“While I was trying to write, I was trying to grow.”

“Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.”

“I try to be like a forest: revitalizing and constantly growing.”

“I guess he sees the mortified look on my face-Can I get a little bedside manner here?-because he awkwardly pats the sides of my arms and tried to smile.”

“It was awful," I tell Luke at his locker. It's on the other side of the hall and I really feel like the air is cleaner over here or something. I almost suffocated trying to stuff my book bag into my own locker, squeezed right between Kimi and her voluptuousness and Wolf and his sexual-awakening-me-ness.”

“They all babble on about "state" and "formations" and "tumbling" while I smile and nod. When in doubt, smile and nod.”

“I don't know, I can't quite get it.""Don't try. It's just words.""Just words?""Just words! We love them so much, you and me. But in the end, they fail us. Because there are truths beyond words.”