want you to do that.
I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn't try to sleep with people even if they could have.
I need to know that these people exist."

"My dad said, "There are other people who have it a lot worse."

October 28, 1991

"Sam then climbed in the back of the pickup, wearing nothing but her dance dress. She told Patrick to drive, and he got this smile on his face. I guess they had done this before.
Patrick started driving really fast, and just before we got to the tunnel, Sam stood up, and the wind turned her dress into ocean waves. When we hit the tunnel, all the sound got scooped up into a vacuum, and it was replaced by a song on the tape player. A beautiful song called "Landslide." When we got out of the tunnel, Sam screamed this really fun scream, and there it was. Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. Sam sat down and started laughing. Patrick started laughing. I started laughing.
And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.

November 15, 1991
"My dad had glory days once. I've seen pictures of him when he was young. He was a very handsome man. I don't know any other way to put it. He looked like all old pictures look. Old pictures look very rugged and young, and the people in the photographs always seem a lot happier than you are."...

"I just hope I remember to tell my kids that they are as happy as I look in my old photographs. And I hope that they believe me."

December 21, 1991
"It was an old 45 record that had the Beatles' song "Something." I used to listen to it all the time when I was little and thinking about grown-up things. I would go to my bedroom window and stare at my reflection in the glass and the trees behind it and just listen to the song for hours. I decided then that when I met someone I thought was as beautiful as the song, I should give it to the person. And I didn't mean beautiful on the outside. I meant beautiful in all ways..."

December 30, 1991
"I remember when I was just about to say good-bye to my Aunt Helen, I started crying. It was a real kind of crying, too. Not the panicky type, which I do a lot. And I made Aunt Helen a promise to only cry about important things because I would hate to think that crying as much as I do would make crying to Aunt Helen less than it is."

January 14, 1991
"I feel like a big faker because I've been putting my life back together, and nobody knows."

March 28, 1992
"My sister said that people who try to control situations all the time are afraid that if they don't, nothing will work out the way they want..."

April 29, 1992
"But because things change. And friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody."


May 2, 1992
"When you find a penny, it's only "lucky" if it's heads-up. He says the best thing to do is find a lucky penny when you're with someone and give the other person the good luck."

June 2, 1992
"I would die for you, but I won't live for you."

June 22, 1992
""Charlie, I don't want to be somebody's crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don't want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don't like, I'll tell them."
She was starting to cry a little, but she wasn't sad..."

August 23, 1992
"And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn't do or what they didn't know. I don't know. I guess there could always be someone to blame..."

"So I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them, but even if we don't have the power to choose where we came from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."

"Even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad."

"So, if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are good with me, and even when they're not, they will be soon enough.

And I will believe the same about you.

Love always,

Charlie"