“"Charlie?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Do you think I'm pretty?"
"I think you're very pretty."
"Really?"
"Really."
Then, she held on to me a little tighter, and for the next half hour,
Mary Elizabeth didn't talk at all. All I could do was lie there and
think about how much her voice changed when she asked me if
she was pretty, a n d h o w m u c h s h e c h a n g e d w h e n I a n s w e r e d .”