“In response to his question, she warned, "There will not be any more kissing. You were an excellent teacher. I graduated from your class."He laughed,though he was quick to rejoin, "How disappointing. You were supposed to claim ineptitude and ask for further guidance.”

“Any more questions?" I ask, poking him gently in the ribs."Do you still love me any?" Eliot asks, putting his hand over mine. "A little." "A little?" he asks, pulling away from me."A lot.""How much?" he asks."More than chocolate chip cookies.""Mmm" he says, kissing my shoulder."More than walking on the beach." Eliot kisses me on the neck."More than . . ." I pause, turning to look at him."More than?" he asks, kissing my lips.I turn toward him. "Anything.”

“If you skip one class, everyone knows about it. The teacher will track you down, or one of the guidance counselors will track you down and ask if you're smoking pot. According to the geniuses running this place, the only reason you would skip class is if you're smoking pot, though I actually find my classes more enjoyable when I'm high.”

“I sent a quick text to Adrian: I have a hickey! You can’t ever kiss me again. I honestly hadn’t expected him to be awake this early, so I was surprised to get a response: Okay. I won’t kiss you on your neck again.So typical of him. No! You can’t ever kiss me ANYWHERE. You said you were going to keep your distance.I’m trying, he wrote back. But you won’t keep your distance from me.I didn’t dignify that with a response.”

“A Kiss," said Mogget sleepily. "Actually, just a breath would do. But you have to start kissing someone sometime, I suppose.""A breath?" she asked. She didn't want to kiss just any wooden man. He looked nice enough, but he might not be like his looks. A kiss seemed too forward.”

“Teachers wondered why I didn't speak up more in class. Why would I when I knew how precarious words could be, how betraying they were, how vulnerable they made you?”