“If i were thinking straight, i’d take you home right now.”

His smile was sexy and warned of trouble, but i’d made up my mind that not all trouble was bad.

That was a good fight back in the gym, he said. But i think you could benefit from a few more boxing lessons.

For someone whos made it clear that her life is superior to every other students at this school, you sure make it a habit of pursuing every facet of our boring, worthless lives.

Dont panic, i thought. But already my breathing was faster, shallower. You mean you can feel happy or sad or desire. A barely-there smile.

I take my job seriously, which means i’m going to need to get acquainted with the subject matter on a personal level.

Lets be honest, nora. Youve got it bad for me.” his eyes held a lot of depth. “and ive got it bad for you.

I couldn’t picture myself with a boyfriend, but if i had to, i envisioned a nice normal guy who turned in his math homework on time and maybe even played rec baseball.

As in, i wouldn’t know normal if it marched up and poked me in the eye.

Say ‘provoking’ again. Your mouth looks provocative when you do.

The sensible part of me wanted to dissect my emotions, overthinking and overcomplicating my reaction to jev.

Don’t make me regret this” i said, breathless. ” you haven’t regretted me once”. He kissed me, and i answered so hungrily i thought my lips would bruise. Patch&nora ( p. 180)

Strangely enough, it wasnt gabe who was haunting my thoughts, though. That job belonged to a pair of sinfully black eyes that had lost their edge when they studied me, turning as soft and sultry as silk.

Citizen’s arrest,” he said. “well, that, and patch told me to.

Because i thought i was in love. And when you think you’re in love, you are willing to stick it out and make it work until it is love.

Wow. Nice bike, i said. Which was a lie. It looked like a glossy black death trap.

I got a new job. Patch locked eyes with me, and i warmed in a lot of places. In fact, i was dangerously close to feverish.

I couldn’t escape him, now or ever. He’d always be there, consuming my every thought, my heart locked in his hands. I was drawn to him by forces i couldn’t control, let alone escape.

They used to say that knowledge is power. I used to think so, but I know now they mean money.

The imagination is the spur of delights… all depends upon it, it is the mainspring of everything; now, is it not by means of the imagination one knows joy? Is it not of the imagination that the sharpest pleasures arise?

I am not now That which I have been.

I endorse only products I actually use. Like Wheaties keeps offering me money, but I don’t eat Wheaties, so I can’t do it. Now, if Rice Krispies or Frosted Flakes offered me a deal, I’d take it right away. Apple Jacks, I’d be on the box in a heartbeat. Apple Shaqs. Yeah.

My name’s been on this check for a week now.

You know you’re old when your walker has an airbag.

About the joys and the courage, I really don’t know what other people think. I just know that I’ve never left Africa. I’ve lived there all my life. And one of the wonderful things, in spite of all the terrible things that happen in South Africa, is the way people continue to keep their dignity.