Jewels, lies, slips of paper, dried flowers, memories of thing long past, useless quotations, idle hands, beads, buttons, and mischief.

He runs to the sink to spit it out. I grin. There’s nothing quite as funny as someone else’s misery.

The row of dolls watched her impassively from the bookshelf, their tea party propriety almost certainly offended.

Holly: Seriously, you don't like unicorns? What kind person doesn't like unicorns? Justine: What kind of a person doesn't like zombies? What have zombies ever done to you? Holly: Zombies shamble. I disapprove of shambling. And they have bits that fall off. You never see a unicorn behaving that way. Justine: I shamble. Bits fall off me all the time: hair, skin cells. Are you saying you disapprove of me?

If you keep it," Daneca says, "he'll have his claws in you." Everyone has their claws in me. Everyone.

He let out a hiss of pain,then smiled that crooked, sheepish smile he always fell back on when he was caught doing something bad. "Sorry. I-I didn't mean to. I just- I've been lying here for hours, thinking about blood.

Boys never believe I can beat them, she told me back then. But I always win in the end.