“Losing people you love affects you. It is buried inside of you and becomes this big, deep hole of ache. It doesn't magically go away, even when you stop officially mourning.”

“She smirks."Are you attempting to stop me, little one?""Excuse me? Did you just call me 'little one'? What are you? Like, four feet tall?" I ask.”

“Hes fine. Every time any of us are late you imagine were dead. You are no longer allowed to imagine anyone is dead.Im not imagining hes dead, I whisper, but Im totally imagining him bleeding to dea...”

“So theres this annual dance in a couple of weeks.The Winter Ball, I interrupt. There have been signs up everywhere.You want to go?I think about it for a half second. Will you dress up?He nods.I mov...”

“Well fight them. We took down my dad. Weve taken down so many since then. Well take down these jokesters too.I will never let anything happen to you, Nick growls into my hair. I will die before you...”

“How does that put me in danger? Nick asks. Its the first question hes asked the entire time. Devyn, however, has been Mr. Nonstop Wondering Question Guy.Because . . . I dont know how to say it, str...”

“I push my thigh against his. Well, thank God.Thank God what? he asks. His hand slowly rubs up and down the place where my shoulder meets my arm. It makes me good shiver.That I dont have a neck brac...”

“Nick leans down and kisses my eyelids. “Loving you, Zara, is a full-time job. It’s a great job, don’t get me wrong. It’s the best job in the universe. But it is not easy, because you tend to . . .”...”

“I push my thigh against his. “Well, thank God.”“Thank God what?” he asks. His hand slowly rubs up and down the place where my shoulder meets my arm. It makes me good shiver.“That I don’t have a nec...”

“God deals us all different hands. How we play 'em is up to us.”

“Life may not have dealt you a great set of cards... but who says the one with better cards will win?”

“Destiny plays its cards in a way that no one can comprehend.”

“Nothing gets easy. It is just that you understand how it is and how it works. Nothing its difficult its just that you dont understand it and dont know how it works. Understanding something it means...”

“Dont always wish it is easier to be done; wish you have enough power to make it happen. No matter how difficult it is, you can do it when the solution is in your palms!”

“As exciting, difficult, and memorable as our past can be, there comes a time when we have to get on with living.”