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Only two grays left alive in the city Right here, right now And there wasn’t anything I could do to stop this

It wasn’t supposed to end like this Carly was supposed to get her soul back And StephenStephen was supposed to be one hundred percent evil so I didn’t care if he lived or died

But I cared

"Talk to er and kneeled in front ofed "The energy froht it would be, but I guess it makes sense" I cried out as another wave of pain descended I could feel the branching linesover my skin

Close--very close now I’d chosen this and it was the right thing to do

Still, I was so scared My bravery only went so far

"Darowled "Why did you do this? Why did you want to sacrifice yourself like this?"

I knew the answer to this one It was a test I definitely wouldn’t fail

It was so me how unnatural I was Hoanted How unloved

That was exactly how I’d felt for ages, ever since my parents separated My father barely eirlfriend to spareabandoned, just like I felt abandoned byso hard at her job that she was barely around They made me feel like they’d never wanted me

But I no they adopted ical child That meant they wanted me--me, in particular

And my father didn’t stay in touch lately because the last tiain

Funny hoe forget that every story has two sides, even when one of those sides is our own

Myto keep busy while nursing a broken heart My father hadn’t abandoned ot over s of betrayal about the choices he’d made to try to find his own happiness

But they still loved

I’d never realized how lucky I was

Until now

"Why, Saain "Why sacrifice yourself?"

For faht of For movies about zombies, especially the really bad ones For sunrises and sunsets For the possibility of acing a test and going toa writer or so equally awesome For my mother’s ability to order Chinese food like a chas hoping they ht turn into princes

For real love--the kind that lasted forever