“I wondered what that was like, to be able to kiss someone you liked any time you wanted. In front of everybody. I would never know what that would be like. Not ever.”

Sitting in a movie theater with Dante, Ari notices a young couple kissing. Considering the growing desire he has to be physically intimate with Dante, Ari cannot help but be envious of the young couple, who can be affectionate with one another in a public setting without fear. The assumption that he will likely never be able to do that with Dante is deeply discouraging.

“Everything was so new. It felt as if I had just been born. This life that I was living now, it was like diving into an ocean when all I had known was a swimming pool.”

Once Ari is openly gay, he experiences a major internal shift. Seeing the world from a new perspective is enlightening for him. Since coming out, his relationships with people have changed, as have his understanding of himself and the world around him.

“I don’t want to write for the world—I just want to write what I’m thinking and the things that matter to me.”

Early in the novel, Ari begins keeping a journal. Though he does not always know what he wants to write, he feels compelled to write down his thoughts and feelings. He recognizes the act of journaling as an opportunity to express himself and begin to unpack his own thoughts and feelings.