Quotes Analysis from What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

“The strangest thing about all of this was that, before, in my old life, I hadn't been any of these things: not a student leader or an actress or an athlete. There, I was just average, normal, unremarkable. Just Mclean”. This is a good start for Mclean, she could be anything she wants but somehow she chooses to be herself. None of Mclean's new personas really match up with who she was before the divorce, maybe now she is starting to move on and become herself again.

“This was my mother as I liked to remember her, hair in a sloppy ponytail, wearing cheap sunglasses and smelling of sunscreen and salt. She read terrible romance novels during the day (her guiltiest of pleasures), and at night, sat with me on the rickety chairs outside our room and pointed out constellations.” The imagery reveals how Mclean remembers her beach trips with her mom, she also remembers each and everyone like it was yesterday. She is trying to see her mom as Katie Sweet, not Katherine Hamilton.

"Parking! I did it for the parking," Opal told him. "But when I brought that up today, she totally ran a muddle on me about it. She started in about community responsibility and civic pride…” This quote is important because it shows that Opal has a huge heart. Mclean's dad wants her to put all of her time into the restaurant and her paying job, but she is putting so much time into volunteering and helping the community by making the people of Lakeview happy and even allowing them to use the restaurant as a place to do community service.

“Two a.m.' He swallowed, then said, "You know. The person you can call at two a.m. and, no matter what, you can count on them. Even if they're asleep or it's cold or you need to be bailed out of jail...they'll come for you. It's like, the highest level of friendship.” The character here (Mclean) feels alone in the world. She does not have someone she can call at two am. At this moment Mclean knows living the life she is living she will never even be able to have a best friend because she moves around so much and that makes her feel scared and alone.

"He didn't take me away." My voice was rising now. She'd fumbled around, poking and prodding, and now she'd found it, that one button that could not be unpushed. I'd changed? Please. "That was my choice. You made choices, to. Remember?" The tone here is hostile, Mclean finally confronts her mom on why she’s avoiding her. Mclean is still hurt from her mom ruining their family. “I sighed, then bounced the ball once, squaring my shoulders. Other than that random Boomerang a few weeks ago, I hadn't had my hands on a basketball in years. But that morning had been all about doing things I had never planned to do again, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.” The author seems to feel that going forward means overcoming your fears. Mclean needs to move past her parent’s divorce and start living and enjoying life again. One way for Mclean to do that is for her to start seeing basketball as something positive, not the sport that ripped her family apart.

“Here, though, it was different. We'd come in the same way, but since then everything had changed, from me using my real name to my dad starting to date even with no next move in sight. Add in the fact that I was actually on decent terms with my mom, and this was officially an entirely new ball game.” The setting gives the effect of exploration because both Mclean and her dad are stepping outside of their comfort zone in Lakeview. They've been moving and working for so long that they needed a reminder that they are human and they need to live, enjoy life, and have fun. Both Mclean and her dad are making friends and Mclean is finally having full and not awkward conversations with her mom.

“It had been weird, I had to admit, to be having such a, well, pleasant conversation with my mom. Like once again, the beach had somehow become a safe place for us to be together, separate from the conflict of her house or this one.” Here Mclean feels relieved, she hasn't talked to her mom without anger for a while, she is starting to move on and move past the divorce. Now they can make attempts to start communicating normally again.

"But I get the feeling you're in a hurry, leaving and all, so I figured I should cut to the chase." Something I notice is that Dave is asking Mclean out even though he knows that she will most likely be leaving soon, but he takes his chances and asks her out anyway. He is trying to start over just like Mclean and live his life to the fullest.

“I loved being able to finish out the year at Jackson. For once, I was really part of a class, able to partake in rituals like senior skip day and yearbook distribution, my time at a school ending when everyone else's did.” This reminds me of my cousin who was moving across the country but was allowed to stay with my grandma so he could finish his eighth-grade year and go to the dance and say his final goodbye to his friends and teachers. Just like Mclean, he was able to participate in all of the traditions with his friends and classmates.