“He nodded, brushed hair off my face, and headed from the kitchen. "I hate being a teenager.""Why?""Hormones." With a sad half smile, he left.”

“I hate being a teenager.""Why?""Hormones." With a sad half smile, he left.”

“I'd give anything to make things right for you." He caressed my cheek, my hair, my back. Everywhere he touched, the angry fires cooled. I wished he'd touch my heart. "But I can't. I can help, but the hard work is all up to you. If you don't feel real, no one else can do it for you. I promise, though you've always felt real to me. From the moment I saw you jump off the cliff.""Sometimes I feel like I'm still jumping off the cliff.”

“You don't listen do you? Go away." ..."You don't listen," he said.Why wouldn't he just leave? I was going to burn up, anyway, with fire creeping up my arms to consume me. My eyes ached with fresh tears. I hated crying."But if you listened," he murmured, "I'd be dead.”

“I had to drop my head back to meet his eyes, and the way he said my name--it was the same reverence people used in their prayers to Janan.”

“Breathing in the scent of his hair, I realized I'd needed him my whole life, before we even met. First, his music and the way he taught me through books and recordings. Then, he saved my life and refused to abandon me no matter how much I deserved it.”

“Why couldn't Sam really be a boy my age, with no more experience than I had? No past lives, past loves.Why couldn't he be only for me?”