“We linked hands—my ex-boyfriend, my boyfriend, and my former friend-then-enemy-then friend and I—and walked through a door to see if maybe empty carbs were good for something after all.”

“Okay. What do I have to do?”“Unless you plan on creating a door and walking the Paths alone, you really ought to take my hand.”“I mean when we get there, you jerk.”

“Planning is not my friend. Impulse is.”

“Are you okay?"I sighed,my sodden coat chilling me to the bone. "Peachy.Made a new friend."He pulled me up by the hand,unzipping my coat and yanking it off me. "Shirt,too,please.""No!""It's only fair. I seem to recall you making me strip the first time we met.”

“What were you thinking,sending that rabid monkey child to my school?" I shouted into my communicator."Beg pardon?" Raquel asked."Jack.My school.The girls' locker room. Ring any bells? If Carlee hadn't sworn to my ogre of a gym teacher that Jack was neither my boyfriend nor my brother, I probably would have been suspended!""Your gym teacher is an ogre?""Focus!If I get suspended,my grades take a hit. If my grades take a hit, I might not get into Georgetown. And I will get into Georgetown.""I'm pleased to see you finally taking ownership of your education. And I'm sorry about Jack;I asked him to contact you discreetly.""That boy wouldn't know discreet if it tap--danced on his stupid blond head.""Still,if this discreet were tap dancing,it wouldn't be very discreet,now, would it?”

“How did you learn? To use the Paths, I mean?"His mouth twisted into an impish grin. "Don't let my good looks fool you. I'm terribly clever."I rolled my eyes. "Clearly. But you still shouldn't be abot to use te Paths."He shrugged, standing. "Watch and wait long enough, want something bad enough, and you can figure out a way to make it happen. I make a lot of things happen." Smiling enigmatically, he reached out a hand to my wall. "I'll pick you up later?""I haven't agreed to anything!" I narrowed me eyes."Of course," he said, distracted as he focused on the white lines snaking out to make a door. "So, I'll pick you up later, then.""No! Don't you listen to anything? Tell Raquel I'm not going to-"Before I could finish my sentence he walked through the faerie door, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Girls are annoying."The wall formed again behind him, becoming the innocent recipient of my withering glare.Jack might look my age, but he was like a little kid on a sugar high-in need of a good spanking.Good heavens, that sounded creepy.”

“I had just lot my best friend, barely escaped having my life sucked out by a psychotic burning girl, committed treason and nearly gotten the guy I liked killed by a crazy faerie. What were hairy legs compared to that?”