There is
Griffin
There is
Theo
Griffin is the first love and ex-boyfriend of Theo who died in drowning accident. Theo, Griffin and Wade are best-friends. Theo is an anchor in the group. Without him, things are hopeless between them.
Now I want to kiss him so badly. “It’s perfect.”
I make sure Wade isn’t coming, and I pull Theo by his hand, leading him to the next aisle. But I don’t act on the kiss because I don’t want to rush it or feel like we’re doing it behind Wade’s back.
“We have to tell Wade, dude,” I whisper. “If you want to do it by yourself, that’s cool, but if you want to tell him together, that’s also cool. But we’re not leaving this bookstore until we do so.”
“Deal,” Theo says, squeezing my hand. “What time does the store close again? I—”
“Whoa,” Wade says.
“He is standing at the end of the aisle, holding a tray of iced teas. I jerk my hand out of Theo’s. “Whoa,” he repeats, walking toward us. He’s Theo’s height, but he seems smaller, the way his shoulders sink. He shakes his head and manages a small smile.
“This whole squad business was fun while it lasted.”
That’s not the reaction I was expecting. “What are you talking about?”
“How long have you two been dating? I knew this was going to happen. You guys doubt my psychic ways, but I called this last year. I just didn’t tell anyone.”
I don’t know what I was expecting. But it wasn’t this.
And there is
Jackson
Theo went away to California for college. That's where he met Jackson and seeing him after he broke up with Griffin.
Griffin can't get over Theo. After Theo broke up with him, they stayed as friends. Not because Griffin doesn't care, but because he still wished Theo would come back to him.
Because they shared a history.
Now that Theo is dead, history is all it's left for Griffin.
Griffin;
Then there’s the kind of zombie I’ve become now: the one who has lost everything—his brain, his heart, his light, his direction. He wanders the world, bumping into this, tripping over that, but keeps going and going. That is life after death.
Today I’m the zombie standing in front of your old locker, as if it’s some underground bunker where I’ll find you alive.
But I know better.
You’re dead, and I’m the worst kind of alive.
People are going through their own version of life and we will have no idea of it. It isn't fair to compare each other's hardship while the situation and the way we handle is totally different.
I never liked someone who dwelt on the past. But this book changed me. Maybe we need to let ourselves grief a little some more before we could finally let go.
Should marked as the book that I will read again in the future.
Quotes
People are complicated puzzles, always trying to piece together a complete picture, but sometimes we get it wrong and sometimes we’re left unfinished. Sometimes that’s for the best. Some pieces can’t be forced into a puzzle, or at least they shouldn’t be, because they won’t make sense.
Then there’s the kind of zombie I’ve become now: the one who has lost everything—his brain, his heart, his light, his direction. He wanders the world, bumping into this, tripping over that, but keeps going and going. That is life after death.
We were something, but history isn’t enough to keep something alive forever.