He wiped away the tears, tenderly, and I forgot to weep as he told me silently everything I always wanted to hear.

Okay. I'll deal with Benjamin. You're safe, okay? Nothing's gonna happen." His mouth pulled tight against itself. And now I was having some sort of heart attack. Because when he looked at me like that, my chest started to feel like it was turned inside out. "Promise." And that—the promise, the way he said it with utter certainty—was enough to make me tear up again.

Are you listening, little bird?

I'm getting really tired of bleeding. Someone stop the world, I want to get off.

I got the idea she'd done her makeup up special for this. Not that she needed much. She was utterly and completely beautiful, except for the hate shining in her eyes.

I wasn't sure if the word boys should mean dim or incomprehensible. I was hovering between the two, with a healthy dose of testosterone-poisoned.

I'd kind of expected that kids who knew about the Real World wouldn't act like jock dipwads. Guess I was wrong.