“There was a silence. Then Paul looked at Alex.'She knows Chesterton.''She lives,' said Alex.”

“NO PDA,school rules. And besides she's my partner dickhead." said Alex.”

“ You would be forgiven for thinking Alex Morningside was a boy. In fact, she would be the first to laugh at this, because, for one thing, she wasn't, and for another, she had an Excellent Sense of Humour. It wasn't that she wanted to be a boy or anything, it was simply that she didn't see much difference in being treated as a girl or boy. Because, after all, everyone is just people. One of the reasons people thought she was a boy was her haircut. Her haircut looked like someone had put a bowl on her head and cut around it. Which is exactly what her uncle had done. Also, they thought she was a boy because her name was Alex. Of course, Alex was short for Alexandra, but neither Alex nor her uncle liked that very much, so they shortened the name. They could have shortened it the other was I suppose - Andra - but she and her uncle preferred Alex.”

“she thinks about lying in here with alex, of the tangle of arms and rope, or lips. ”

“You can't tell me you're not cold in those shorts.""Freezing," she admitted, handing Alex her messenger bag as she got to her feet. "But dammit, I look cute and we both know that's what counts.""Naturally.”

“She looked, thought Alex, like one of those wooden Russian dolls - pop off her head and a slightly smaller version would be revealed.”