Leanne Hall

“Henny Penny," says Lupe. "Do you know this story?"I shake my head. Conversations with her can turn cryptic in the blink of an eye."She thinks the sky is falling. Do you see my meaning?""Not really.""Sometimes you have to let the world end, so you can build a new one.”

“I want to be wherever you are.”

“Whatever fantasy I had in my head of what Wolfboy looks like, it's now clear I haven't been fantasising hard enough, not nearly.”

“Time is up for my little caravan kingdom. It's time for a window that does not look into concrete.”

“I should change my job title to Retail Psychologist and get some impressive letter after my name.”

“The colour is terrible on her. She could have been dead for ten days. In the water.”

“You're good for me," I say. "The light to my shade.""Then you're the night to my day. A person needs both, you know.”

“Sometimes stupid is all we've got.”

“The only other time I've seen Paul cry was when he got hit in the teeth with a cricket bat when he was fourteen. And that time Diana made us watch 'Bambi'.”

“You need to wear this." Amelia holds up a chunky silver necklace studded with gemstones. I can't help scrunching up my face. It's one fugly piece of bling.”

“Blake peers around Amelia's shoulder. "He looks like Sleeping Beauty.""Don't ever say that to his face," says Wolfboy."Actually, do. If he wakes up, promise me you'll say that to his face.”

“It's never nice to admit we don't know our friends as well as we thought we did.”

“You can try to distract me with your kisses, sir, but I will come through with the goods in the end.”

“It's like when I first saw you at the Diabetic. I went up to you, but really you made the first move.""Shut up!" She remains unconvinced. "How?"I don't answer. I sit still. Then I look at her slyly out of the corner of my eye, before looking away. I look at her again, for longer this time, then drop my eyes. For my final look I stare, and bat my eyelashes provocatively.I must do a good job because Nia laughs. It feels goo to know I can do that."You look like such a dufus in those glasses! It's not sexy at all!" She puts her hand to her reddening face. "Oh. Did I really do that?""It worked, didn't it?”

“She puts her hand forward. "Come on, let's do a yay team!"Blake immediately puts her hand on top of Nia's."I'm not doing that," I say."Wolfie, do not deny us this simple pleasure. C'mon."I roll my eyes and put my hand on top of theirs."Yay team!" Squeals Blake. And she's supposed to be the sensible one.”

“She's bucktoothed to an unfortunate degree.”

“I'm glad we're sitting here now. Even if it does smell like a grandma convention.”

“You're polite and sensitive, and you always try to do the right thing by people. And according to my friend Kara - you remember the blonde woman from last night? - you wear a pair of jeans very well.”

“If I could retrieve my words I would, grab them out of the sky and hide them where they can't be seen.”

“It's unfortunate that the more annoyed she gets, the prettier she looks.”

“Sometimes you have to let the world end, so you can build a new one.”

“We were just two stars in the endless night sky, as dazzling and dwarfed and stupendous and insignificant as that made us.”

“I howl at the roof like a hotted-up bomb doing donuts, full of screeches. I howl like an air-raid siren, my arms stretched out wide. Howls are like songs. They can't be summoned; they just happen. They come from a place that I barely understand. And then something else climbs to the surface, something black and jagged, something from the deep. Imagine all your worse feelings surfacing. Imagine coughing up razor blades. Imagine not being able to stop the pain from coming out, and not knowing when it's going to end.”

“We're all here to take care of ourselves, and ourselves only. This is how I look at it: if a gunman rampaged through the flats, I'd barricade Mum and me in our place and forget about anyone else on our floor. If the gunman broke into our flat then I'm not entirely sure I'd take a bullet for Mum, or vice versa. When it comes down to it, we're all on our own. Once you realise that, life becomes simpler.”

“I imagine crossing Grey Street in the daytime. Would night fall over me gently like a velvety curtain? Or would the day turn dark in the blink of my eye? I don't really need the sunrise to know that Shyness is different. It's like there is a thin layer of static over everything that stops me from seeing what's really going on. People here scuttle around like they're scared of their own shadows.”

“There’s a pause so yawning I can’t help but think about what it would be like to lean in and kiss her, but if I’m getting the signals wrong then I’m about to destroy the best run we’ve had all evening. It’s been at least ten minutes since I’ve done or said anything stupid.”

“Hey,’ Wildgirl says, ‘let me into your backpack. I’ve got a light on my keys that I totally forgot about.’I turn my back to her and feel her fumbling with the zip of my pack. It’s a lot lighter now.‘I’m glad you hung on to your bag. I would have had to kick your ass if you lost all my stuff.’I probably wouldn’t mind that, although if I were given a choice, I’d opt for another kiss. It’s the first time I’ve been so close to someone since I’ve changed. Kissing felt better than I remembered, but it also felt like it was something I had to be careful about. It never felt that way before.”

“People grow couches and bikes and concrete in their front gardens instead of roses.”

“They envy your youth. You two are like exotic creatures from the land of the young.’I’ve never understood all that these-are-the-best-years-of-your-life crap. If this is as good as it gets then I might as well quit now. Let me get to the shimmery oasis of adulthood.”

“We’re going bowling?’ I can’t keep the disappointment of of my voice. Bowling is not badass.”