How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Hannah's house has been unfinished ever since I can remember. Deep down I think that's always been a comfort to me, because people don't leave unfinished houses. (2.1)
While Hannah's kept herself relatively distant out of respect for Tate's wishes, there's no doubt that Taylor's bonded to her anyway and desperately fears being left by the only stable adult figure in her life. To Taylor, as long as Hannah's house isn't completed, she can't vanish from her life.
Quote #2
Absent parents aren't a rare thing around here, probably because a tenth of the students are state wards. The Jellicoe School is run by the state. It's not about money or religion but it is selective, so most of us are clever. (2.3)
Taylor sets up the dismal situation for most of the kids at the school early in the story by telling us where most of the students come from. While it sounds like many of them are gifted students brought there for educational opportunities, there's still the sadness of the fact that most of them lack supportive families.
Quote #3
I don't know where I fit in. One day when I was eleven, my mother drove me out here and while I was in the toilets at the 7-Eleven on the Jellicoe Road, she drove off and left me there. It becomes one of the defining moments in your life, when your mother does that. (2.4)
We don't find out about the horrors Taylor went through as a child until near the end of the book, but with that information in mind, think about how traumatic this must have been for her. After moving from place to place with her mom, having to live under different names, and being molested by the neighbor's boyfriend, getting dumped at a gas station had to take the cake. No wonder she has issues.