“Do you like foreign films?”“With subtitles?”“Yes.”“I hate those types of films.”“Me too,” Cliff says. “Mostly because - ““No happy endings.”

“Maybe my movie isn't over, I say, because sometimes moviemakers trick the audience with a false bad ending, and just when you think the movie is going to end badly, something dramatic happens, which leads to the happy ending. This seems like a good spot for something dramatic to happen, especially since it's my birthday.”

“...but Cliff keeps pushing for the truth like therapists do, because they all have some sort of psychic ability that allows them to see through your lies, and therefore they know you will eventually tire of the talking game and will offer up the truth.”

“I believe in happy endings," I tell him, "And it feels like this movie has gone on for the right amount of time.”

“Instead he thinks up the worst ending imaginable: Hemingway has Catherine die fromhemorrhaging after their child is stillborn. It is the most torturous ending I have everexperienced and probably will ever experience in literature, movies, or even television.I am crying so hard at the end, partly for the characters, yes, but also because Nikkiactually teaches this book to children. I cannot imagine why anyone would want toexpose impressionable teenagers to such a horrible ending. Why not just tell high schoolstudents that their struggle to improve themselves is all for nothing?”

“But the next time Nikki eats too many crabby snacks, I am going to tell her she did not eat too much and that she looks too skinny anyway; I'll say she needs to gain a few pounds because I like my women looking like women and not like 'Ms. Six O'Clock-straight up, straight down,' which is another term I learned from Danny.”

“I nod and I promise I will report any hallucinations to my mother, but I do not really believe I will hallucinate no matter what type of drugs he gives me, especially since I know he will not be giving me LSD or anything like that. I figure weaker people probably complain about their drugs, but I am not weak and I can control my mind pretty well.”