“Hi," I call as he walks out. "Hi, Rosie. I told Charlie we were camping before New Year's." I think about that for a second. "You told her we were going, or you invited her to come?" "Shit,”
“So I saw Beth today. She asked me how you were doing. Sounded like she wants you back.""We were over months ago.""You mind if I ask her out, then?""You mind if I spray a piece on the side of your gran's house?”
“I didn’t tell her what I’d done; I told her he wasn’t who I thought he’d be. Mum stroked my hair and said, "Sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes they make you vomit.”
“I come out of the bathroom and the first thing I see is Ed. Okay, it was a long shot, but I was half hoping he would cease to exist while we were gone.”
“How can I explain to her that I just can't come home? It's too soon, it's too late; I do want to be with Helen every second of the day but at the same time I don't want to be with her at all. I want to have back what I felt at the beginning. I could no more leave her then than leave my arms or legs. How do you find the beginning, though? There are no roads or signs. You start to doubt it even exists. The hardest thing isn't deciding that I want to go back to when Helen and Gracie and I were us. The most difficult thing is finding the map to get there.”
“I can't tell Beth about me being Shadow. She'd get uptight about me doing something she thinks is dangerous."That's not why you won't tell her. You won't tell her because what's on that wall is what's going on in there." He tapped my head.”
“I told her yeah, but there was no skin on my voice and she heard the bones in my words like I did. And I knew.”