Carrie Jones

“In Norwegian that would be 'hun ma dra. Kanskje er hun gravid.'" Astley sttempts to smile.i can't help teasing him. "Which? Asking to go to the bathroom or dissing me because I'm pregnant.""you are with child?" his eyes open wid, all mock terrified."No! Shut up. You know I'm not." I punch him in the arm and then lead him into the stairwell, shutting the door behind us. "Okay. Seriously, Astley, what happened to you? Why is your head bleeding?”

“Phone service is back up and Devyn calls Issie, and then leaves to bring her over. Gram calls Mrs. Nix, the school secretary."She's a bear," Betty exclaims after she hangs up the phone. "I trust her."I don't even blink.”

“You're following me," I finally say. "Why?""Because I'm trying to reclaim what's mine.""I'm not yours.""You are.You always have been.You always will be.""That's crap.""Is it? Look inside youself, Zara. I think you'll find what's true.""I don't know what's true anymore. But I know you're starting to sound like a bad ripoff of Darth Vader in an old Star Wars movie. And I know you're trying to hurt me."He shakes his head and listens to air. "Never.""Which part? The Darth thing or the hurting thing?""Both.”

“He takes a pick out of it and starts cleaning his nails."Nice intimidation tactic," I say. "Very textbook. I'd expect something more original from pixies.”

“You're perfect,aren't you?""I am a werewolf," he says between bites. He bends his head."That just gives you a totally good excuse for your pathetic temper."He wiggles his eyebrows. "True.”

“Oh my God! Issie's a bunny, isn't she? Do they have those? Do they have werebunnies?""Big leap there,Zare." Nick cracks up. He shakes with laughter.I pout. "She'd be a good bunny.""True.But it's not her.It's Devyn.""Devyn? Devyn is cute and normal."He scrapes at the bottom of the hash pan. His voice comes out dead calm. "He's an eagle.""Oh.Okay.I am not going to freak out about this, but let me say that I am surprised.""Because he's in a wheelchair?""No! Because he's a bird.”

“Take her home."Nick fake salutes. "Sir,yes sir.""Sarcasm doesn't become you,Colt," Coach Walsh says,but he smiles when he says it, so obviously he is only mad at me,not superboy Nick Colt,beloved of coaches everywhere. If I were a guy he would let me run tomorrow.”

“He motions to the glue brush. "Can I have some?"I start to grab it so I can pass it to him. He reaches for it at the same time. Our fingers touch, and the moment they do the fluorescent lights overhead flicker and then fizzle out.Everyone moans, even though we can all still see. There's enough light from the outside filtering in, just not enough for us to really focus on the finer details.Nick's fingers stroke mine lightly, so lightly that I'm almost not sure the touch is real. My insides flicker like the art room lights. They do not, however, fizzle. I turn my head to look him in the eye.He leans over and whispers, "It will be hard to be just your friend."The lights come back on."Just a little brownout." The art teacher smiles and holds out her arms. "Welcome to Maine, Zara. Land of a million power failures."Nick's breath touches my ear. "I heard you didn't drive to school. I'll bring you home after cross-country,okay?""Okay," I say, trying to be all calm, but what I really want to do is leap up and do a happy dance all over the art room. Nick is driving me home.”

“Thank you for getting me," I try to say. My lips are so tired they don't want to move."Anytime,Zara.Really.I mean it." He seems to be smelling my hair."I know you hate me and everything but we should be friends," I tell him, closing my eyes."I don't hate you," he says. "That's not it at all.""What is it then? Are you a victim of parthenophobia?""Parthenophobia?""Fear of girls.""You are so strange." He moves back even closer to me, this wicked glint in his eyes like he's trying hard not to snort-laugh at me. His hand presses against the side of my head. Nobody has ever touched me like this before, all gentle and romantic, but strong at the same time. "I'm not afraid of girls.""Then why haven't you kissed any?"For a second his eyes flash. "Maybe the right one hasn't come around yet.”

“Nick laughs. Dimples crinkle up the skin near his lips.I will not look at his lips. How can he never have used those? That's a crime against humanity right there.”

“Maybe he wants you to be his queen," Devyn saids. "Continue the line.""That's crap," Nick says."Yeah." I glare at him. "Why would anyone want me to be their queen?""That's not what I meant." The front legs of Nick's chair slam back down.”

“I swear,if she were a cat she'd be hissing.”

“That is Nick Colt, otherwise known as bad news.”

“I turn back to the lake, stare at the ice slowly moving on the surface of the water. Pieces of the solid fall into the liquid, but it's all just water no matter what its form.”

“People are always looking into the dark. We're afraid of what we might see. It might be the dark outside, it might be the dark of our own souls, but I figure it's better to get caught looking that to never know.”

“ Her arms quiver from holding the bowl. She must truly love him to hold that bowl for so very long. There must be something isdeof him that is worthy of that kindness”

“I whirl around, stare into his grimy,grief-stricken face. His face is beautiful and so good. How could I have believed he'd betray us?”

“ His lips,his soft and amazing lips, touch mine and the world spins with a different kind of magic. This kind isn't evil or hard, but lovely and wild, and I melt into it. He melts into it too, I can tell. I can feel how much he loves me just but the touch of his lips. And it is a good love, a really good love.”

“ Opening my eyes takes effort, but it's worth it to see him, right there in front of me. He's so beautiful,golden. It's so hokey, but it's how he is. He is warmth to me.”

“ And this time Zara White," he says, " this time it is my turn to rescue you." - Astley”

“Okay, little car, you are protesting roads. They are death traps for animals. They are environmentally unsound impervious surfaces that cause runoff. I understand this. But could we protest in the summer?”

“If you don't believe something, then don't say it. Saying it only gives it power. ~Betty White”

“Sometimes, there are monsters inside of us all, even in the ones we think are the most good." ~Zara White”

“Perfection is some mythical state that we can never achieve”

“A tiny part of my heart is so happy to see him safe and laughing, but the other part is a black pit that threatens to suck all of me into it. He is happy without me. He is laughing without me. But what about me?”

“Emotions are real, just not the reasons behind them.”

“A part of me does not want to think that I always knew something was wrong.=. This is probably the same part that didn't look at the evidence that was right before my eyes, and even though I know this, it does not stop me from defending the fairy tale.”

“I know it's like meant to be and stuff, but I have to wait, cause to truly love someone, you have to work out the things that need to be - and you have to be ready to love them and they, you.”

“I don't think we ever find anything, do we? I mean in life. We think we find things and then it turns out those things aren't what we thought.”

“I think that sometimes, when you're with the wrong person, you try to become what that person wants. You lose yourself and who you are, just a little bit, but that doesn't mean you can't get it back.”

“Is everyone as wrong about me as I am about them?”

“When I think of your name, I feel an ache.”

“Some things you never forget.”

“Sometimes things aren't logical. Sometimes things don't follow timetables.”

“What feels best is how I no longer hurt.”

“Sometimes it's good to give people something they're not expecting.”

“Sometimes the monsters are not monsters, she says. I know. I nod. And sometimes the monsters are within us all, even in those we think are most good.”

“You cloak your evil, your violence, in the mask of good. I am just evil.”

“I give a little wave back because it's more mature then giving him the finger.”

“Zara. We all need to rescue and we all need to be rescued.”

“It is warm within the mansions of Hel.”

“She is a beautiful creature, but beauty doesn't equal good and it certainly doesn't equal sane.”

“We all have to feel empty sometimes.”

“Occasionally her tongue darts out between her lips, which makes me think of a snake, or Jared Leto during a television interview.”

“Know that I love you, that I always will love you no matter what choices you make, what paths you have chosen, and what paths you choose in the future.”

“Zara White, since when has love ever not mattered?”

“Boys are stupid. That's all there is to it. Boys are just stupid.”

“I. Am. So. Hungry.”

“We teleported," Issie finishes. "Like in Star Trek or Harry Potter, sort of. No! Like in Dr. Who in that episode with the Sontarans and the brilliant human boy, or really any Dr. Who ever if you think of the Tardis! Holy canola! That is just the coolest thing ever! Wowie, wow, wow!”

“Sometimes that whys aren't knowable, so you just have to ignore the whys, and just focus on what is and move on.”