“You get use to someone—start to like them, even—and they leave. In the end, everyone leaves.”
“Life's not that simple. Not so easy to move on when the anger you've got is what keeps you going.”
“Nothing makes any sense. Nothing means anything. You're born, you live, you die. That's it.”
“Part of me wanted this more than anything else in the world—to have someone to hang out with, be like everyone else for a while. The rest of me screamed to get the hell out of there, not to get sucked in.”
“And just when I though things were starting to get better, everything had gone wrong again.”
“And then, a strangely comforting thought trickled through me—I had nothing, so I could do anything now. Anything I wanted. I had nothing left to lose.”
“People just don't seem to get me. Don't understand that I need my space. Always telling me what to do. They think rules and routines and clean hands and your p's and q's will make everything all right. They haven't got a clue.”
“I don't understand, Jem. I don't understand why you'd leave me. Why would you that?”
“You're mental. I always knew you were.”
“Do you know what it's like to hear those words? To hear the person you love telling you they love you, too? If you don't now, I hope you do one day.”
“If you’ve found someone who loves you – that’s the most important thing of all. If you’ve got that, then you should appreciate every damn second with them.”
“Are you the same? Is it only afterward that you think of what you should have said, the killer response,the put-down that would make them stay put down?”
“Todos sabemos que todo tendrá fin algún día, pero no podemos dejar que eso nos frene. No debemos dejar que nos impida vivir.”
“We know it, but chose forget it. Is too much hard to bear. Yesterday, you made me realize that: we chose forget.”
“Spider?” I’d said, with a question mark in my voice.
“Yeah.”
“You know at school . . . what did you do that for? Wade in like that?”
Spider frowned. “He was disrespectful, Jem. What you said—I could tell it was real. It was what you were really feeling. He had no right to make a joke of it.”
“Yeah, I know, he’s a tosser, but it’s nothing to do with you. You made a right show of yourself. You made a show of me.”
“I didn’t want him to get away with it.”
“Yeah, but I don’t need a knight in shining armor. I can look after myself.” He was smiling a bit now. I paused. “It’s not funny, man. It’s made everything worse,” I said quietly. “I’ve got comments all the time now, ‘bout you and me. Sly comments.”
He looked away, studied his hands. The knuckles on the right one were nearly healed up now.
My mouth had gone dry, but I had to get this clear with him. “You do know there’s no ‘you and me,’ don’t you, Spider?”
He looked up. “What?”
“We’re not like . . . together. Just mates.”
There was something about his sullenness when he said, “Yeah, ‘course. Just mates. Mates is good,” that made me think he felt the exact opposite. I was churning inside, cursing that day under the bridge. People were so bloody difficult. Why had I ever got involved?
He stood up, came toward me, putting an arm out. I thought, Shit, he’s going to hug me. Hasn’t he listened to anything? But his hand formed a fist, and he lightly punched my arm. “Listen, man, I know what you’re like. I’ve told you I’ll never say nothing nice to you. And now you’ve put my straight, I’ll never do nothing nice for you, either. OK? If someone disrespects you, I’ll let them. If you’re being mugged on the street, I’ll walk on by. If I see you on fire, I won’t even piss on you. OK?”
“Sometimes, when things are confusing, we try and make sense of it our own way; we find ways of coping up.”
“ " But we are starting again, Jem. If I hadn't met you, it probably would have been dope and pills and smoking crack and shooting up junk. Prison. Hospitalization. That's how it would have been for me, but you saved me from that. It's going to be different for us now." ”
“ "Are you awake?" I whispered, my voice nearly disappearing in the darkness of the huge barn.
"Yeah."
"I'm freezing."
"I know. Me, too" A pause. A long, long pause. "Come here, then." ”
“No se puede escapar a la muerte: al final siempre te alcanza.”
“ I reached up and cupped the back of his neck and drew him down to me, and we kissed again. ”
“Bloody Mike Tyson'd have trouble with you.”
“ Lovers, yes, we're lovers now.”
“Allí de rodillas lo abracé, le acaricié la espalda y el pelo y ambos lloramos juntos. No había palabras para expresar lo que sentíamos; las lágrimas lo decían por nosotros: el terror, el alivio, el amor y la pena todo mezclado en la sal.”
“Did you lose the game? Losing’s the same as winning; you know that, don’t you?” The”
“By dint of saying that I'm not alive, I accept the fact that people cease to regard me.”
“Great courage, indeed. It had to do with more than breaking curses. It meant taking risks and giving your heart into the care of a stranger, Why must I nearly lose everything to learn that?”
“The two circled around the back of the house, making sure that nobody saw them. Once inside, they found Patrick right where they had left him, sitting in front of Mark's computer. The only difference was that he was surrounded by bags of Doritos and cans of Mountain Dew. He looked up at them with wild eyes.
You okay?" Courtney asked.
I'm fantastic!" Patrick exclaimed. "This sugary drink is incredible!"
Swell," Courtney remarked sarcastically. "He's wired on Dew.”
“Nix to Declan:
Begin transcript—
Testing. Hello, hellooo, anybody out there? Check, check, one, two. Soft pee. Puh, puh. Resonance! Sooooooft pee. Alpha bravo disco tango duck.
This is Nïx! I’m the Ever-Knowing One, a goddess incandescent, incomparable, and irresistible. But enough about what you think of me. It’s a beautiful day in New Orleans. The wind is out of the east at a steady five knots and clouds look like rabbits … But enough about what you think of me!
Now, down to business—
Squirrel!
Where was I? [Long pause] Why am I in Regin’s car? Bertil, you crawl right back out of that bong this minute!
Oh, I remember! I am hereby laying down this track for Magister Declan Chase. If you are a mortal of the recorder peon class, know that Dekko and I go waaaaay back, and he’ll go berserk (snicker snicker) if he doesn’t receive this transmittal. …
Chase, riddle me this: what’s beautiful but monstrous, long of tooth but sharp of tooth and soft of mind, and can never ever tell a lie?
That’s right. The Enemy of Old can be very useful to you. So use him already.
P.S. Your middle name’s about to be spelled r-e-g-r-e-t.
And with that, I must bid you adieu. Don’t worry, we’ll catch up very soon. …
[Muffled] Who’s mummy’s wittle echolocator? That’s right—you are!
—End transcript”
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