“Oh,umm Arianna,this is Jack.He, uh, well, what did he tell you?""He said he was here to inspect the beds. I figured he was one of your old friends.”

“What did he say? You can't always pick your friends. Well, he's damn right there. I have two friends here: a fifteen year old who sees people in colours and a salsa-mad Dutch woman. I didn't pick them, they just turned up in my life, and I'm really glad.”

“He opened the front door and Gwen said, “Lock?”He stopped immediately. “Yeah?” Did he have to sound so eager when he was the one making the decision to go? Damn him! “Uh…could you leave him here? He kind of comes with the place.” Frowning, Lock glanced down. “Oh, jeez!”Oh, jeez?“Sorry about that.” He immediately dropped the lion he’d dragged from the couch to the door, back to the couch, and back to the door. “Habit. Usually I bat my prey around until they stop fighting and drag them off to the brush to…well…you know.” He looked down at Mitch. “Sorry about that…uh…”“Mitch,” she told him. “Mitch. Right. Sorry about that, Mitch. And nice to meet you.”

“What did your mother do?" he said."Sir?""When it was time for bed," said the King. "Tell me."The girls exchanged nervous glances. He was talking about Mother."She used to help the girls with their prayers," said Azalea, hesitant. "And-sometimes she would read stories."The King set the sword on the table, next to the vase."Very well," he said as the girls whispered to one another. "I will read you a story."The whispering stopped.”

“Your father," Luke said, "what did he say to you when you saw him? What did he promise you?""Oh, you know. The usual. A lifetime's supply of Knicks tickets.”

“Well, I hate to tell you this," she said, "but your friend is an asshole.""He's not my friend," said Simon. "And I couldn't agree with you more, actually."-Maia & Simon about Jace, pg.49-”