“Mom let go of us and leaned back so she could look us both in the eye. “No more spending the night in the tree fort, you two.”

“Zachary smiles, and I wonder if he's felling different. Because standing out here waist deep in Gossimer Lake, next to my best friend, I'm feeling different-light and good and maybe even holy.”

“Don't make me sit through reality.”

“My wishing star glowed slightly and winked back at me. I could almost hear its voice, tinkling like wind chimes and church bells, reassuring me that everything would return to normal.”

“Most of the girls I've met since moving here have failed to ignite any modicum of enduring interest. Of course, I've dated; I'm seventeen years old and as horny as the next guy.”

“Reed wanted to believe, and he had to place faith in her, to have a life with her. Ruby, the one thing I know for certain is I love you. I have faith in you. I believe in you.”

“I engage in subtle stalking. That's entirely different and perfectly socially acceptable.”

“You were falling for me, and I was falling for you, and we were falling together into the land of the fallen.”