“My mom beat me up," I informed my reflection. It looked back sympathetically.”

“What do you mean 'most of the damage happened to my face'?" She gestured to the mirror above the sink on the far side of the room. I ran over to it and looked at my reflection. "Son of a bitch!”

“I’d been raised to be practical and keep myemotions in check, but I loved cars. That was one of the fewlegacies I’d picked up from my mom. She was a mechanic,and some of my best childhood memories were of workingin the garage with her.”

“This dress makes me look fat," I told Jasmine as we stood near the back of the crowd and watched the last minute preperations fall into place. She glanced over at me and my efforts to rearrange the folds of my long, gauzy dress."Your pregnant," she stated. "Everything's supposed to make you look fat."I Scowled. "I think the correct reponse was 'No it doesn't.”

“I went to bed feeling melancholy, wishing I could havepoured out all my fears and insecurities to my mom. Wasn’tthat what normal mothers and daughters did?”

“I have my sources." Somehow, saying I'd heard it from my mom sounded less cool. "You've decided, right? I mean, it sounds like a good deal, seeing as she's going to give you fringe benefits..."He gave me a level look. "What happens between her and me is none of your business," he replied crisply.... Dimitri arched an eyebrow, then jerked his head back where we'd come from. "You hang out in his room a lot?" Several retorts popped into my head, and then a golden one took precedence. "What happens between him and me is none of your business." I managed a tone very similar to he one he'd used on me when making a similar comment about him and Tasha.”

“I'm serious. She asked me what my greatest strength was. I said getting along with people.""That's not bad," I admitted."Then she asked what my greatest weakness was. And I said, 'Where should I start?""Adrian!""Stop saying my name like that. I told her the truth. By the time I was on the fourth one, she told me I could go."I groaned and resisted the urge to beat my head on the steering wheel.”