A Little Less Girl Danielle "Dani" Spencer Quotes

Dani was staring up at me. It was obvious she was assessing how much of my confession was the truth. But it was all true. "You were her romantic hero."

I looked away. "They only exist in books."

"I think she discovered that the hard way." Her voice cracked as she spoke. (17.35-37)

We stepped inside the pipe. The air inside was thick with the smell of moss. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light but once they did my mouth dropped open. The sides of the tunnel were painted with a collage of pictures. They were from Amy's brush. I would have recognized her art anywhere.

Now Jake released my hand, and I moved closer to the pictures. Familiar faces stared back at me including Grammie, Amy's mom, and Amy herself. There was a picture of two little girls feeding ducks. That was us. We used to walk down to the city park with old bread to feed the birds. In the center was a picture of Jake on his horse. "This is incredible." A whisper of my voice echoed back at me. "How did you find this?

"One day I was feeling particularly sorry for myself, and I came down to the bus to be alone. Amy walked by with a bucket of paints. She didn't know I was there. After she left, I followed the path she'd taken and found this."

I fingered the colors on the metal walls of the pipe. This was the place she'd talked about in her diary. A place where she could paint to her heart's content and no one would bother her. "It feels like someone has gone over the paint with a clear coat of varnish. Like they were trying to protect it." I glanced up at Jake. He was staring shyly at his feet.

"It was you."

"Just thought it was cool enough to preserve," he said quietly. He smiled and lifted his gaze to the paintings. "After all, she did make me look pretty awesome sitting on that horse."

I smiled. "She sure did." I walked the length of the pipe. She'd been about ten feet from covering the entire surface with art. (20.14-20)

I pulled the first tire up and rolled it away. Then the second. We both stared at the revealed picture. The rest of the pictures were brightly colored images of people, animals, and flowers. This picture was painted in black, white, and red. It was a mouth taking a bite from the palm of a hand. Blood sprayed from the hand.

Dani sank to her knees and looked closer at the rather disturbing picture. "Why would she draw this? It's so horrid. I never saw her draw anything like it before."

"Yeah, I've got to say that is pretty bizarre for an Amy painting."

Dani touched the edges of the paint. The strokes looked heavy and thick as if they'd been dashed off in anger. (27.57-60)

"I don't understand what the big deal is." Dani was truly confounded by Blister's reaction.

"Old man Walker never talks to anyone. He just stands on his porch every morning making sure that no one disturbs his property. Not that anyone would with that beast on patrol." I stared straight ahead as I spoke to her. Her nearness always messed with my head, especially if I was looking at her incredible face.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"How do I know what?" I almost turned to face her, but I fought the urge.

"How do you know he was out keeping an eye on his property? Maybe he's just been waiting all this time for someone to wave to him." (17.13-17)

"Jake doesn't deserve any of the grief he's been given about Amy's death. She adored him, yes. And he said something stupid that I'll never forgive him for… I doubt he'll ever forgive himself, but he had never intended to hurt her. That I know for a fact. And my cousin was too damn smart to go dramatic and suicidal about a guy, any guy, even Jake West." (32.25)

"Your mom is pretty cool. Does she like it here?" I asked. "It seems kind of slow-paced for her."

A small grin tilted the corner of her mouth causing her scar to tip up with it. "My mom has suddenly taken to this relaxed style of life. I'm finding it all rather bizarre, but I'm trying not to think about it too much. I don't want to jinx it." We started walking back up the road.

I could see her beautiful profile under the hood of her sweatshirt. I had a terrible urge to grab her hand, but I stuck my own hands in my sweatshirt. "I hope you stay here. It's dull, but it's a nice place to call home, I guess." My own words surprised me but deep down I knew they were true. And listening to Dani talk about her life, I realized just how easy mine had been.

"All my life I've wanted to live the perfect family life, but I've never gotten close to it." (31.57-60)

I thought back about standing in his arms and how right it had felt. I'd fallen hard for Amy's hero. "You know, I came to town with every intention of hating you, Jake West…"

The palm of his unwrapped hand pressed against my cheek. The warmth of it felt soothing, and I closed my eyes. My lips parted as his mouth covered mine with a soft deep kiss. It had been an emotional few days, and the feel of his lips on mine brought tears to my eyes. He gazed down at me with worry in his dark blues eyes. "Dani, I'm sorry—"

I took his hand from my cheek and kissed his palm. "Don't be. I needed that kiss." I reached up and pushed his long hair behind his ear. Amy knew extraordinary when she saw it. (32.52-54)

"Death." I finished for him. "It's alright if you say the word Mr. Dermott, I know she died."

He looked slightly embarrassed. "It's just that it's always hard to talk about a student's death."

"Did she say anything to you in any of your meetings where she was thinking about suicide?"

His face blanched as he stared at me across his desk. "If she had, I assure you I would have mentioned it to her grandmother." He sounded defensive.

"I'm not accusing you of any negligence, Mr. Dermott. I'm just trying to find out what happened to my cousin. And if she did kill herself, I want to know why. She was always a happy person."

His shoulders relaxed some. "The police declared it a suicide, Dani. I know that can be hard to accept. She had a lot to deal with emotionally. Her mother died, she had an aging grandmother as her only family, and she was very concerned about her weight." (24.27-32)

"Amy left me her diary. She was afraid to die young like her mother. She was afraid to die. She talks about it in her diary. That's why I know she didn't commit suicide." My voice wavered now. He shot me a look of sympathy as if I had no idea what I was talking about, and it angered me enough to jump up from the chair […] "My cousin was too damn smart to go dramatic and suicidal about a guy, any guy, even Jake West." (32.25)