“I ran my big toe over the faucet, which was made to look like a golden swan. I guess it was supposed to be classy, but it just looked like the swan was vomiting water into the tub,which was a pretty gross thought.”

“She was wearing a bright purple dress that was so short, I thought it might have started its life as a shirt. She would've been pretty if her face hadn't looked like she'd just taken a big swig of sour milk.”

“He raised an eyebrow, which made me totally jealous. I've never been able to do that. I always just end up raising both of them and looking surprised or scared instead of sardonic.”

“How stupid, I thought dreamily, to have ever thought I could give this up. Not just the kissing, although, as Archer’s hands cupped my face, I had toadmit that part was pretty awesome. But all of it: joking with him and working beside him. Being with a guy who was my friend and could stil makeme feel like this.”

“I usually make it a point not to cry in front of people, especially hot boys that I'd been totally crushing on before they'd tried to choke me.But for some reason, hearing that there was yet another thing I didn't know just sent me right on over the edge.Archer,to his credit, didn't look exactly horrified by my sobbing, and he even reached out like he might grab hold of my shoulders.Or possibly smack me.But before he could either comfort me or commit further acts of violence upon my person,I spun away from him and made my drama queen moment complete by running away.It wasn't pretty.”

“Jenna and I had spent one very boring Magical Evolution class speculating on what her e-mail address might be. Jenna thought it was probably something dull, like just her name, but my personal vote (and a ten-dollar bet) was for [email protected]. I guess now I could find out.”

“Hey,”he said, taking in my disheveled appearance. “Why are you up so early?”“Oh, I was just, you know, exercising.”I jogged in place for a second before realizing that I probably looked like a mental patient.”