Tahereh Mafi

“I'd really rather die than eat your food and listen to you call me love.”

“His eyes are two buckets of rainwater: deep, fresh, clear. Hurt.”

“Find me a cure for these tears, I'd really like to exhale for the first time in my life.”

“I think if I freeze myself I can freeze the pain.”

“Raindrops are my only reminder that clouds have a heartbeat. That I have one, too.”

“The sun drops into the ocean and splashes browns and red and yellows and oranges into the world outside my window.”

“Hate looks just like everybody else until it smiles. Until it spins around and lies with lips and teeth carved into the semblance of something too passive to punch.”

“Moving forward is the only way to survive.”

“He pulls me close, too close. I’m frozen in five hundred layers of fear. Stunned in grief, in disbelief.”

“He shifts and my eyes shatter into thousands of pieces that ricochet around the room, capturing a million snapshots, a million moments in time. Flickering images faded with age, frozen thoughts hovering precariously in dead space, a whirlwind of memories that slice through my soul.”

“I know the sky falls down every day. The sun drops into the ocean and splashes browns and reds and yellows and oranges into the world outside my window. A million leaves from a hundred different branches dip in the wind, fluttering with the false promise of flight. The gust catches their withered wings only to force them downward, forgotten, left to be trampled by the soldiers stationed just below.”

“Don't worry," James says, still chuckling. "I won't touch you. Adam told me all about your magical powers." He rolls his eyes.”

“Juliette," he whispers, and I realize just how close he is. I'm not sure why I haven't evaporated into nothingness. "It's been me and you against the world forever," he says.”

“He looks at me with so much emotion I nearly crack in half."God, Juliette--"And he's kissing me.Once, twice, until I've had a taste and realize I'll never have enough.”

“Sometimes a book isn't a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.Sometimes it's the only story you knew how to tell.”

“Truth is a jealous, vicious mistress that never, ever sleeps.”

“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.”

“Son of a motherless goat!”

“He takes my hand. Intertwines our fingers. Offers me a smile that manages to kiss my heart.”

“He's a hot bath, a short breath, five days of summer pressed into five fingers writing stories on my body.”

“... and he's kissing me and I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe.”

“... my face is buried in the soft material of his shirt and my cheek is pressed against his chest and he smells like strength and courage and the world drowning in rain.”

“This must be how I broke through the concrete in Warner's torture chamber. Which means I still have no idea how I broke through the concrete in Warner's torture chamber.”

“His lips are so close to my ear I'm water and nothing and everything and melting into a wanting so desperate it burns as I swallow it down.”

“I wish I could stuff my mouth full of raindrops and fill my pockets full of snow. I wish I could trace the veins in a fallen leaf and the feel the wind pinch my nose.”

“Sometimes I wish I never had to sleep. Sometimes I think that if I stay very, very still, if I never move at all, things will change. I think if I freeze myself I can freeze the pain. Sometimes I won’t move for hours. I will not move an inch. If time stands still nothing can go wrong.”

“Sometimes I think the loneliness inside of me is going to explode through my skin and sometimes I’m not sure if crying or screaming or laughing through the hysteria will solve anything at all. Sometimes I’m so desperate to touch, to be touched, to feel, that I’m almost certain I’m going to fall off a cliff in an alternate universe where no one will ever be able to find me.”

“Hate looks like everybody else until it smiles”

“My voice softens. 'How old are you?''I'll be eleven next year.'I grin. 'So you're ten years old?'He crosses his arms. Frowns. 'I'll be twelve in two years.'I think I already love this kid.”

“I press my palm to the small pane of glass and feel the cold clasp my hand in a familiar embrace. We are both alone, both existing as the absence of something else.”

“They locked me up with a boy. A boy . Dear god. They're trying to kill me. They've done it one purpose. To torture me, to torment me, to keep me from sleeping through the night ever again.”

“Everything is on fire. My cheeks my hands the pit of my stomach and I'm drowing in waves of emotion and a storm of fresh rain and all I feel is the strenght of his silhouette against mine and I never ever ever ever want to forget this moment. I want to stamp him into my skin and save him forever”

“His body presses closer and I realize I'm paying attention to nothing but the dandelions blowing wishes in my lungs.”

“Dude, you ran off with the crazy chick! You ran off with the psycho girl!" he's calling after Adam. "I thought they made that shit up. What the hell were you thinking? What are you going to do with the psycho chick? No wonder Warner wants you dead - OW, MAN, what the hell - ""She's not crazy. And she's not deaf, asshole.”

“I tried so hard to fix what I'd ruined. I tried every single day to be what they wanted. I tried all the time to be better but I never really knew how.I only know now that the scientist are wrong.The world is flat. I know because I was tossed right off the edge and I've been trying to hold on for 17 years. I've been trying to climb back up for 17 years but its nearly impossible to beat gravity when no one is willing to give you a hand.When no one wants to risk touching you.”

“1,320 seconds walk into the room before he does.”

“Girls are always talking about electricity in their romance, but none are too happy to actually be electrocuted, apparently. Bloody confusing, is what it is.”

“My face is in his hands and my lips are at his lips and he's kissing me and I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe.”

“I've loved you forever," I tell him.The sun rises, rests, shines in his face and he almost smiles, almost can't meet my eyes.”

“God, Juliette, I'd follow you anywhere. You're the only good thing left in this world.”

“There's very little I wouldn't do for you.”

“You don't have to look away," he says. He says it with a small smile the size of Jupiter.”

“His smile is laced with dynamite. "Go to sleep""Go to hell."He works his jaw. Walks to the door. "I'm working on it.”

“Juliette," he whispers,and I realize just how close he is. I'm not sure why I haven't evaporated into nothingness. "It's been me and you against the world forever," he says. "It's always been that way. It's my fault I took so long to do something about it.""No," I'm shaking my head. "It's not your fault-""It is. I fell in love with you a long time ago. I just never had the guts to act on it.""Because I could've killed you."He laughts a quiet laugh."Because I didn't think I deserved you.”

“He whispers, "You have no idea how much I've thought about you. How many times I've dreamt"-he takes a tight breath- "how many times I've dreamt about being this close to you." He moves to run a hand through his hair before he changes his mind. Looks down. Looks up. "God, Juliette, I'd follow you anywhere. You're the only good thing left in this world.”

“He smiles a small smile. His lips twitch like he's trying not to laugh. His eyes soften as they study my own. "There's very little I wouldn't do for you.”

“It's been me and you against the world forever," he says. "It's always been that way.”

“I peek up at his features, at the crooked grin i want to savor, at the color in his eyes i'd use to paint a million pictures.”

“My father couldn't warm my frozen hands.”

“Every butterfly in the world has migrated to my stomach.”