“And do you really think someone's going to look at you and say, 'Hmm, I think that girl's a plant'?”

“I'll think of you, just like I promised.""And I'll think of you, just like I have every day," Tamani said.”

“And if you care about me half as much as you claim, then it should matter way more to you what I think than what they think.”

“Are you free to be anything more than a friend to me? If," and she stressed the if heavily, "I ever decided to live in Avalon and wanted to be with you, would you be free enough to do that?" He looked away, and Laurel could tell he'd been avoiding a conversation like this. "Well?" she insisted. "If you wanted it," he finally said. "If I wanted it?" He nodded. "I'm not allowed to ask. You would have to ask me." Her breath caught in her chest, and Tamani looked at her. "Why do you think David bothers me so much?" Laurel looked down at her lap. "I can't just storm in and proclaim my intentions. I can't 'steal' you away. I just have to wait and hope that, someday, you'll ask." "And if I don't?" Laurel said, her voice barley above a whisper. "Then I guess I'll wait forever.”

“Tamani paused and mulled this over for a few seconds. "If I say no, are you going to follow me anyway?""Of course.”

“I think I could have won state today. Apparently, you put a troll on my heels and I turn into a superstar.”

“...I'm the last person to tell you that you need a guy to make you happy. But if you're not moving on because you're afraid you'll hurt David, maybe you need to remember that you're hurting Tamani by not moving on, and you might be hurting David by not letting him move on. If--and I'm not saying you should choose him, but if--you really love Tamani, and you keep putting him off because of David, by the time you're finally ready to be with him, you may find that he's moved on. That's all I'm going to say...”