“What happened December 12?” Polyester asks.I look at the wall, my attention suddenly riveted by a palmetto bug, feelers writhing. I could kill it if I wanted.He hit me.”The bug slides to the floor.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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 believed she'd gotten past ther hatred of me, turning to pity instead. But how could I make that into love?”

“Still, as I watch the sun journey higher up on the horizon, I appreciate that, for only the second time in my entire life, I am alone, blessedly alone, with no one to tell me what to do or what to wear, no one to have to be polite to. Nothing. But I do not wish to be alone, not entirely. Now that I am finally alone, it feels...lonely.”

“I remember how Talia got me to talk about the gardening thing. I’ve never told anyone else about that, but with this girl, I sort of feel like I can be myself without worrying about looking uncool. After all, she doesn’t even know what “cool” is.”