“What are you, in love with her?" Travis says. "You're staring like an idiot."The weird thing is, I think I am.”

“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.”

“This is where he should say that he is in love with me, that I have changed his life and that he loves me for it. But he doesn't. Is it because he is shy? Or because he is too young to say such a thing? Or is it merely because he does not love me? The worst of it is, I am falling in love with him.”

“But I am old now; my life is older. When I made the choice I made, I did not think it was forever. It is another thing to give up so young.”

“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.”

“I am a prisoner of love.”

“I love you, I thought. But I didn’t say it. It was not that I feared she would laugh in my face. She was far too kind for that. My fear was a greater one— that she won’t say it back.”