“But it's high school. It's not real love, or at least you can't be sure it's real love. Real love is messy and complicated and brutal. It's been tested. Zik and Michelle have never been tested by anything mroe than being separated by a couple of classes.”

“Real love ain't no fantasy - it's messy, and sometimes it's downright hard. And with real love there's no guarantee you'll never get hurt. You can't love somebody with one foot out of the door. If you love her, its got to be all the way, no matter what happens. That's real love - not this straddling the fence thing you've got going on.”

“Love isn't always clean and pretty--sometimes it's messy, cruel, and confusing. And sometimes, it doesn't turn out the way you want it to. But then, the beauty of love is that it's very strong, and when it's real, it's worth it.”

“Be sure it's your real self you're showing. Because it is your real self that needs to be loved.”

“This had been real: real in its flaws and uncertainties, real in its small triumphs, real in its compromises and understanding.”

“Optimism is the first cousin of love, and it's exactly like love in three ways: it's pushy, it has no real sense of humour, and it turns up where you least expect it.”