“She was wearing a purple T-shirt, with a skinny black dress over it that made you remember how much of a girl she was, and trashed black boots that made you forget.”

“It wasn't about how she looked, which was pretty, even though she was always wearing the wrong clothes and those beat-up sneakers. It wasn't about what she said in class--usually something no one else would've thought of, and if they had, something they wouldn't have dared to say. It wasn't that she was different from all the other girls at Jackson. That was obvious. It was that she made me realize how much I was just like the rest of them, even if I wanted to pretend I wasn't.”

“Lena made a face. She almost never wore makeup; she didn't have to. "You know, it's not like we all sign a contract with Maybelline when we turn thirteen.”

“Mortals. Everything is so black and white to you.”

“The new girl looked up and caught me looking at her.I looked away, but it wasbto late. I tried not to smile, but I was embarrassed, and that only made me smile more. she didn't seem to notice.”

“What are you thinking?She smiled.I think you can figure it out. You can read the writing on the wall.And as she said it, there was writing on the wall. It appeared slowly, one word at a time.You'renottheonlyonefalling.It wrote itself out, in the same curling black script as the rest of the room. Lena's cheeks flushed a little, and she covered her face with her hands. "It's going to be really embarrassing if everything I think starts showing up on the walls.""You didn't mean to do that?""No."You don't need to be embarrassed, L.I pulled her hands away.Because I feel the same way about you.”

“There was no one color that could paint Lena Duchannes. She was a red sweater and a blue sky, a gray wind and a silver sparrow, a black curl escaping from behind her ear.”