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“You want to talk? Fine. Talk. Tell me something you've never told anybody else.'

I thought for a moment. 'Turtles have the second-largest brains of any animal on the planet.'

It took Isabel only a second to process this. 'No, they don't.'

'I know that's why I've never told anybody that before.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Linger

“Voicemail #1: “Hi, Isabel Culpeper. I am lying in my bed, looking at the ceiling. I am mostly naked. I am thinking of â€� your mother. Call me.â€�

Voicemail #2: The first minute and thirty seconds of “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You� by the Bee Gees.

Voicemail #3: “I’m bored. I need to be entertained. Sam is moping. I may kill him with his own guitar. It would give me something to do and also make him say something. Two birds with one stone! I find all these old expressions unnecessarily violent. Like, ring around the rosy. That’s about the plague, did you know? Of course you did. The plague is, like, your older cousin. Hey, does Sam talk to you? He says jack shit to me. God, I’m bored. Call me.�

Voicemail #4: “Hotel California� by the Eagles, in its entirety, with every instance of the word California replaced with Minnesota.

Voicemail #5: “Hi, this is Cole St. Clair. Want to know two true things? One, you’re never picking up this phone. Two, I’m never going to stop leaving long messages. It’s like therapy. Gotta talk to someone. Hey, you know what I figured out today? Victor’s dead. I figured it out yesterday, too. Every day I figure it out again. I don’t know what I’m doing here. I feel like there’s no one I can —�

Voicemail #6: “So, yeah, I’m sorry. That last message went a little pear-shaped. You like that expression? Sam said it the other day. Hey, try this theory on for size: I think he’s a dead British housewife reincarnated into a Beatle’s body. You know, I used to know this band that put on fake British accents for their shows. Boy, did they suck, aside from being assholes. I can’t remember their name now. I’m either getting senile or I’ve done enough to my brain that stuff’s falling out. Not so fair of me to make this one-sided, is it? I’m always talking about myself in these things. So, how are you, Isabel Rosemary Culpeper? Smile lately? Hot Toddies. That was the name of the band. The Hot Toddies.�

Voicemail #20: “I wish you’d answer.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Forever

“Cole,â€� I said, “do you think I’m lovable?â€�
“As in ‘cuddly and�?�
“As in ‘able to be loved,’� I said.
Cole’s gaze was unwavering. Just for a moment, I had the strange idea that I could see exactly what he had looked like when he was younger, and exactly what he’d look like when he was older. It was piercing, a secret glimpse of his future. “Maybe,� he said. “But you won’t let anybody try.�
I closed my eyes and swallowed. “I can’t tell the diference between not fighting,� I said,“and giving up.�
Despite my eyelids being tightly shut, a single, hot tear ran out of my left eye. I was so angry that it had escaped. I was so angry.
Beneath me, the bed tipped as Cole edged closer. I felt him lean over me. His breath, warm and measured, hit my cheek. Two breaths. Three. Four. I didn’t know what I wanted. Then I heard him stop breathing, and a second later, I felt his lips on my mouth. It wasn’t the sort of kiss I’d had with him before, hungry, wanting, desperate. It wasn’t the sort of kiss I’d had with anyone before. This kiss was so soft that it was like a memory of a kiss, so careful on my lips that it waslike a memory of a kiss, so careful on my lips that it was like someone running his fingers along them. My mouth parted and stilled; it was so quiet, a whisper, not a shout. Cole’s hand touched my neck, thumb pressed into the
skin next to my jaw. It wasn’t a touch that said “I need more�. It was a touch that said “I want this.�
It was all completely soundless. I didn’t think either of us was breathing.
Cole sat back up, slowly, and I opened my eyes. His expression, as ever, was blank, the face he wore when something mattered.
He said, “That’s how I would kiss you, if I loved you.”
― Maggie Stiefvater , Forever

“Food," I suggested. "Sleep. That's what I need. To get the hell away from here."
Cole frowned at me, as if I'd suggested "ducks" and "yoga".”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Forever

“My good mood felt like an endangered species.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Sinner

“Do you have it on your person?" my father asked.

"Jesus" I replied. "My person has it in her purse.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Forever

“Cole," I said, "Don't lose this number.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Forever

“The others slithered and crawled to get her the tanks and the belt, unaware that in order to really get my look, you had to accessorize with death in the family and generalized heartbreak.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Sinner

“Sofia,â€� I said, lowering my sandwich from my mouth. The edge of the bread had a red mark on it from my lipstick. “If you don’t take that man’s jacket, I’m going to set something on fire.â€�
Cole immediately came to life.
Jeremy shook his head slowly. “No man. Not here.�
He said it with such lazy, muted humor that it suddenly seemed obvious that they’d been in a band together. That he, anyway, knew Cole in a way those fangirls did not.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Sinner

“She'd been here long enough that all of her feelings had been replaced with high-end linoleum.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Sinner

“I felt a tickle on my skin; it took me a moment to realize that Cole was driving his die-cast Mustang up my arm. He was laughing to himself, hushed and infectious, as if there was still any reason to be quiet. He turned the car around at my shoulder and headed back down to my hand, the wheels skidding a bit when he laughed.
I thought it was the truest thing I'd ever heard from Cole St. Clair.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Forever

“Divorce-by-numbers.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Sinner

“Era come il sole sulle palpebre e il profumo del mare in bocca quando succhi l'aria tra i denti.”
― Maggie Stiefvater , Sinner

“But it just makes me tired even thinking about it. It reminds me of that feeling I had before I left. Like my lungs were made of lead. Like I can’t even think about starting to care about anything. Like I either wish that they were all dead, or I was, because I can’t stand the pull of all that history between us. That’s before I even pick up the phone. I’m so tired I never want to wake up again. But I’ve figured out now that it was never them that made me feel that way. It was just me, all along.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Forever

“My pulse was racing, my skin searing, and suddenly I felt light-headed. I sat back and put hands over my mouth. My room looked exactly the same as it had before I’d picked up his call. I threw my phone at the wall. Halfway through its flight, I realized that my father would kill me if I destroyed it, but it smacked the wall and slid to the ground without any pieces falling off it. It looked exactly the same as before. Nothing had changed. Nothing.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Forever

“I know him. Cole, I mean.â€�
“Is he really like that?�
Cole was like that. He was also not like that. It just depended on when you saw him. Wasn’t that everybody, though? “Sure.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Sinner