“I need to explain all this to Adam in private. I can’t get McGillicuddy to explain it to him. Something will be lost in translation.” “Well, excuse me that I can’t look at him all...

And you’re beautiful. You’d have to work pretty hard to mess that up.

Oh, God,” Lori said without looking at me, “what are they thinking, leaving the two of us alone out here on the dock together? We might TALK or something.””That would be awful,” I said. “I...

Who’s driving the boat?”Over the motor, I heard girls screaming at us the instant before we crashed.

What did Kevin Ye get arrested for anyway? Didn’t he steal a car?” “He stole the driver’s ed car.”I laughed. Then I saw how Adam was looking at me. “He gave it back.” “They MAKE...

It’s one thing to think you’re worthless, and quite another for somebody else to tell you that you are.

Deana Carter sings about it. Lady Antebellum sings about it. Eric Church. Gosh, not just country artists. Katy Perry. Everybody has a song about it because everybody’s been through it. You find that person at...

AOAN LOVES LOKI.

I feel like I’ve been through a lot in the past couple of years, But I’ve kept pretty stable. That’s because I channel that emotion into performance. I can handle emotion as long as it’s...

I’m not stalking her,” I insisted.”I’m making sure she’s safe. Besides, how could you stalk Lori McGillicuddy?She’d see you and come out to your truck and say, “Hi, I’m Lori. Are you my stalker? It’s...

I love you.” Hearing my own words, I gasped at the rush of emotion.He put his hands on either side of my jaw and took my mouth with his.

It’s going to be a pretty day to fly.

A smaller rocket cut across the sky, trailing smoke. It exploded in a red heart.”A!” said the crowd.”Upside down,” said Sean.The heart was, indeed, upside down. It grew and grew, upside down, until it’s lights...

If you’re putting that energy into performance,” he said, “you’re also getting it back out again, right? You’re giving so you can receive.” He spread his arms wide. “If you were writing songs with it,...

He sighed, then said, “So basically, you’re stalking her.””I am NOT stalking her.” I insisted.”That’s where you come in. If I followed her by myself, someone who did not understand the situation and did not...

Why are you pretending to write, when I already know you’re just doing that to intimidate me?

[…] he had his hand on your -” He put his hand at waist level behind me, without touching me.”He had his hand on my ass?””No,” they said.”Behind your back,” Rashad said. “Like you’re dating...

Your confidence in me is heartwarming.Makes me want to return all the money I stole from the little old ladies and kick the heroin.

And that is a wedding vow.

Stubble or what?” Eyes still closed he chuckled. “I’m not shaving until our parents let us date again.” He kissed my cheek. “What if it takes… a… while?” I asked struggling to talk. He’d made...

Dad” I pleaded, “this is so [cuss word you never, ever say in front of your mother] ridiculous.

The TV said you should ignore bullies and they would stop harassing you. In practice this worked about half the time. The other half, you ended up with two tall boys shadowing you through a...

Let’s go,” I said.”Go where?””On Lori’s date with Parker.”Now he looked at me over the nerdy spectacles he wore for reading.”I wasn’t aware it was a double date. And you’re not my type.

It’s Diet Coke. And if anyone ever serves you brown wine with a foamy head, send it back.

You make terrible, terrible plans.” “Hey, ” I protested. “One of my plans caught you didn’t it?” “Yeah, but you meant to catch Sean.” He took his hand off my shoulder. I waved his concerns...

You’ve gone far away to a place with no horses and very little grass, and you’re studying how to write a story with a happy ending. If you can write that ending for yourself, maybe...

I miss you,” he said, and his voice broke.

you’re not going to make it.

Why, hell no, I cannot.” I didn’t remember anything like this happening in Pride and Prejudice.

Adam thinks that you two are in an argument.”My body zinged into alert mode. My mind didn’t know what Mrs. Vader meant, but my body already did. Even Sean glanced over at her with a...

I turned to the clarinets. They were a resourceful lot.

Maturity.” My dad backed out of the room and closed the door.

Her dad turned to me. “You. Follow Me.””Woof,” I said.

Pah! You don’t know us as well as you think.”This was a disturbing prospect.

Better you than Cameron ” McGillicuddy grumbled. “I know where Cameron’s been.” Sean snorted. Cameron said “I already told you I did NOT come on to Lori.

Was it good to treasure the memory of a few perfect hours together? Or would I have been better off never meeting him?

But first I had to get through the ironing. It took a lot of patience. I had none. It took forever, and then I had to press the whole shirt again to get out the...

Think like a middle-aged man with OCD, a dead wife, and a teenage daughter.Think like a woman with three teenage sons who once ran a golf cart into the side of their granddad’s house.””Cameron and...

Sam was creative and dedicated, but his wasn’t the plodding bright-and-early work ethic of the morning person, like mine. It was the crazy creative burst of the night owl, long dark hours of despair before...

Even though Sean still held my head down I was the only one who thought to ask”Who’s driving the boat?” Over the motor I heard girls screaming at us the instant before we crashed.

Seeing him jogging at the park had cracked the window so I could peek into his soul. Seeing him with his friends threw the window wide open.He was so nineteen.

I had shaved my beard for her-a huge disappointment, because I’d enjoyed my three weeks looking like a bank robber.

Stay away from her.””Okay.””Keep your hands off her.””I’ll try.”He scowled at me.”I will,” I said.

“Oof!” Adam caught me all right, with the side of his head. I could tell by the feel of his skull on my foot as I kicked him. He grabbed me the best he could...

I continued to move my fingers across his skin exactly as I had before, but I needed to make a decision. I had reached for him, but I could back out of it by trailing...

I’m going to kiss you now. It’ll be a big one, so don’t hit me.

Son,” he said, “you monkeyed up.

Taking his hand I said “Fank woo.””Hm ” he laughed with his mouth closed.

Yes, I was good at reading people. I studied them so I could put them in my novels.

I wanted to remind you that you do not allow me to deliver boats, as I have been known to crash them.