“It's just so hard to feel good, you know?" I do know. And more than that, it's just so incredibly hard to feel.”

“Always before, I just said no, left it solidly there. I waver now. I want to share everything with him. Want to know what he knows, feel what he feels, share the same space he's in.”

“So you want to know all about me. WhoI am.What chance meeting of brush and canvas paintedthe faceyou see? What made me despise the girlin the mirrorenough to transform her,turn her to into a stranger,only not. So you want to hear the whole story. WhyI swervedoff the high road,hard left to nowhere,recklesslyindifferent to those coughing my dust,picked up speed no limits,no top end,just a high velocity rush to madness.”

“It is hard to believe that something that seems so permanent was once so different. Change. I guess that really is one thing you can count on...”

“Crank, You See isn't any ordinary monster. It's like a giant octopus, weaving its tentacles not just around you, but through you, squeezing not hard enough to kill you, but enough to keep you from reeling until you try to get away. Try, and you hunger for it grasping clutch, the way its tendrils prop you up, your need intensifying exponentially every minute you refuse to admit its being (p.469)”

“Love means holding on to someone just as hard as you can because if you don't, one blink and they might disappear...forever.”

“School used to be an escape. Now it's just another place with too much pressure, too much confrontation, & so not enough joy.”