How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
One of the Hotness Crew smirks. Staci Johnson. I'm not too proud to tell you that it makes me go a little expansive in my Fruit of the Loins. Staci Johnson is a shallow social climber who would never allow me within a ten-foot radius of her rather magnificent body. I know this. But what can I say? My penis is a traitor. (3.11)
We're sure it's no shock to you if we say that teenage boys are often led by their hormones—and Cam is no exception here. The fact that he despises everything Staci Johnson represents doesn't stop him from having lustful feelings toward her.
Quote #2
In the end, I take my shoes off and stick my feet in, letting the lukewarm water lick at my ankles. It feels good, and not just because I'm stoned. I make a mental note to add this to Dulcie's list of things worth living for. For some reason, I keep seeing her rolling her eyes at me, that big, goofy grin stretching her face like Silly Putty. On my private list, I add her smile. She doesn't have to know. (28.81)
Uh-oh… Cam and Dulcie, sittin' in a tree, right? Cam is falling in love with her, and we're not sure he's even aware of it yet. Or maybe he is and he isn't ready to admit it. Either way, he's starting to fall hard.
Quote #3
Dulcie arches an eyebrow, but that grin isn't far behind, and God, what is it about girls in general and this one in particular that I would sit in a room all day coming up with jokes just for another one of those funky smiles? (32.19)
Ooh, Cameron's in lurve. At least that's why he's mildly obsessed with her smile, and noticing things like her facial expressions down to the minutiae.
Quote #4
How do people stay in love, anyway? Is it a choice? Or is it like those plants we studied in biology that mutate into something new and totally different but are still part of the same plant family? (43.21)
Cam might be onto something here. Love changes people irrevocably, whether it ends disastrously or lasts forever, and there's no real recipe for staying in love.
Quote #5
I've never been in love. I will die without knowing what it feels like to need to see one person's face when you go to sleep at night, to crave seeing it when you wake up. I wish I knew. (43.22)
We think he does know what love is like. He's in love with Dulcie, after all; he's just not aware of it yet. (Geez, sometimes teens are so slow on the uptake when it comes to this stuff.)
Quote #6
I nod, suddenly wishing she weren't here. I looked upon your face and knew happiness. […] I don't know, for the first time, the song hits me in the gut. Under the recorder, beneath the sort of bizarre lyrics is that pain Eubie talked about. This longing for something, for someone, all your atoms dreaming toward somebody else's. And just like that, Dulcie's face flashes in my mind. The way the light's all soft around her face, the goofy expressions she makes, the look of wonder when she smiles. (43.54)
Cam wishes Staci would leave because he's finally starting to see the light. The Great Tremolo's bizarre music has just made something click, and now he understands that he's in love with Dulcie. It's about dang time.
Quote #7
"I thought I would feel different."
"Do you?" Dulcie asks.
Yes. No. I don't know. I feel emptied. Lost. A little sad. Like I was expecting a package that never arrived. (43.98)
Despite the revelation that he's in love with Dulcie, Cam goes ahead and has sex with Staci anyway. Surprise, surprise (cue dripping sarcasm), it stinks because he doesn't really have feelings for her and so he's disappointed.
Quote #8
"Cameron, look at me," she whispers.
I do. I see her. Really see her. And in that moment, I know she sees me.
She smiles, and in her smile is everything I could ever want. Her face looms closer, closing the impossible distance. Her lips are near mine.
And when it comes, her kiss is like something not so much felt as found. (43.115-118)
Finally Cam and Dulcie are about to get it on, and it's going to be so much better than the quickie he had with Staci Johnson because these two are totally in love. Cameron is getting his wish: He finally knows what falling in love feels like.