“Hey, precious.” A pretty brunette slid to Tristan’s side out of the blue.Precious? Who does she think she is? Gollum?”

“Chloe scoffed. "Excuse me, but if this place reeks of body odor, it’s not because of me. I am not the one with the shirt soaked in sweat here." She glanced at me.My cheeks burned. It was one of those moments where you wished the earth could rip open and swallow you whole."Oh, that’s why I can see your bra," Vincent pointed out, looking at my chest. "Nice boobs by the way."I looked down and almost had a heart attack. In the haste, I’d put a white top over a black bra.”

“Oh, you have to hear this,” Nick suddenly said with a grin. “Look for the house where the dog is barking.”I reached out and listened. “They’re going to kick out the dog from the house?” I arched my eyebrow.“Not ‘they’, her. The little fella peed on her new, expensive shoes, so she’s freaking out.” He laughed.“Talk about overreacting.”“It’s a woman. What would you expect?”

“He stopped, resting his forehead on mine. “Kalista…” He sighed, cupping one side of my face. We remained like that, close to each other, waiting for our bated breaths to steady for countless minutes. Our lips warm and puffy from our kiss.He looked at me. “Your lips taste better than I imagined, like cherry,” he said, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip.He’d imagined our kiss. “That’s because of my cherry chapstick,” I smiled.He pulled me closer, looking down at my lips. “I doubt it,” he whispered in a low voice.”

“So…if you happened to be in Belle’s position, could you love a…beast?” “No,” I said, immediately. He looked away, disappointed for some reason.“Good, that’s…very wise,” he said, fixing his eyes on the windshield. “I would love his heart,” I confessed.”

“Finally, the lock clicked and she tugged the secret door open. A rotten stench hit her like a fist. She drew away. The boy at her side recoiled, afraid. Sarah fell to her knees. Sarah could not speak, she could only quiver, her fingers covering her eyes, her nose, blocking out the smell.....She sank to her knees again and she screamed at the top of her lungs, she screamed, for her mother, for her father, screamed for Michel.”

“She couldn't imagine why there was such a difference between those children and her. She couldn't imagine why she and all these other people with her had to be treated this way. Who decided this, and what for?”