“Someone always says, 'Kids are mean.' 'Kids will be kids.' Which implies that the kid bullies will grow out of it someday." The muscles in his jaw tightened. His stare was unfocused and far away. "I don't think they do. I think kid bullies turn into adult bullies.”

“Rubbish. The Taj Mahal is only a hundred eighty-six square feet. This house has twenty-five thousand."I stared at him blankly."I was kidding," he said.I stared at him blankly."All right, I wasn't kidding. Let's go, shall we.?""After you, my liege.”

“Have you made any other friends since we've been here?"I gave him the death stare. "Yes, actually.""Who? I want a name.""Jamie Roth.""The Ebola kid? I heard he's a little unstable.""That was one incident.”

“But you know what their real problem with me was? I never wanted to be one of them. That’s what bothers bullies the most.”

“Bullies only bully other kids because their life is not great.”

“What if the kid you bullied at school, grew up, and turned out to be the only surgeon who could save your life?”

“And I thought that all those little kids are going to grow up someday. And all of those little kids are going to do the things that we do. And they will all kiss someone someday. But for now, sledding is enough. I think it would be great if sledding were always enough, but it isn't.”