“Somewhere in the crowd was at least one potential friend who'd understand the fundamental value of goofing off.Because if not, how boring would that be?”

“So you’ve made a friend. How sad for them.”

“Best friends make the worst enemies, they know all your secrets and how to hurt you the most.”

“It's not that kind of love. It's the real kind. The unconditional kind. The nonjudgemental kind. Not the physical kind. I love you as a fellow soul who inhabits this earth. I love you as a fellow immortal. I love you because I finally understand what made you the way you are. And if I could change it, I would. But I can't—so I choose to love you instead. And my hope is that my acceptance of you will spur you to do something good too, but if not—" I shrug. "At least I can say I tried.”

“One more sign of how perfect Damen is—he keeps a pair of trunks in his car.”

“This has got to be the most poorly named town I've ever visited. There is absolutely no sign of anything even remotely enchanting about it. It's one of the worst cases of false advertising I've seen.I've traveled a lot.Done considerable time in my share of dead-end dumps. Or at least that's what I thought until I came here.I mean,where do people shop for clothing and food?Where do the teens all hang out-the ones who haven't already hopped the first bus out of this godforsaken place?And,more important,where do I catch that very same bus-how soon 'til it leaves?”

“The fact is, the heart and mind aren't always friendly. And in my case, they're barely speaking.”