Wendelin Van Draanen Quotes

The room fell quiet. And as I read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eight-grade boys, I realized that to me, there had only ever been one boy.

You never forget your first love.

Turn down a chance to feel magic for fear of a little dirt?

I'll ride my bike all the stinkin' way to school for the rest of eternity if it means being with her. -Bryce

A million dollars sounds like a lot, I know. Especially when you're young. But you can't let money erode your principles or you'll wind up with nothing.

My heart stopped. It just stopped beating. And for the first time in my life, I had that feeling. You know, like the world is moving all around you, all beneath you, all inside you, and you're floating. Floating in midair. And the only thing keeping you from drifting away is the other person's eyes. They're connected to yours by some invisible physical force, and they hold you fast while the rest of the world swirls and twirls and falls completely away.

I miss school. What’s wrong with me?

What he did to my heart was sheer, inexplicable, magic.

But in my heart I knew the old Bryce was toast. There was no going back. Not to Garrett or Shelly or Miranda or any of the other people who wouldn't understand. Juli was different, but after all these years that didn't bother me anymore. I liked it. I liked her.

I fell asleep that night thinking about the kiss that might have been. What did a kiss feel like, anyway? Somehow I knew it wouldn’t be like the one I got from Mom or Dad at bedtime. The same species, maybe, but a radically different beast, to be sure. Like a wolf and a whippet – only science would put them on the same tree.

(Actually now I’m remembering that the goodbye chow isn’t spelled that way. It’s ciao or something weird like that. It’s Italian, right? But I’m not an Italian gypsy, I’m a hungry gypsy. So spelling it chow makes total sense.)

...Next time you're faced with a choice, do the right thing. It hurts everyone less in the long run.

I had liked him for all the wrong reasons.

What I'm expecting is for you to behave like the gentleman I always thought you were.

Sometimes the things we really want are right in front of us. We just don't see them.

Get beyond his eyes and his smile and the sheen of his hair - look at what's really there.

As much as thinking this upsets me, I'm starting to see that I need the merry-go-round much more than it needs me, and in the end my choice is to hop back on or get left in the dust.

To by held above the earth and be brushed by the wind," she said,"it's like your heart has been kissed by beauty.

You can't dwell on what might have been...and it's not fair to condemn him for something he hasn't done.

It's funny how you can think you know someone pretty well, and then something happens or they do something that makes you understand that you didn't really know them at all.

There's no winning arguments with your parents

I just need some time to get over all those years of having liked him

I am a runner. That's what I do. That's who I am. Running is all I know, or want, or care about.

There was other stuff, too, like how something can be so much more than the parts it took to make it, and why people need things around them that lift them above their lives and make them feel the miracle of living.

Blue Face Disgusting taste Flush it Shush it Cold disgrace

...and I realized that Garrett was right about one thing- I had flipped. Completely.