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At any other point in our lives, Ian co to Italy with me would have made perfect sense He’d always been my partner in adventure When ere in elee spots around the neighborhood to surprise me with Once we’d snuck into an abandoned shed full ofcomic books, and another day he’d boosted me up into a massive oak tree littered with initials

"Field trips," Ian called theot older, we stuck with the tradition, driver’s licenses extending our possibilities We’d been on one just three weeks earlier

"Field trip time" As usual, Ian hadn’t bothered to knock He’d just burst intopast me atMom’s coworker will be here in an hour, and ill be at dinner," I said, doingmy sheets dirty"

I hadn’t actually turned around yet, so this was based entirely on speculation But I knew Ian Instead of showering and changing like a norht out of practice the second it was over The muddy upholstery of our shared car was a testament to that

I scribbled out e in my notebook It offended my very essence to be enrolled in suy, and o-around would be a good idea

Ian flopped around dras squeak "Mo dinner for our i"

"SAC?" I spun around, n me up for that" SAC was a new and desperate atteressive (read: rin, the one that took over his whole face and letwas about to happen "Don’t worry I did not sign you up for that Although if Mo"

I letto oing to recruit the school’s ‘oogly eyes at you when she said it" I placedstar of perfection Save us fro face "Please, please, please, can we not talk about football? I’ll be in the car" He ju a roaned, looking at his irabbedafter Ian never felt like a choice--it was like sleeping or brushing my teeth It was just what I did

The Cliffs of Moher

Every tioes to Ireland and doesn’t stop at the Cliffs of Moher, a banshee loses her voice That’s right, sweet pea, a banshee We are in Ireland after all Shrieky ghosts abound And as your tour guide and now friend, I’o to Ireland and not see the cliffs They’re nonnegotiable Required reading They are the entire point

Here’s why The cliffs are gorgeous Breath-stealing, really But not in the soft, endearing way of a sunset or a wobbly new laeous--one of those raw, te awed and scared at the sa a particularly brutal thunderstore, and peace all packed up into one stunning package

I studied the cliffs for years before I figured out their secret--the thing that takes the: they’re beautiful because they contradict the cliffs A roiling sea rages against a serene sky Visitors stand around in a combined state of reverence and exuberance Before the cliffs I knew that beauty could be delightful and inspiring After the cliffs I knew that it could also be stark and miserable