“MY MOUTH OPENED.Way to go, Clare. Way to impress the mother of a prospective boyfriend. Moms love their boys to date psycho overprotective girls.”

“Mom turned but did a double take. "Where did you get that necklace from?"I touched the pendant. "A friend.""A boy?"Yikes. "He's a friend who's a boy."Her mouth twitched in amusement and her gaze left the necklace. "First roses, and now a necklace? Are you sure Landon isn't you boyfriend?""This wasn't from him, Mom.""So you have two boyfriends?""No, Mom!" I almost shouted. "Neither of them is my boyfriend. Trust me. They're just boys who are friends. No connecting of words going on... or connecting of anything else, for that matter."She stared at me. "Hmm." Then she left my room. She was so weird sometimes.”

“No,” Isabella said. “I’ve been out to eat with boys who were my boyfriend, but that’s not dating. That’s just parallel eating.”

“No dates until you're sixteen. And no boyfriends, either.' I'm not quite sure how to tell Mom, but it looks like I don't just have one boyfriend. I have two.”

“I've never been on a date before," Isabella said to Mary as she got ready that night. "You've been on plenty of dates," Mary said. "No," Isabella said. "I've been out to eat with boys who were my boyfriend, but that's not dating. That's just parelle eating.”

“It’s an age old story … Boy meets girl. Boy asks girl to touch him inappropriately. Girl dazzles boy with her impressive knowledge and proper use of profanity.”