“Beside me, Philippe and Meg hold hands. He murmurs something that sounds like, "my dear leetle mongoose." I wish he'd turn back into a frog and hop away.”

“Listen.” The voice is extremely loud, and I am forced to hold the telephone away from my ear. “I don’t know who you are, or why you have Jack’s phone, but he is my boyfriend, and—”Boyfriend? What is a boyfriend? Perhaps it is something like a beau. “Is he engaged to you, then?” I hope not.“What? No. Of course not.”“Oh, what a relief. He is my true love, and you do not sound very nice.”“What? Listen, you . . .”And then, strangely enough, she calls me a female dog.”

“Meg makes a face and lays her hand on my arm. "And why, exactly, would John want to see Eurotrash?""Hello?" Ryan says. "Because he's a seventeen-year old guy with normal male urges, and she's got-" He holds both hands out from his chest."Really pretty eyes," I complete his sentence.”

“Will, you look like hell!" I yelled through the glass door."I can't say how you look," he said. "But if you look like you sound, you look like a jerk. Please help me.”

“you desire to escape. I wish to run away. I thought we might help each other.”

“Better?" I went from holding her hand to hugging her. "Lindy, you loved me when I wasn't even human.You kissed me when I had no lips. You saw what was deep down inside me when I wasn't even sureabout it myself. Believe me, there's no way I could do better. I think you're perfect.”

“That night I lay in bed, remembering the moment when her hand touched mine. I wondered what it would be like to have her touch me not by accident, to maybe have her let me touch her.”