“Oh, high school and everything. The first day I met you, you were almost crying because those guys were teasing you, and it was just because they thought you were cute. You have attention, that's a given. But I like it, okay? I like to get some attention at school and when we go out. I'm kind of jealous of you, Parker.”

“You know, sometimes I wonder what things would be like if I just ... met you one day. Like normal people do. If I just walked by you on some street one sunny morning and thought you were cute, stopped, shook your hand, and said, "Hi, I'm Daniel.”

“I'm just glad you're okay," he said. "I heard you scream, and I ran right over."Well, that's one way to get a guy's attention, I thought.”

“If you passed me walking home from school, you probably wouldn't even notice me. That's because I'm just a kid like you.I go to school like you. I get bullied like you. Unlike you, I live in Idaho.Don't ask me what state Idaho is in––news flash––Idaho IS a state.~Michael Vey”

“No, I don't like you, I just thought you were cute enough to kiss you.”

“I hadn't felt such disgust for a boy since the early days, when they'd tease girls on the playground, kicking us and throwing gravel and raising their voices in high screechy mockery. "They do that because they like you," all the adults said, grinning like pumpkins. We believed them, back then. Back then we thought it was true, and we were drawn toward all that meanness because it meant we were special, let them kick us, let them like us. We liked them back. But now it was turning out that our first instincts were right. Boys weren't mean because they liked you; it was because they were mean.”