Crunch Time!

It feels wonderful going to bed at the time I want, especially after reading a short story on a Friday night. Being surrounded by college students sets up this standard that if I don't go out or drink on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I'm some kind of a loser. But I've never felt as good, as I do right now, after a night out.

For a moment I want to rip Lisa's hair from her head. I want to punch something. I want to hurt somebody. And I think I can understand Dad, the need to crush something you want that you can't hang on to, something that hurts you so bad. But I hear Dana sobbing and it's some pain that goes from the top of my skull down to the sole of my feet. I realize I gotta get out, 'cause I ain't got nothing to do but get out.

...
So once I ask Dana, What makes a saint a saint. She thinks about it for a while, fingering her chin, touching her forehead with two fingers like it's a fortune cookie and it might crack if you want to read what's inside. Then she says, It's faith.
Faith?
And she goes, Yeah. Faith. Hope. Belief. They believe so hard they make things happen.
And then they're saints?
And then they're saints, she says.

-Laura Valeri