“It's here somewhere," I assured him."Please tell me you haven't lost it already.""We did fall out of the sky, you know," I said indignantly. "It's easy for things to go missing.”

“I like literature," I said. "We started watching the film version of Romeo and Juliet today."I didn't tell them this, but the love story fascinated me. The way the lovers fell so deeply and irrevocably in love after their first meeting sparked a burning curiosity in me about what human love might feel like."How are you finding that?" Ivy asked."It's very powerful, but the teacher got really mad when one of the boys said something about Lady Capulet.""What did he say?""He called her a MILF, which must be offensive because Miss Castle called him a thug and sent him out of the room. Gabe, what is a MILF?"Ivy smothered her smile behind a napkin while Gabriel did something I'd never seen before. He blushed and shifted uncomfortably in his chair."Some acronym for a teenage obscnity, I imagine," he mumbled."Yes, but do you know what it means?"He paused, trying to find the right words."It's a term used by adolescent males to describe a woman who is both attractive and a mother." He cleared his throat and got up quickly to refill the water jug."I'm sure it must stand for something," I pressed."It does," Gabriel said. "Ivy, can you remeber what it is?""I believe it stands for 'mother I'd like to...befriend'," said my sister."Is that all?" I exclaimed. "What a fuss over nothing. I really think Miss Castle needs to chill.”

“You want to marry me? I was thinking we’d start slow and see where things went, but hey, what the hell!""I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m crazy about you."“So you hadn’t noticed? That’s not a good thing—I’m going to have to be moredemonstrative in future.”“Beth . . . for so many guys sex is the only thing that keeps their relationships from falling apart, but we’re not like that. We have so much more. I’ve never discussed it with you because I’ve never felt that we needed to. I’m sure it would be amazing, but I love you for you, not for what you can offer me.”“Beth, I love you and nothing makes me happier than being close to you. You’re intoxicating.”“Because when I look at you, I see my whole world. I’m not about to walk away; I wouldn’t have anything left.”"The world could fall apart around me, and it wouldn’t matter if I had you.”“A man in love can do extraordinary things. I don’t care if you’re an angel, you’re my angel, and I won’t let you go.”

“How can you possibly know how much I miss you?" he said. "Have you got some sort of built-in miss-o-meter that can give us a reading?" "I'm a girl; of course I have a built-in miss-o-meter.”

“Love you,” Xavier said just before he drifted back to sleep.“Love you more,” I said playfully.“Not a chance,” Xavier said, fully awake now. “I’m bigger, I can contain more love.”“I’m smaller, therefore my love particles are more compressed, which means I can fit more in.”Xavier laughed. “That argument makes no sense. Overruled.”“I’m just basing it on how much I miss you when you’re not around,” I countered.“How can you possibly know how much I miss you?” he said. “Have you got some sort of built-in miss-o-meter that can give us a reading?”“I’m a girl; of course I have a built-in miss-o-meter.”

“I was so worried that you wouldn’t want to know me once you found out.” I signed, relief flooding through me.“Are you kidding me?” Xavier reached out and curled a lock of my hair around his finger. “Surely I’ve got to be the luckiest guy in the world.”“How do you figure that?”“Isn’t it obvious? I’ve got my own little piece of Heaven right here.”

“We'll find out soon enough," Xavier growled. "You don't see too many V Star 250s around here""How do you know the bike model?" I asked."I'm a boy. We like engines”