“I’m so confused it almost feels calm.”

“Psychologically, I’m very confused… But personally, I don’t feel bad at all.”

“There was a beautiful feeling of calm in my groin, a sense of peace so remarkable it was almost ecstasy——anyone who' suffered bad pain and then recovered will know what I'm talking about.”

“I cannot control my feelings of disappointment, rage, or sadness. When I am confused, I look confused. I’d be a hopeless spy. The other side of the coin is that when I’m happy I laugh my head off, I smile at strangers; when I’m content I radiate calmness. There is a third side of the coin: my brick-wall face. That is reserved only for when heady emotions are turned my way. I don’t like that at all.”

“I started to feel calm,almost, almost convinced that I was really the kind of girl who could swim with sharks.And then a trio swam directly toward us.”

“But I’m not calm. It’s all a lie.” Quinn held Katie closer, breathing faster. “It’s just that when everybody else is screaming, somebody has to be mature and unemotional, so I have these brain-dead moments where I don’t react the way any sane human being would. I stay completely calm and ignore my feelings and compromise and make everything work again. And I’m not going to do that anymore. From now on, I’m going to be Zoe. Screw calm. Somebody else is going to have to do mature because I’m going to be selfish and get what I want.”