Texas Gothic

I was generally pro-bat, except when I was trekking through the dark trying not to think about the dire fate of every horror movie character stupid enough to go into the dark with a flashlight and check the fuses.

Oh My God," I blurted, grabbing onto Phin as we faced the open bedroom door. "It's the axe murderer." "I doubt he would knock," she said, but she was whispering, too, and didn't move away from me.

Emery cut in impatiantly, "For crying out loud. Who do you think you are, Nancy Drew?" Hey," I snapped, because no one sniped at my sister but me, and Mark echoed with a stern "Chill, dude." Phin was unperturbed. "Those books were highly unrealistic. Do you have any idea how much brain damage a person would have if she were hit on the head and drugged with chloroform that often?

[W]hen Ben was kissing me, the whole world retreated. I felt things I'd never felt before, in places I never knew were connected. But I was pretty sure that whatever was buzzing against my thigh was not normal. For one thing, it was ringing. Ben dragged his mouth away from mine and mumbled a curse that was a little shocking and kind of hot. "Ignore it," he said. That was easy for him to say when his cell phone was rounding third base. If anyone got a home run tonight, I didn't want it to be Verizon Wireless.

You're not hurt, are you?" "Only my delicate sensibilities.

Don’t ever trust anyone who’s writing a book. They make up lies for a living.

I was the designated grown up in a family that operated in different reality than the rest of the world.

That was easy for him to say when his cell phone was rounding third base. If anyone got a home run tonight, I didn't want it to be Verizon Wireless.

Focus, Amy. Just because he looked great in the saddle did not mean he wasn't an axe murderer.

How about this?" I said, because now it was the principle of the thing. "I'm sorry, jackass.

When your family is twice as weird as normal, you have to be twice as polite to authority, because authority hates weird.

Amy, honey." He rubbed my arm gently, as if telling me bad news. "You shouldn't listen to me. I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

My determination was stronger than my fear.

I could hear my dogs barking. Worse I could hear bleating. Joyful goat chuckles of freedom. "The goats!" I clutched my head, an absurdly melodramatic reaction suited to this farce. "The goats were in the tree!" "The... Wait, what?

Oh, and by the way, I sure thought about him a lot for someone I never wanted to see again.

For the first time ever, I'd managed a great parting line and a grand exit. And it still felt like crap.

I didn't say I was going to find the Mad Monk." "But you will," he said, placing his worn and stained Stetson on his head. "You've got that look about you. "What look is that?" I asked, tired of his family maligning mine. "A Goodnight look?" "A responsible one." He adjusted his hat, in a motion I'd seen Ben make a dozen times that day, right before he drove home his point. "Like you're the girl who takes care of things. So take care of it, dammit.

I wasn't worried about myself. I didn't consider the possibility that either of the men could catch me. I was all-star varsity soccer. I was Braveheart in Urban Outfitters. I was Supergirl. I was seriously delusional.

I'm very curious to meet a guy who makes you completely forsake the scientific method in favor of unfounded supposition and speculation." "It's called intuition!

You have a funny way of showing how much you don't like me." "I don't like gophers, either, but I wouldn't leave one to suffer. I'd shoot it to put it out of its misery.

If you're such a genius, you wouldn't believe in magic." "If you weren't such an old coot, you wouldn't need it.

I realized I was wasting a perfect opportunity. Nancy Drew wouldn't sit here obsessing over Ned Nickerson (who was at least good for kicking in doors sometimes). She would take advantage of the fact that her main obstacle was busy onstage and there was a field full of pickup trucks out there, and some of them had to be diesel.

Just FYI," I told Phin, "he was flirting with you." She looked at me, then at Mark's departing form. "Oh. That explains a lot. I'm good at a lot of things, but flirting isn't one of them. Especially with someone I find extremely attractive." "Here's a tip... Don't overthink it. It's more of an instinct than an intellect thing." "Right," she said. "Pheromones." With a sage nod, she followed Mark.

Being in on the secret might be a lot of fun when you're a kid, but not so much once you realize how often life hinges on everyone agreeing--at least outwardly--on the same reality.

Great Caesar's goat." Phin's voice floated down from the rim of the sinkhole. "The earth caves in, and you two are making out?

Aunt Hyacinth's protections around the house would stop a spirit. They wouldn't do anything against an axe murderer except make him queasy, which didn't seem like it would be much of a deterrent. I mean, a strong stomach probably came with the job.

There was something so . . . stalwart about Ben. I'd only known him two days and he'd managed to infuriate me most of that time. But there I was, protected by the curve of his arm, and grateful for it. And not just because it for nice, though it did.

That was the thing about the Goodnight world. No matter what the label said, you could never assume anything only worked like magic.