“Sorry,” Kiersten says to Lake and I. “Mom says the FCC is responsible for inventing cusswords just for media shock value. She says if everyone would just use them enough, they wouldn’t be considered cusswords anymore and no one would ever be offended by them” This kid is hard to keep up with!“Your mother encourages you to cuss?” Gavin says.Kiersten nods. “I don’t see it that way. It’s more like she’s encouraging us to undermine a system flawed through overuse of words that are made out to be harmful, when in fact they’re just letters, mixed together like every other word. That’s all they are, mixed up letters. Like, take the word “butterfly” for example. What if someone decided one day that butterfly is a cussword? People would eventually start using butterfly as an insult, and to emphasize things in a negative way. The actual WORD doesn’t mean anything. It’s the negative association people give these words that make them cusswords. So if we all just decided to keep saying butterfly all the time, eventually people would stop caring. The shock value would subside…and it would just become another word again. Same with every other so-called bad word. If we would all just start saying them all the time, They wouldn’t be bad anymore. That’s what my mom says anyway.” “Kiersten?” Eddie says. “Will you be my new best friend?”Lake grabs a french fry off her plate and throws it at Eddie, hitting her in the face with it. “That’s Bullshit,” Lake says.“Oh, go BUTTERFLY yourself,” Eddie says. She returns a fry in Lakes direction.”

“P.P.S. AND YOU CAN TALK. "Just say the word." JUST SAY THE WORD? What kind of expression is that? WHAT WORD WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO SAY ANYWAY? MORON?Letter from Emily to Charles.”

“What would happen if you did just shut a door and stop speaking? Hour after hour after hour of no words. Would you speak to yourself? Would words just stop being useful? Would you lose language altogether? Or would words mean more, would they start to mean in every direction, all somersault and assault, like a thuggery of fireworks? Would they proliferate, like untended plantlife? Would the inside of your head overgrow with every word that has ever come into it, every word that has ever silently taken seed or fallen dormant? Would your own silence make other things noisier? Would all the things you’d ever forgotten, all layered there inside you, come bouldering up and avalanche you?”

“Butterfly.What a beautiful wordWhat a delicate creature.Delicate like the cruel words that flow right out of your mouths and the food that flies right out of your hands…Does it make you feel better?Does it make you feel good ?Does picking on a girl make you more of a man?Well, I’m standing up for myselfLike I should have done beforeI’m not putting up with your Butterfly anymore."(Kiersten slides the sack off her wrist and opens it, pulling out a handful of hand-made butterflies. She takes the microphone out of the stand and begins walking down the stairs as she continues speaking.)“I’d like to extend to others what others have extended to me.”(She walks up to Mrs. Brill first and holds out a butterfly)“Butterfly you, Mrs. Brill.”(Mrs. Brill smiles at her and takes the butterfly out of her hands. Lake laughs out loud and I have to nudge her to get her to be quiet. Kiersten walks around the room, passing out butterflies to several of the students, including the three from the lunchroom.)“Butterfly you, Mark.Butterfly you, Brendan.Butterfly you, Colby.”(When she finishes passing out the butterflies, she walks back onto the stage and places the microphone back into the stand.)“I have one thing to say to youAnd I’m not referring to the bulliesOr the ones they pursue.I’m referring to those of you that just stand byThe ones who don’t take up for those of us that cryThose of you who just…turn a blind eye.After all it’s not you it’s happening toYou aren’t the one being bulliedAnd you aren’t the one being rudeIt isn’t your hand that’s throwing the foodBut…it is your mouth not speaking upIt is your feet not taking a standIt is your arm not lending a handIt is your heartNot giving a damn.So take up for yourselfTake up for your friendsI challenge you to be someoneWho doesn’t give in.Don’t give in.Don’t let them win.”

“People use the word 'love' a lot of different ways. Take me, for instance. I am often heard saying that I love my mom and dad. I am also often heard saying that I love pizza. What am I saying when I say I love my mom and dad? I'm saying that I care about them. I'm saying that I love spending time with them and that I talk to them every chance I get. I'm saying that if they needed me, I would do every humanly possible to help them. I'm saying that I always want what's best for them. What am I saying when I say I love pizza? Am I saying that I care deeply about pizza? Am I saying that I have a relationship with pizza? Am I saying that if pizza had a problem, I would be there for the pizza? (What? Not enough pepperoni? I'll be right there!) Of course not. When I say I love pizza, I'm just saying that I enjoy eating pizza until I don't want any more pizza. Once I'm tired of the pizza, I don't care what happens to the rest of it. I'll throw it away. I'll feed it to the dog. I'll stick it in the back of the refrigerator until it gets all green and moldy. It doesn't matter to me anymore. These are two very different definition of the word 'love'. It gets confusing when people start talking about love, and especially about loving you. Which way do these people love you? Do they want what is best for you, or do they just want you around because it is good for them, and they don't really care what happens to you? Next time someone looks deeply into your eyes and says 'I love you', look very deeply right back and say, 'Would that be pizza love, or the real thing?”

“That Grace looked annoyed at me."I didn't say you would go to jail, Junie B.," she said. "I just wish you would say the word correctly, that's all.”