“Have some pride, will ya? Begging someone to like you is so pathetic.”

“I couldn't loose somebody else like that, without even the chance to say good-bye. Not again. Not her.”

“Do you have any idea who Erin was kissing?""Yeah, so we'll brush out teeth really, really thoroughly afterwards," I said, bumping her nose with mine gently. I wasn't going to let anyone spoil this moment.”

“Nice. I like a little desperation ina guy. It builds character.”

“What happened to you?" she asked."Ben was feeling artistic. Wanted to rearrange my face.”

“At least I graduated," he muttered, stabbing the key in and unlocking the door. I sucked in a breath. "I think dying was a little out of my control, thank you very much.""If you say so". He shrugged, but I saw the corner of his mouth turn up into a faint smile.”

“The trouble with rules, though, is that you'll always be tempted to break one- for the right reasons, due to unavoidable circumstances, because it feels as if there's no other choice. And once you break one, the rest seem like so much broken glass. The damage is already done.”

“So what did it matter where she came from? Who-or what-her parents were? Everyone's family was messed up in some way including my own. And she was still the same Ariane.”

“Pretending to feel something you don't can often lead you to the real thing, in some form.”

“So it turns out that late-night flashes of brilliance often look a little less brilliant in the bright light of morning.”

“That was, in fact, my life. A whole series of reasonable lies.”