Rainy Day Kid

Gray by Pete Wentz
I absolutely loved it. I expected nothing less from the man who has the best way with words. There are so many lines that I've fallen in love with and have written down to keep them with me. I'll share a few, but first, know that this book is an unconventional love story. One of its subplots is that the narrator is in a band trying to make it big. But the focus is on his destructive, uncontrollable, volatile love with Her. You find yourself shaking your head and facepalming at all their decisions but sympathize because they truly love each other, even if it doesn't seem like it most of the time. Anyway, enough of that. To some of my favorite lines from the book (only a selection of the many I wrote down).
- "My moral compass is spinning next to the magnet that is all of my desire."
- "After a while, when one bounces back and forth between hearts, nothing gets old. You never really have to mean anything to anyone. My intimacy problems are with the world."
- "She's concentrating hard, focused on the stage like a shipwrecked sailor scanning the horizon for rescue. She needs to be saved because she's afraid of what will happen next... I want to let Her know that she can let go of the horizon and sink to the bottom with me."
- "They said goodbye to their dreams a long time ago, they didn't dare stand up against the current of life, and they're content. They're not the ones fantasizing about skipping cell phones off the surface of the river, or thinking about the blood pooling in their wrist, just below a thin layer of skin, just waiting to be taken up into the light."
- "...she thinks I can relate to her troubles. She doesn't know I've always been this way; that I'm just a rainy day kid and have been from the start. Or she doesn't care."
- "I never wanted to be the anchor, I never wanted to pull us down. It seems that's all I'm doing these days."

And lastly, a passage that explains the title of the song "It's Not a Side Effect of the Cocaine. I Am Thinking It Must Be Love."

"Phenylethlamine (PEA), the chemical responsible for the swooning and feelings of adoration, is structurally similar to cocaine. However, when given the chance, many people choose cocaine over love. I wouldn't say that's a bad choice. The endorphins released during infatuation are similar to heroin. OxyContin, "the cuddling hormone," most often found in new mothers and newlyweds, is like ecstasy; every touch tingles. I think I read that somewhere. Love exists in powder. Love exists in pills. We are all addicts."

In my humble opinion, the man is genius. Everything he writes is golden and sacred. To me, at least.