“I cocked my fist back, remembering what Brendan had taught me. "Don't aim for your target. You'll have more of an impact that way." I was aiming for China.”

“Well I'll be honest...sometimes it's really hard-""I know." I smirked, feeling saucy. "I can tell. I'm pretty much straddling you right now.""Really hard to stop, smart-ass," Brendan emphasized, giving me a playful squeeze before cocking an eyebrow at me.”

“I couldn't help it: Brendan was abs-olutely pec-tacular, horrible puns intended and very accurate.”

“- I was a tired mess. My eyes didn't just have bags - they had five-piece luggage sets.”

“I longed to know what it felt like to have one person eclipse everything bad in your life - be a place of pure joy.”

“What I was hungry for was sitting nonchalantly next to me on the couch.”

“The lightbulb is gone," she said awed. "Emma, you said, 'Lights, begone' and you literally made the lights be gone.""How do I get them back?" I asked, panicked. "What's the opposite of begone? Regone?”