even as each minute seems to take an hour, each hour seems to fly by in a minute.

For a second we just stand there in silence. Then, suddenly, Alex is back,
easy and smiling again. “I left a note for you one time. In the Governor’s fist, you
know?”
I left a note for you one time. It’s impossible, too crazy to think about, and I
hear myself repeating, “You left a note for me?”
“I’m pretty sure it said something stupid. Just hi, and a smiley face, and my
name. But then you stopped coming.” He shrugs. “It’s probably still there. The
note, I mean. Probably just a bit of paper pulp by now.

What does it feel like to be infected?"
"I-- I can't describe it." I force the words out. Can't breathe, can't breathe, can't breathe. His skin smells like smoke from a wood fire, like soap, like heaven. I imagine tasting his skin; I imagine biting his lips.
"I want to know." His words are a whisper, barely audible. "I want to know with you.

Sometimes I feel like if you just watch things, just sit still and let the world exist in front of you - sometimes I swear that just for a second time freezes and the world pauses in its tilt. Just for a second. And if you somehow found a way to live in that second, then you would live forever.

I’m Hana,” Hana says. “And this is Lena.” She jabs me with an elbow. I
know I must look like a fish, standing there with my mouth gaping open, but I’m
too outraged to speak. He’s lying. I know he’s the one I saw yesterday, would bet
my life on it.
“Alex. Nice to meet you.” Alex keeps his eyes on me as he and Hana shake
hands. Then he extends a hand to me. “Lena,” he says thoughtfully. “I’ve never
heard that name before.

Nothing has ever been so painful or delicious as being so close to him and being unable to do anything about it: like eating ice cream so fast on a hot day you get a splitting headache.