“But Aoi found it impossible to fully open herself up to any of hernew friends. She could laugh with them, rant with them, even playat falling in love with them. But there remained a certain line she was loath to let anybody cross, and if someone tried to come closerthan that, she hastily erected a wall, not answering the phone andstaying away from classes until a more comfortable distance reasserteditself.”

“She edged away from him, trying to put a greater distance between herself and Creepy McCreeperson. She bent down, careful not to let her eyes leave him, and plucked up a hairbrush from where it had fallen on her floor. She held it at arm’s length in front of herself, a stupid weapon feeling better than no weapon at all. At the very least, she could give him style.”

“She likes herself, yet others hates / For that which in herself she prizes; And, while she laughs at them, forgets / She is the thing that she despises.”

“She could recall almost nothing of them. She tried a thousand times, but for the greater part that section of her memory was as smooth and numb as scar tissue. Sometimes, just sometimes, she convinced herself that she could remember stray images or impressions, but she could not describe them properly or make sense of them.”

“She existed in her friends; there she was. All the parts of herself she'd forgotten. She knew herself best when she was with them.”

“The phone was her worst enemy and her best friend but she never knew which until she answered it.”