“A sea of people in red crowded around it. I looked atMallory’s black hoodie and my gray sweater and realized we’d forgotten to wear the school colors. Oh, well. There was always my hair.”

“Well, color me impressed.”

“Well, I can feel superior for my good deed.” I flashed him a smile. “How’s that for a selfish reason?”

“Welcome to Lorelei's." A saleslady glided up to us. She had white foundation pancaked skin, and went heavy on the eyeliner and red lipstick. She wore a corset that barely contained...I'm gonna say it...her swelling bosom. If she had to sneeze, I was covering my eyes because even a slight cough could pop one of those suckers free.”

“I hate procrastinating, so much so that I often do my homework on Friday so it won’t be hanging over my head all weekend long. The goodthing is, my (nonexistent) social life doesn’t usually interfere with this quirk of mine.”

“I knew about loyalty about putting family before all others. I'd already learned some things I'd do to protect my own. I'd withold infomation from the police. I'd use people. I'd lie. If pushed hard........how far would I go.”

“Perry would disown me for wearing a Yankees sweatshirt, but he would never know, and I was too cold to care about team loyalty.”