Quotes by Jennifer Brown

“Its very exciting. Not only do our students get 17 days more of school, but they also wont have two months off right in the middle of the school year.”

“We treat the $500,000 racehorse the same as the $500 horse that comes through the door. Its all the same for us.”

“I would hope very much that we would not go to privatization,”

“I didnt feel we could wait any longer since we had a soft cut date set, ... And it didnt start working until August.”

“This is the biggest printing that we know of, childrens or adult publishing. Its unprecedented.”

“Ive been going to my doctor for years, and I didnt want her to know, because I didnt know what the results would be.”

“I guess you cant trust people, so always use condoms, because you never know. If I ever date anybody again after this, I guess I have to reinforce that.”

“We tell them well take anybody — if you can stand on skates, with 20 pounds of equipment on, youre not going to get hurt.”

“Its a pretty natural thing to just focus on the price.”

“Roe is based on an extreme intrusion by the government ? literally to force a woman to continue a pregnancy she doesnt want. Theres nothing equivalent for men. They have the same ability as women to use contraception, to get sterilized.”

Life isnt fair. A fairs a place where you eat corn dogs and ride the ferris wheel.

Just like theres always time for pain, theres always time for healing.

Times never up, she whispered, not looking at me, but at my canvas. Just like theres always time for pain, theres always time for healing. Of course there is.

...But would that be enough? Because at the moment it felt like it could never be enough. People needed more than a place to stay, more than a porch to sleep on. They needed a home, right? They needed love.

At Garvin High we were dealt a hard dose of reality this year. People hate. Thats our reality. People hate and are hated and carry grudges and want punishments ... I dont know if its possible to take hate away from people. Not even people like us, whove seen firsthand what hate can do. Were all hurting. Were all going to be hurting for a long time. And we, probably more than anyone else out there, will be searching for a new reality every day. A better one ... But in order to change reality you have to be willing to listen and to learn. And to hear. To actually hear.

I didnt answer. Just shook my head and let the tears roll. I just want it to go away. I just want all the drama to stop. Nobody would believe me anyway, I whispered. Nobody would care.

Because the truth was, and we both knew it, hed gone long, long ago. Id just made him stick around when he really wanted to be somewhere else. In his own weird way, he was another victim of the shooting, One of the ones who couldnt get away. Are you mad? he asked, which I thought was a really strange question. Yes, I said. And I was. Its just that I wasnt so sure I was mad at him. But I dont think he needed to hear that part. I dont think he wanted to hear that part. I think it was important to him to hear that I cared enough to be angry.Will you ever forgive me? he asked.Will you ever forgive me? I shot back, leveling my gaze directly into his eyes.He stared into them for a few moments then got up silently and headed for the door. He didnt turn around when he reached it. Just grabbed the doorknob and held it. No, he said without facing me. Maybe that makes me a bad parent, but I dont know if I can. No matter what the police found, you were involved in that shooting, Valerie. You wrote those names on that list. You wrote my name on that list. You had a good life here. You might not have pulled the trigger, but you helped cause the tragedy.He opened the door.Im sorry. I really am. He stepped out into the hallway. Ill leave my new address and phone number with your mother, he said before walking slowly out of my sight.

But now the other half of us was gone and, lying there in my shadowy room, Id be struck with this realization that I had no clue how to be just me again.

Id spend about an hour, my room darkening around me, wondering what the hell happened to make me so unsure of who I even was. Because who you are is supposed to be the easiest question in the world to answer, right? Only for me it hadnt been easy for a very long time.

I sat back and looked at it. It was ugly, dark, uncontrolled. Like a monsters face. Or maybe what I saw there was my own face. I couldnt quite tell. Was the face the image of something evil or the image of myself?Both, Bea muttered, as if Id spoken my question out loud. Of course, its both. But it shouldnt be. Goodness, no.