“Love is graphable!" Colin said defensively. "Right. Because relationships are so predictable, right?”

“Of course, sweetie," his mom said. "We'll be here all day. You just come down whenever you want and we love you and you're so so special, Colin, and you can't possibly let this girl make you think otherwise because you are the most magnificent, brilliant boy-" And right then, the most special, magnificent, brilliant boy bolted into his bathroom and puked his guts out. An explosion, sort of.”

“As the staggered lines rushed past him, the space between what we predict and what will happen. And in that space, Colin thought, there was room enough to reinvent himself.”

“Either way,though, we must remember that this is a dangerous sport."Right, Colin thought. We have guns and the pigs have snouts. Dangerous, indeed.”

“It pains me to say this, Colin, but if you wish to continue to grow intellectually, you need to work harder right now than you ever have before. Otherwise you, you risk wasting your potential." "Technically," Colin answered, "I think I might have already wasted it.”

“Colin emphatically pushed the book cover shut when he finished reading. "Did you like it?" His dad asked."Yup," Colin said. He liked all books, because he liked the mere act of reading, the magic of turning scratches on a page into words inside his head.”

“Okay, so anagrams. That’s one. Got any other charming talents?” she asked, and now he felt confident.Finally, Colin turned to her, gathering in his gut the slim measure of courage available to him, and said, “Well, I’m a fair kisser.”