Janette Rallison

“I never said you were supposed to be a jailer, i only said a normal person would have questioned why someone would create a decoy nun and then crawl out the window.”

“Very often the lessons you learn are more important than the things you accomplish”

“Wishes are powerful things. You can't expect them to change the world without changing you too.”

“It'll be okay," I said."We're here for you." Kelly said."I've decided to become a divorce lawyer," Amanda said. Well, we all have our own ways of showing we care.”

“You're getting me wet." He looked me in the eyes for the first time, and the corners of his mouth turned upward. "Although I suppose I shouldn't complain about that since it's like your trademark or something. If we're going to hang out together , I'll need to start wearing my raincoat.""Are we going to hang out?"He tilted his head and considered me lazily. "I've always wanted my own elf.”

“Colton picked up a glass of cider and tok a sip. "We're not a couple, Olivia and I, so if you want to flirt with me, it's all right." He was teasing, but there was also truth mixed into this game. Perhaps more than he knew, and I felt as though everything inside of me was stretched tight.I didn't want to face him, so I kept my gaze centered out on the dance floor. "I see. Should I bat my eyelashes or were you thinking along the lines of pointless small talk?""Actually, I like the way you keep looking at me.""I don't keep looking at you.""Yes, you do."I didn't look at him, just to prove the point.”

“Still smiling, he leaned toward me. "You're jealous, aren't you?""Why would I be jealous of her?""Because she has what you don't.""Which would be what? A bad hairdresser, poor rhythm, or a striking lack of financial sense when it comes to buying clothes?"His smile grew. "Admit it, you're jealous.""I'm not jealous." I straightened the napkins into a tall stack. "Rich people are so arrogant. You all think everyone just sits around coveting your wealth. Well, my happiness isn't dependent on my account numbers."He gave a mock grunt. "I wasn't talking about Olivia's money. I was talking about me.""Oh." It was suddenly hard to breathe.”

“Isn't that the guy you asked me to throw soda on?"Colton's head jerked up. He stared first at Reece, then at me. "You asked him to throw soda on me?""Of course not. The boy is delirious, That's what happens to children when they're malnourished. They start hallucinating." I put my hand against Reese's forehead as though checking for a temperature. "I'm afraid he has a serious case of it."Colton folded his arms and continued to glare at me. "No, Charlotte, you have a serious case of it, and I'm not talking about malnourishment."Reese stepped away from my temperature check and toward Colton. "She said you wouldn't melt like the Wicked Witch of the West, but you might fizz a little." Reese turned back to me. "He never did fizz.""I'm about to," Colton said. "Just watch for a few more seconds.”

“So what did you want to talk to Wesley about?" he asked me."Kelly likes him," I said. "So I figured while we were discussing Lady Macbeth's insanity and Duncan's murder, I could, you know, casually find out if he likes her too."Colton didn't blink. "He likes her.""He does? How do you know?"He shrugged like it was a silly question. "We talk sometimes. He told me on the drive over he hoped she would be here.""Then why hasn't he ever asked her out?""He's shy. And we're in the middle of wrestling season, midterms, and Christmas." Colton picked up the liter of soda. "Have a little patience."I reached for the bowl of popcorn, but didn't start out of the kitchen yet. "Well can I hurry him along? Is there any chance he'll ask her out before this weekend?"Colton shook his head at me, then walked toward the living room. "You're not quite grasping the nature of patience, Charlotte.”

“Hey Charlotte," Julianne yelled. "Hell must have frozen over!" And then in a quieter voice she added, "Charlotte was hoping it would.""What?" Colton asked.I sprinted the rest of the way to the door. As I rounded the corner I saw both Wesley and Colton in the entryway. Julianne stood in front of them transfixed, staring up at Colton with adoring eyes."Julianne, it's time for you to go to your room," I said. "Right now.""Do you really know the devil?" she asked Colton. "Have you ever been to hell?""Sometimes I think I have," he answered, glaring at me.”

“When is Colton coming over again?"I straightened magazines on the coffee table and pretended the subject didn't bother me. "When he realizes the truth about either me or Bryant."Julianne's head popped up from behind the couch, where Ken and a collection of tiny plastic picnic food had fallen. "When will that be?" "Oh probably around the same time hell freezes over.""I thought Colton was your friend," Evelynn said. "I thought you liked him.""I do-well, I used to." It made me feel sad just to say the words.Rebecca gave me a long look. "But you're not going to talk to him until hell freezes over?"I straightened another magazine. "Well, anything is possible. After all, Colton is in the same business as the devil, so he probably has some pull down there. Hell might be cooling as we speak.”

“So who told you that you had a chip on your shoulder?""Never mind." I shoved a piece of lasagna int my mouth so I couldn't answer."It was a cute guy, wasn't it?" Kelly said. "Those types pf statements only bother you if cute guys say them."I didn't answer, and I didn't look at them."Must have been a really cute guy." Aleeta said.Kelly leaned forward. "Who was it, and do you like him?"I took another bite of lasagna."She likes him." Aleeta said with a smile."Ryan Geno?" Kelly asked. "Arnold Carrillo?""Colton Taft." Aleeta said as though sure she was right.Kelly nodded. "Which means we're really talking about Bryant, aren't we?"Aleeta leaned closer to the table and lowered her voice. "Charlotte likes Bryant?""No," I said quickly."No," Kelly repeated, "She doesn't like him, which is why Colton thinks she has a chip on her shoulder." She turned to me then, wearing a triumphant smile. "I'm right, aren't I?"I shuffled pieces of lasagna around my plate. "I should stop hanging out with smart people.”

“Things that are easily done are often much harder to undo. Sometimes, impossible.”

“I wound my arms around his neck and kissed him back, trying to capture this moment, to clasp it, so I could always remember what it felt like to hold him this way.”

“But if Grant doesn't like you for who you are, then he's not worth it.”

“If I'd believed that stuff was true, I would have missed out on loving you.”

“You know, you’ve set a really bad precedent for first dates,” I said. “How is anyone ever going to top this?”I turned to him for the first time. He was watching me, not the scenery. “I brought you here because I wanted to see the look on your face when you saw this place.” He smiled, and my heart flipped over. “It was worth the trip.”

“So what were your favorite subjects in school?""School?" He leaned back in his chair as though he needed the extra space to think about it. "Probably math. It always made sense. Unlike English, economics, and girls.""And exactly how do you plan on taking over the free world if you don't understand economics?""I'll hire advisers. I'll hire you, in fact.""Okay. Let me know when your army of junior high zombies is ready.”

“...and her dreams that didn't happen, that couldn't have happened because she'd pinned them on somebody too broken and unattainable to love her back.”

“I can't believe you just did that! Are you crazy?"I gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Why do people keep asking me that?"He turned to stare at me, his eyes worried. "Who else keeps asking you that? Are any of them doctors?”

“Even the plants in Arizona wanted to hurt you.”

“He smiled. "You’re into me, I can tell.""I’m not into you," I said hotly. Hotly, because as soon as the words left my lips, sparklers erupted on top of my head.Hudson looked at them, and a grin spread across his face. The baby cooed and reached out, trying to grab the flaring light. Hudson moved farther away. "Don’t touch. Just look at Mommy’s pretty liar hat."He was enjoying this way too much. "Okay," I said. "Maybe I like you a little."The sparklers dimmed, but didn’t go out.Hudson raised an eyebrow."All right," I said, nervously eyeing the area to make sure no one saw us. "I’m into you."The sparklers died, but I didn’t wait around for more commentary. I headed to the inn. Behind me I heard Hudson still talking to the baby. "Yes, we like Mommy’s flaming hairdo, don’t we?”

“Perhaps selling your children, your future, just happened one bad decision at a time.”

“The key to happiness - as any good fairy godmother will tell you - is not to avoid problems, but to overcome them.”

“New York is a nice place.""If you like concrete, crowds, and that claustrophobic, closed-in feeling.”

“But that's how life is. You never know how it's going to turn out, and you can't plan for everything. You just have to do your best dealing with things as they come and hope people forgive you when you make a mistake.”

“At first it upset me to realize how many people are, at heart, selfish. Now I take that in stride, but people's loneliness still gets to me.”

“People weren't firecrackers who burst into the night sky with brilliance and glory, and a moment later faded away to nothing. Our souls had to be more lasting than that.”

“The only wishes that will ever change you are the kind that may, at any moment, eat you whole.”

“Fairy's side note: Even people who don't believe in magic really do.”

“Neither of them noticed Jane for a moment, which was for the best, as Jane looked like parts of her had been ripped up and flung into the wind.While Hunter smiled at Savannah, little pieces of Jane fluttered down to the parking lot. ...She waded through the litter of her old self and climbed into the battered Taurus.”

“Many perfumes promise to lure men to women. None of them smell of motherhood. None of them proclaim the wearer to be tidy, thrifty, and sensible.”

“The problem was that I'd never worn a bikini before. My dad doesn't allow them. He thinks even one-pieces show too much skin and constantly suggests that Jane and I wear wet suits.”

“Aren't fairy godmothers supposed to be nice and make you feel better about yourself?...No, you're confusing fairy godmothers with sales clerks.”

“I don't care what you Yanks say, cheese should not whiz.”

“She cried so hard her tears formed a river, and tears of grief always run into the river Styx.”

“No wonder he has such nice teeth. They probably pay him in dental floss.”

“That's the magic of books. They're never quite the same for any two people. When you read one, you automatically make it your own.”

“The only things you can truly love after such a short time are ice cream flavors and comfortable shoes.”

“Don't just read words,' he would tell her as he held up the latest story, 'devour them. Let the words create new worlds.”

“Misfortune and Fortune are eerily similar, but Fortune is a better dresser and more fun at parties.”

“Women" he said in disgust. I wasn't sure whether we was referring to me or nuns.”

“You can't wish for more wishes or for vague generalities like happiness that are impossible to grant. Your wish has to be something specific enough that I can use my wand to make it happen. Oh, and recently there's been a ban on inserting yourself into the Twilight series. The Cullens are tired of different teenage girls pinging into their story every time they turn around.”

“Don’t worry, though, because Prince Hubert is very handsome and kind. That’s all you wanted in a boyfriend, wasn’t it?”“No,” I said.She raised an eyebrow. “It must be. If you had admired any other qualities you would have developed them in yourself, wouldn’t you?”Which was really too much. I put my hands on my hips. “Aren’t fairy godmothers supposed to be nice and make you feel better about yourself?”She rolled her eyes. “No, you’re confusing fairy god- mothers with sales clerks.”

“It gave Jane a wicked sense of satisfaction that he’d noticed that aspect of her sister’s personality, but she tried not to sound too arrogant. “Savannah doesn’t worry about homework. Apparently they don’t care about your GPA when you apply for beauty school.”“Beauty school, huh? I would have thought she’d already graduated valedictorian from there.”Jane blinked at him in frustration.Fairy’s side note: Adults are constantly telling teenagers that it’s what’s on the inside that matters. It’s always painful to find out that adults have lied to you.Hunter shrugged. “I guess I shouldn’t have assumed you’d be like Savannah where math is concerned.”Meaning: After all, you aren’t pretty like she is.”

“Well you can't believe everything you read. After all, by definition, fiction writers lie for a living.”

“As if finding a guy to solve your problems isn't a contradiction of terms.”

“I will not go on, I thought. I won't. I will throw my soul to the wind and blow into a thousand pieces. I will wash up on a shore somewhere like bleached and broken driftwood. I will dry out in the sun until I-and any gift I ever had-shrivel into the sand.”

“Happy is entirely up to you and always has been.”

“That's the thing about the internet. It's really good at giving you pointless facts like how many horses a star owns, but not important things like how to invade his trailer.”