“Fuck was the best word. The most dangerous word. You couldn't whisper it. Fuck was always too loud, too late to stop it, it burst in the air above you and fell slowly right over your head. There was total silence, nothing but Fuck floating down. For a few seconds you were dead, waiting for Henno to look up and see Fuck landing on top of you. They were thrilling seconds-when he didn't look up. It was a word you couldn't say anywhere. It wouldn't come out unless you pushed it. It made you feel caught and grabbed you the minute you said it. When it escaped it was like an electric laugh, a soundless gasp followed by the kind of laughing only forbidden things could make, an inside tickle that became a brilliant pain, bashing at your mouth to be let out. It was agony. We didn't waste it.”

“Sometimes, when you were thinking about something, trying to understand it, it opened up in your head without you expecting it to, like it was a soft spongy light unfolding, and you understood, it made sense forever…”

“If you were going to be best friends with anyone - Kevin - you had to hate a lot of other people, the two of you, together. It made you better friends.”

“It was a sign of growing up, when the dark made no more difference to you than the day.”

“She's a pot-of-tea-before-I-say-boo-to-you woman. There's always a pile of warm teabags in the sink when I come down, like what a horse would leave behind.”

“Georgie: I feel stupid.Andrew: What are you talking about, you feel stupid? You just walked in here and insulted me for ten minutes.Georgie: That was different. I was mad.Andrew: You have to be mad to talk?Georgie: No, come on—I don't know—Andrew: I could make you mad.Georgie: No, you couldn't. You're too nice.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: —Andrew—Andrew: Fuck you. Come on. Fuck you.Georgie: Yeah, fuck you too.Andrew: Fuck you.Georige: Fuck you.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: You look really stupid saying fuck you—Andrew: Fuck you. Fuck you! Fuck you.Georgie: Andrew, stop it. Cut it out. It sounds weird when you say it. You shouldn't talk like that.Andrew: You talk like that all the time!Georgie: I'm different. I mean, I know how to swear. You don't. It's like, fuck you. Fuck you. Or, you know, fuck you. It's just—you know. You got to know how to say it.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: Forget it. You look really stupid. You look the way I look when I try to talk like you.Andrew: You've tried it? Really? I must have missed that day.Georgie: Oh, fuck you.”

“Tiger and mountain lion. Fuck you. Fuck you for getting me out. You should have shot me. But you didn't have the guts to do it. Too weak. You just didn't care enough. You waited two years, and then you fucking stopped caring and tore out my fucking heart. Come on. Promises, Dan. Keep them. Cut it out. If you're a man.”