“I didn't ever think you were a freak. I think...I thought you were magic or something. I thought that you were too perfect to be real.”

“Sam: "I always thought you were the most beautiful of all the Nephilim."Meg: "That's ironic because I always thought you were the ugliest of all the angels.”

“That's ironic, because I always thought you were the ugliest out of all the angels.”

“You’re not . . . normal, Clara. You try to pretend you are. But you’re not. You talked to a grizzly bear, and it obeyed you. Birds follow you like a Disney cartoon, or haven’t you noticed? And for a while after you came back from Idaho Falls, Wendy thought you were on the run from someone or something. You’re good at everything you try. You ride a horse like you were born in the saddle, you ski perfect parallel turns your first time on the hill, you apparently speak fluent French and Korean and who knows what else. Yesterday I noticed that your eyebrows kind of glitter in the sun. And there’s something about the way you move, something that’s beyond graceful, something that’s beyond human, even. It’s like you’re . . . something else.”

“I think you must be some kind of a freak. Either that or you’re trying toconvert me to your secret horse religion.”“Darn, you got me,” she says theatrically. “You thwarted my evil plan.”

“What were you supposed to do?" he asks in an amused voice."Save you. Only I wasn't actually supposed to do that, was I?""That's the hardest part," he says. " The absence of certainty.”

“Oh right. What about Wendy?" I ask "What about her?" "It's her birthday, too. I'm the worst friend ever. I should have sent her something. Did you exchange gifts?" "Not yet." He turns toward me. "But she gave me the perfect gift." The way he's looking at me sends butterflies into my stomach. "What?" "You.”