"When I’m running, there’s always this split second when the pain is ripping through me and I can hardly breathe and all I see is color and blur—and in that split second, right as the pain crests, and becomes too much, and there’s a whiteness going through me, I see something to my left, a flicker of color […]—and I know then, too, that if I only turn my head he’ll be there, laughing, watching me, and holding out his arms. I don’t ever turn my head to look, of course. But one day I will. One day I will, and he’ll be back, and everything will be okay. And until then: I run."

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Source: Lauren Oliver (2015). “The Lauren Oliver Collection: Before I Fall, Panic, Vanishing Girls”, p.7, HarperCollins

About the author

Lauren Oliver

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Lauren Oliver is a bestselling author known for her young adult novels, particularly 'Before I Fall' and 'Panic', which explore themes of love and loss.

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