“Don't cry."
"How can I not?" I asked him. "You just said you loved me."
"Well, why else did you think all of this was happening?" He set the book aside to wrap his arms around me. "The Furies wouldn't be trying to kill you if I didn't love you."
"I didn't know," I said. Tears were trickling down my cheeks, but I did nothing to try to stop them. His shirt was absorving most of them. "You never said anything about it. Every time I saw you, you just acted so... wild."
"How was I supposed to act?" he asked. "You kept doing things like throwing tea in my face.”
“But really, the term “forgive and forget” doesn’t make sense to me. Forgiving does allow us to stop dwelling on an issue, which isn’t always healthy. But if we forget, we don’t learn from our mistakes. And that can be deadly.”
“Anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Anything at all.
One.
Two.
Three.
Blink.”
“And eternity is a long time. So if you have to spend it with someone I could see wanting to spend it with someone impossible...but interesting....”
“Why would John bother using windows or doors like a normal person? Why would he bother to say hello? Just poof. Crunch. Bye.”
“No Hello.
No Hi, Pierce. Nice right hook you have there.
No It's lovely to see you. Sorry about your counselor being killed last night. Yes, I see your grandmother is a Fury even though I told you none was after you. I guess I was wrong about that.
Just Let's go.”
“He let his mouth linger on mine, neither possessively nor sweetly... like his mouth just belonged there on mine. And he was right. It did. It always had.”
“You didn't," John said, stepping from the shadows as he clapped for me, "even hit your head this time.”
“You just said you were sorry."
...
"I was only apologizing," he said stiffly, "for startling you. The applause was to compliment you on the improvement in your life-saving techniques since the last time you-”
“I'll tell you what you can do," he said, stopping abruptly. Now he did reach out to grip both my shoulders. But still not to kiss me. Only so he could wheel me around to glare at me some more. "You can leave me alone."
Tears sprang once more into my eyes. That's what he wanted from me? For me to stay away from him?
This had turned into a greater disaster than when I'd died. And I was still breathing, so that was say something.
"I'd like to," I said. All I could hear besides the deep, disapproving timbre of his voice was the drum of my heartbeat in my ears. Stupid girl. Stupid girl. Stupid girl, my heart seemed to be saying. "Except every time I try, you show back up, and act such a... such a..."
"Such a what?" he demanded. He seemed to be practically daring me to say.
Don't, the voice of my mother warned inside my head. Don't say it.
"Jerk.”
“So take my advice: whatever you do? Don’t blink”
“I didn't even think about suggesting he take the boots off. There'd probably be a apocalypse or something.”
“Honey, some boys stopped by to see you. They had wood.”
“I don't really know. I've never rescued a girl I love from the Furies before." He looked alarmed as he noticed my eyes were filling with tears. "Don't cry."
"How can I not?" I asked him. "You just said you love me."
"Why else did you think all of this was happening?" He set the book aside to wrap his arms around me. "The Furies wouldn't be trying to kill you if I didn't love you.”
“It’s one thing to protect yourself,” Dad yelled at me during our very next lunch. “That I get. Have I ever told you not to defend yourself? No. But did you have to permanently maim him? I spent all that money on that on that fancy school for girls-not to mention all that money for the shrinks-and what did that get me?”
I shrugged. “A seven-figure civil suit?”
“What did that mean? Where could it go? He was a death diety. I was a high school senior.”
“What's the point? was my attitude. We're all just going to die and then NOT be let on the boat.”
“There’s no accountability anymore, Pierce, no one holds anyone accountable for what they do. It’s always someone else’s fault. Usually people just blame the victim.”
“I needed another soda. I’d only had six since breakfast.”
“I thought you'd like it," he said, seeming hurt. "You look very pretty.”
“„Everyone wants to believe that there’s something else – something great – waiting for them on the other side. Paradise. Valhalla. Heaven. Their next – hopefully less horrible – life.”
“It's only in fairy tales that princesses can afford to wait for the handsome prince to save them. In real life, they have to bust out of their own coffins and do the saving themselves.”
“I felt as if the Milky Way, hovering above our heads like a celestial pitcher, had suddenly overturned, pouring suns and planets down my throat. Stars seemed to be shooting out of my finger and toes, the ends of my hair.”
“Don't ever let them tell you that you're too stupid to do something. I'm not saying it's going to be easy for you, the way it was for you mom. Maybe you're going to have to work for it a little harder than other people, which I know isn't fair. But that doesn't mean you should just give up. Because if you do that, then where will you be?”
“The term “forgive and forget” doesn’t make sense to me. Forgiving does allow us to stop dwelling on an issue, which isn’t always healthy. But if we forget, we don’t learn from our mistakes.”
“Yeah,” Nicole said, her straw noisily hitting the
bottom of her Gut Buster. “Well, I would have
appreciated it if you guys had wrecked a little less
stuff. Because my house smelled like smoke for
months. And construction on the Tarantinos’ new
garage starts at eight on the dot every morning, and
it’s still going on, and you know how I get if I don’t
have my full ten hours of beauty sleep.”
“So that’s what happened to your face,” Cody said.
“I was wondering.”
“It's true what they say, then-history is written by the victors.”
“Suddenly there appeared a general, with a small following, who cried out, “Cai Mao and Zhang Yun are two traitors. The princely Liu Bei is a most upright man and has come here to preserve his people. Why do you repulse him?” All looked at this man. He was of middle height, with a face dark brown as a ripe date. He was from Yiyang and named Wei Yan.”
“Come my sweet angel,” he growled, his finger working in and out so very fast now. She gripped his neck with one hand and bucked in his lap. “Listen to how wet you are, fuck,” he gasped.”
“Before she could look to find a wound he had control of the vision once again, but like a juggler attempting to hold too many balls in the air catching one meant loosing another.”
“My son took many years to learn the simple truth. You cannot love any one person adequately until you have made friends with the rest of the human race also. Adult love demands qualities which cannot be learned living in a vacuum of resentment.”
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