Love, Simon

"I'm just like you. For the most part, my life is totally normal. My dad was the annoyingly handsome quarterback who married the hot valedictorian. And no, they didn't peak in high school. I have a sister I actually like, not that I'd ever tell her that, and last year, and 200 episodes of Chopped ago, she decided she wanted to be a chef, which means we're pretty much all her test subjects now. And then there's my friends. Two of them I've known since pretty much the beginning of time, or at least kindergarten. One of them, I just met a few months ago, but it feels like I've known her forever. We do everything friends do. We drink way too much iced coffee, watch bad '90 movies and hang out at Waffle House dreaming of college and gorging on carbs. So, like I said, I'm just like you. I have a totally, perfectly normal life. Except I have one huge-ass secret."

"There's a really thin line between laughing with someone and laughing at someone. And you are that line."

"I've been thinking about why I haven't come out yet. Maybe it's because it doesn't seem fair that only gay people have to come out. Why is straight the default? Or maybe it's because I can't be sure this whole "being gay" thing is forever. Or maybe it's that there's not that much of high school left and part of me wants to hold on to who I've always been just a little longer. And then, when I go to college in Los Angeles, I'll be gay and proud, I promise. I'm not sure who I'm promising. I'll keep ruminating."

"Simon means "the one who hears" and Spier means "the one who sees", so you put that all together and pretty sure that means I was just destined to be up in everybody's business."

"I'm gay. And I don't want you guys to think anything different. I'm still me."

"I came out to my entire family on Christmas. It didn't go great. And I've been avoiding my friends the whole break for all sorts of reasons. Change is exhausting. I feel like there's nowhere to hide from all the newness of everything."

"I don't care if you didn't think that my coming out was gonna be a big thing, Martin. Look, you don't get to decide that. I'm supposed to be the one that decides when and where and how and who knows and how I get to say it, that's supposed to be my thing! And you took that away from me."

"Dear students of Creekwood High School, as anyone with a half-decent data plan already knows, a recent post on this very website declared that I was gay. The delivery left something to be desired, but the message is true. I am gay. For a long time, I was killing myself to hide that fact. I had all these reasons. It was unfair that only gay people had to come out. I was sick of change. But the truth is, I was just scared. At first I thought it was just a gay thing. But then I realized, no matter what, announcing who you are to the world is pretty terrifying, because what if the world doesn't like you? So I did whatever I could to keep my secret. I hurt the best, most important people. And I want them to know that I'm sorry. I am done being scared. I'm done living in a world where I don't get to be who I am."

"I know that you've been pretending for so long it's hard to believe you can stop."

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm stuck on a Ferris wheel. One minute I'm on top of the world, and the next I'm at rock bottom. Over and over, all day long, because a lot of my life is great, but nobody knows I'm gay."

"I think I'm the kind of person who is destined to care so much about one person, it nearly kills me."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have something to say that's a little more important than the national anthem. No offense, America."

"Nick Robinson — Simon Spier"

"Kathrine Langford — Leah Burke"

"Alexandra Shipp — Abby Suso"

"Jorge Lendeborg Jr. — Nick Eisner"

"Keiynan Lonsdale - Bram Greenfeld"