The last time I’d seen her she had shown traces of doubt. Now you could hear her heart like a clock, ticking away the time she spent on you.

The only way to get around any of the above is to be having your own private party going on with just you continuously.

Everything about New York was a story.

He could only be described in Le Conte’s limited official vocabulary by the words “poor attitude.” What an anxious and innocent word to try to pin on Aces, “attitude”! He was an enemy inside their walls. It was too late and there was no way to get him out of there because he was only 15 and the law says that 16 is the earliest you can get anything

If it’s going to be unfair, I want to have it all.

Dali took one look at Frank from across the room and rose to his feet in immediate approbation. If Frank was not for Dali, Dali didn’t care; he was for Frank.

What I’ll remember always was not the flashy lover, who is a watery valentine floating translucently in a half-forgotten resort of souvenirs, nor the relief of getting that diploma case. What I’ll remember always was the Rainier Ale.

That always seemed like the whole thing; they’ll let you have stories, but you can’t ever think in a certain way. There are no spaces between the words, it’s one of the charms of the place. Certain things don’t have to be thought about carefully because you’re always being pushed from behind. It’s like a tunnel where there’s no sky.

In most high schools, you learn social things along with the rest of it. In mine, I learned irrevocably that beauty is power and the usual bastions of power are powerless when confronted by beauty.