Jessica Park

“Why don't you want a boyfriend?""I don't know. Maybe I do. I'd just have to meet the right guy. Someone who isn't ordinary. Someone who get someone I fit perfectly with. I want heat, chemistry, an undeniable connection. You know what I mean? I want it all. I'm done with ordinary and mediocre.”

“This love triangle had reached new heights, and as much as Matt loved geometry, this was not the sort of triangle he wanted anything to do with.”

“It was suddenly heartachingly clear how much he wanted this and how easy it was to imagine it with near provocative clarity. She was not just his friend. She was more.”

“You'll skydive, and hang into ravines by thin ropes, and go rafting in the rapids, but you won't... what? Get crazy and reckless with an amazing girl? You won't fall madly out-of-your-brains in love? Let your world as you know it be blown into bits because you fall heart-crushingly head-over-heels for someone?”

“I'm considering whether or not to believe you. I need to run an algorithm on this.""That's not funny.""You might be trying to trick me into sleeping with you.”

“He glanced at Flat Finn, who was positioned in one corner of the room, facing the wall. “What is Flat Finn doing? If he’s urinating on the floor, you’re cleaning it up.” …“Is he in trouble? He has to stand in the corner and think about what he’s done?”

“I want you, Matt. I want everything. You kept me safe today, you'll keep me safe now.''Always. I promise, always.”

“I jumped out of a goddamn airplane with Matt. Because of Matt. For Matt.”

“They must have stopped the world. They just must have.”

“Her body pressed against his felt like the most natural thing in the world, and the way she fit against him as though they were made for this embrace was overwhelming.”

“Well, from now on, she would never complain when he got so engrossed in his laptop that he failed to hear anything that she was saying.”

“You might be trying to trick me into sleeping with you.” “Is it working? Because I am desperate to sleep with you.”

“How you find love means nothing. It’s what you do with it when you see it that does. And when Julie looked at Matt, she unquestionably saw love.”

“I did it, Finn. I did it. I was ready to jump, and now she’s jumping with me.”

“You are my everything,” Julie said. “You are challenging, and difficult, and guarded. I love those things about you. You are fascinating, and complex, and brilliant, and funny. I love those things about you, too. I am in love with your selflessness and your ability to sacrifice too much. I am in love with the parts of you that fear and that hurt and that push people away. I am love in with your vulnerability and your strength. I am in love with your capacity to love harder and with more loyalty than I ever imagined anyone could. I am in love with the choices you’ve made, even the mistakes, because they brought us to where we are right now. More than those things, I am very simply in love with you and everything that you are. Your past, your present, and your future.” She touched her fingers to him, tracing his lips and then moving across his jaw and over his cheek. “I think about you all the time, and I can’t get you out of my head. I am listening to my heart, finally, without doubting anything. And I will never stop.” And then she kissed him. Long and hard and endlessly, only eventually slowing. “Now open your eyes and look at me. I feel everything that you feel, Matt. I always have, and I know that now. And it is time to stop hurting.”

“For a few brief moments, Matt got to hold Julie in his arms. And that gift? That would stay with him forever.”

“Dude, you need to appreciate how goddamn gifted you are. You’re so smart that I don’t understand what you’re talking about half the time, and we all know how brilliant I am.” Finn winked. “Matty, you’re amazing.”

“You won’t fall madly out-of-your-brains in love? Let your world as you know it be blown to bits because you fall heart-crushingly head-over-heels for someone?”

“I put my arms around your waist and pull you in, holding you, letting you know I’m with you. I tell you that you can do this, that you’re strong enough and brave enough. I tell you that you can do anything. So you nod and agree to jump.”

“Love is a portion of the soul itself, and it is of the same nature as the celestial breathing of the atmosphere of paradise.”

“He just wasn’t the guy, you know? I want the guy. The everything guy. Not the dumb Prince Charming, nauseatingly-perfect everything guy. That’s pathetic. I want the flaws-and-all everything guy.”

“I tell you that I like being this close to you and how you feel against me. But now even I'm hesitant. I'm afraid that when we hit the ground, this will be over. We'll land and this feeling between us will vanish. That you won't feel it any longer. I can't stand that thought.”

“So we've pulled the chute, and we're drifting, riding the sky. It's just you and me. You can hear me now that we're falling like this, remember? I tell you that I don't want this to end. I don't want to land and reach the real world, because I like our world up here better.”

“She looked into Matt's eyes. 'Even so, I love you.'Matt smiled at her and winked. 'I know.'Celeste and Julie both smacked him. 'This would be an appropriate time not to be a dork or a smartass,' Julie said.Celeste popped her head into the front seat. 'Be the hero, Matty. Come on. You're supposed to be the hero now. The romantic lead.''I know that, too,' he said. Matt did not hesitate a moment longer. 'Julie, I love you. I absolutely love you.''Good,' Celeste said, satisfied. 'Now it's time to jump.”

“Good. I think I'm falling for you too. Let's not pull this chute.”

“...that's what love does to you. Gut-wrenching, overpowering, crushing, fulfilling, complex, bring-you-to-your-knees love.”

“Stupid kissing. Stupid roaming hands. Stupid boys.”

“Prove to me that you are not a figment of my imagination.Am I a computer simulation?Does the door swing both ways?How can something come from nothing? How do you know a line is straight?If animals wanted to be eaten, would it be okay?If time stopped then stared again, would we know about it?What happens when you get scared half to death twice?What is creationism?What is ethical?”

“She'll need to see another goddamn place, then, because the roaches have unionized and put a stop to further negotiations regarding new tenants. Also, I think I smell a dead body.”

“I bet it’s easy for you,” Celeste said, as she examined her fingers and toes.“What? Flirting?” “Yes.” “Depends. There’s flirting,” Julie said, jokingly pushing her chest out, “and then there’s flirting.” She tapped the side of her temple. “It’s the second one that’s hard because you’re putting more of yourself out there.”

“What happens when you get scared half to death twice?”

“Then she did what any girl would do: she Googled him.”

“Then she tried to bore herself to sleep by thinking about things like yogurt and the structure of a gas pedal.”

“Wanted to give you a heads up: I heard that Flat Finn sustained an injury the other day. Nothing major, though. Something to do with Matt, a steaming iron, and maniacal shouts of, “There are no wrinkles allowed in this house! You may be flat, but you’re not smooth enough yet for this family!””

“Julie marched over to Matt. She stood in front of him and crossed her arms. “Lift up your sweatshirt.”Matt rolled his eyes. “God, you really know how to turn a guy on.”Julie didn’t budge. “If I was trying to turn you on, I could do better than that. Now, lift up your sweatshirt.”Matt looked up at her and tried to look serious. “Julie, I’m completely offended that you have so little faith in my honesty. I thought at this point in our friendship that you would at least—”“Get up.” Julie leaned over and shut his laptop. “Get up!” she said again.“You’re being ridiculous,” Matt said laughing, but he stood up. “I trust you implicitly, and it wouldn’t kill you to show me the same respect.”“Show me!”Matt sidestepped the chair and took a few steps backward. “You have quite the attitude today. Suspicious and mean.”Julie took a step forward, causing Matt to continue backing away. “Lift up your shirt.”“Look, I appreciate an aggressive woman, but this is really getting weird.”Julie grabbed his sweatshirt by the waist cuff and lifted it up with one hand, as she pulled down his T-shirt with the other. Matt put his hands over hers, lightly protesting, but she refused to let go. “Aha!” She squinted at his shirt. “OK, I don’t even know what this is, but it’s definitely geeky.”

“Happy New Year, Julie.”“Happy New Year, Matty.” She turned off the television and rolled onto her side. “Matty, I have another question for you.”“Uh-oh.”“Are you a skilled lover?”“And that concludes our evening chat.”

“I hope that someday they invent a car that runs on inappropriate thoughts”

“Thinks that twitter is like facebook's slutty cousin. It does everything dumb and whore-ish you're too responsible to do”

“Matthew, confess now. Are you a closeted font nerd? Do you go to these conferences? I promise I won't respect you any less if you are. OK, fine, secretly I will, but it's better to get this off your chest and be who you are, than to live in deception. Hiding the truth will only cripple your emotional development""Well, I'm sorry to dissapoint you. I'm not a font nerd. You can email me in Papyrus and I won't care.”

“At least I'm not a font nerd.""A what?"Matt smiled. "You know. People who love fonts. There are people who go to a movie and get agitated because, while the movie is supposed to be set in 1962, the restaurant awning shown in the background of some scene is printed in Arras Bold, which wasn't invented until 1991, so clearly the producers of the movie are insane and should be beheaded.”

“I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else. It's the way I take them OFF that makes me better than you.”

“If you can't stop thinking about someone's update, that's called "status cling.”

“You can look back now and see how you should have known, but you were focusing on the facts instead of the feeling.”

“It's not what you know-or when you see-that matters. It's about the journey.”

“Why do you have to correct everything I say?” Julie glanced at his FTW! shirt. “Out of the two of us, I don’t think I’m the one that deviates from the norm.” The train slammed to a stop. “You’re the one who seems to get off arguing.” “You sound exactly like Finn. We’re exchanging ideas. Debating.” Matt looked down at his shorts. “And so far I haven’t gotten off.”

“Nobody gets their period for the first time and has a nervous breakdown next to a Kohler toilet. Men have such stupid ideas about menstruation, don’t they, Julie?”

“I'm done peeing now.""Thank you for letting me know.”

“Julie crossed her arms. “I’m serious. Flat Finn can’t possibly go to school with her, right?”“He already went to Brandeis so, no, he doesn’t need to repeat seventh grade. Although they did make him take a bunch of tests in order to qualify out. He barely passed the oral exams, though, because the instructors found him withholding and tight-lipped. It’s a terribly biased system, but at least he passed and won’t have to suffer through the school’s annual reenactment of the first Thanksgiving. He has a pilgrim phobia.”“Funny. Really, what’s the deal with Flat Finn?”“After an unfortunate incident involving Wile E. Coyote and an anvil, Three Dimensional Finn had to change his name.”

“(Celeste) Be the hero, Matty. Come on. You're supposed to be the hero now. The romatic lead.""I know that, too," he said. Matt did not hesitate a moment longer. "Julie, I love you. I absolutely love you.”

“And you're everything I don't want." Julie pushed away, breaking his embrace, and shook her head. "If you loved me, you couldn't have done this. You couldn't have been so careless with me. You know pain, and loss, and hurt better than anyone." She hated each word as it came out of her mouth. "And that's what you gave me. I know that it's not the same. I know yours is worse. I'm so sorry for you, Matt. For your whole family. You've all been through hell. And you've been braver than anyone could. But I hurt now, too. And I can't love you.”