“...but she's my tangent girl and I'll follow her if this is where she wants to go.”

“The Empress will follow where you go," she said."So she will," Mat said. "As I'll follow where she goes, I suppose. I hope that doesn't lead us in too many circles.”

“But she had long ago learned that when she wandered into the realm of fancy she must go alone. The way to it was by an enchanted path where not even her dearest might follow her.”

“I want to go home.' The moment the smell hit her, the words came into her head. She didn't know exactly what home it was she wanted to go to, certainly not the one she'd just left. But why didn't she want to go back there? And where did she want to go? She felt lost.”

“What do you want to show me?""Nothing, really. I just want to be alone with you for a minute." He pulled her to the back of the driveway, where they were almost completely hidden by a line of trees and the RV and the garage."Seriously?" she said. "That was so lame.""I know," he said, turning to her. "Next time, I'll just say, 'Eleanor, follow me down this dark alley, I want to kiss you.'"She didn't roll her eyes. She took a breath, then closed her mouth. He was learning how to catch her off guard.She pushed her hands deeper in her pockets, so he put his hands on her elbows. "Next time," he said, "I'll just say, 'Eleanor, duck behind these bushes with me, I'm going to lose my mind if I don't kiss you.'"She didn't move, so he thought it was probably okay to touch her face. Her skin was as soft as it looked, white and smooth as freckled porcelain."I'll just say, 'Eleanor, follow me down this rabbit hole...'"He laid his thumb on her lips to see if she'd pull away. She didn't. He leaned closer. He wanted to close his eyes, but he didn't trust her not to leave him standing there.”

“Fine, I'll teach you,''Besides, there's only so many times a girl wants to fall on her butt in front of the boy she's out to impress.”