Quotes from What Happens Next

Colleen Clayton ·  310 pages

Rating: (5.5K votes)


“You're beautiful, Sid,' he says, pushing my hair out of my face. 'And I never said it at first because it seemed so obvious to me, so easy. I didn't say it because I never wanted you to think the things I say to you are just things. Empty compliments to get in your pants. I wanted the things I say to you to be extraordinary, because that's what you are to me. Extraordinary. And I'm so sorry I didn't say it sooner, because I think you need to hear it. You were beautiful a year ago and you're beautiful now.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next


“Then I look over at Corey, who is watching me with a tenderness that makes me want to crawl inside his heart, pitch a tent, and set up camp forever.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next


“He cups the back of my neck with his hand and holds the other against my face, rubbing my cheek with his thumb. Slowly, he leans down and kisses me.
Soft, then deep.
I ooze against the house. I can feel his kiss in my whole body, like warm liquid pouring through me—gold, rich, and melting. After about a minute of what can only be described as sheer ecstasy, Corey rests his forehead against mine so we can both catch our breath. Then he takes my head into his hands and looks at me hard, like his heart is breaking.
'I have wanted to do that for so, so long.'
I cannot speak. I can only nod yes and hope he knows what I mean. He kisses me more...
"... for months and months..."
"... when you sprayed me with Dr. Pepper..."
"... at the bakery when you were holding that corned beef..."
"... and every single time I see you..."

I lean against the house and hold on to his wrists so I don't dissolve into a puddle. And I kiss him back. Over and over, I kiss him back.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next


“Do you love me?' I say quietly, still staring at the water.
He pauses. I turn to look at him. His eyes are soft and big and the corners of his mouth turn upward into a shy grin.
'Yeah. Yeah, I do. I was going to tell you. It's just, I've never said it to anyone, so I was... I kept...'
'I love you, too' I say.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next


“After a second, he reaches over and rubs my head playfully, and then pulls me into him. 'Come here,' he says gently. I unbuckle and scoot in close to him. I don't care if this truck full of dials has no airbags and I get killed in a wreck. I'll die happy. He drives slow and careful and we kiss at every stop sign and red light the whole way back to my house.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next



“I watch his lips moving and he doesn't seem to notice that I'm about to reach up, unzip myself from the skull down, jump out of my skin, and yell, Surprise! There's a crazy person in here!”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next


“Katherine is the master of anger; she dominates anger. She takes anger in her hands and twists its neck, ripping its head off. She throws anger against the wall and stomps it to death. Her voice rises, it changes, it conjures up ghosts and cusses in a spitting Irish brogue. Then, when she's tapped out empty, she picked anger up between her a thumb and a forefinger and carries it outside and drops it in the trash. On her way back, she scoops up forgiveness like a bouquet, sniffs it deep and arranges it in a vase. She sets forgiveness down, shining in the middle of everything.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next


“On her way back, she scoops up forgiveness like a bouquet, sniffs it deep and arranges it in a vase. She sets forgiveness down, shining in the middle of everything.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next


“I've always, always thought you were beautiful, Sid. Always.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next


“I choose to believe that I will be okay.”
― Colleen Clayton, quote from What Happens Next



About the author

Colleen Clayton
Born place: in Cleveland, Ohio
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“As with a wound on one's own body, it is possible to develop an intimacy with the most disturbing of things”
― Kazuo Ishiguro, quote from A Pale View of Hills


“People don't read anymore. And, when they do, they don't read books like this one, but instead read books that depress them, because those books are seen as important. Somehow, the Librarians have successfully managed to convince most people in the Hushlands that they shouldn't read anything that isn't boring.

It comes down to Biblioden the Scrivener's great vision for the world — a vision in which people never do anything abnormal, never dream, and never experience anything strange. His minions teach people to stop reading fun books, and instead focus on fantasy novels. That's what I call them, because these books keep people trapped. Keep them inside the nice little fantasy that they consider to be the 'real' world. A fantasy that tells them they don't need to try something new.

After all, trying new things can be difficult.”
― Brandon Sanderson, quote from Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones


“Everybody evaluates. We critics are just trained to talk about it.”
― Brandon Sanderson, quote from Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia


“Gotta keep an eye on those terrorist polar bears, and make sure Santa's elves aren't planning a holy war.”
― Graham McNamee, quote from Bonechiller


“The father-mother-son that makes up the basic family unit, at least as the Family has described it for centuries now, represents a power structure, a structure of strong powers, mediating powers, and subordinate powers, as well as paths for power developments and power restrictions.”
― Samuel R. Delany, quote from Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand


Interesting books

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
(266.3K)
The Unbearable Light...
by Milan Kundera
The Shadow of the Wind
(344.5K)
The Shadow of the Wi...
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Flowers for Algernon
(368.4K)
Flowers for Algernon
by Daniel Keyes
Looking for Alaska
(899.3K)
Looking for Alaska
by John Green
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
(1M)
The Curious Incident...
by Mark Haddon
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
(2M)
Harry Potter and the...
by J.K. Rowling

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.