How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
But as time went on, she didn't get better. Instead, she started sleeping later, and then later, until she sometimes didn't get out of bed at all. When she was up, I'd sometimes come into the kitchen midmorning to find her sitting in the same chair, empty mug in her hands, looking out the window. (2.66)
Annabel's grown up with an understanding of what it's like to have deep unhappiness in the family. She, her sisters, and her father have spent a lot of time tiptoeing around Mrs. Greene's depression and making sure that they take care of her.
Quote #2
It was just like all those years ago: her face so tired, eyes swollen from crying, her very features haunted. A sudden panic made me want to wrap myself around her, putting myself between her and the world and everything it could do to her, to me, to any of us. (3.114)
Things get even worse in the glass house after Annabel finds Whitney passed out in the bathroom. Is their mother going to be okay, or is she going to crack because she's so fragile?
Quote #3
As we passed Whitney, it was clear she was crying, her thin shoulders shaking, her hand still pressed to her face. I felt something catch in my own throat and then we were moving on, leaving her behind. (5.253)
Whitney may have a permanent scowl on in order to look tough around her family, but she's really suffering too. In entering her eating disorder treatment, she's had to give up her whole life in New York. No wonder she feels devastated.
Quote #4
But what surprised me more than this was the look on her face, which was so sad that it almost knocked the wind out of me. When our eyes met, she stepped forward, sliding her hands into her pockets, and for a moment I just stared at her, feeling a tug in my chest. And then I had to turn back. (12.159)
Watching Annabel model must be a tough reminder of what Whitney's lost. She was the only sister who was really into modeling, and now that's been taken away from her. What's she supposed to hang onto now?
Quote #5
She knew. I could tell with one glance, one look, one simple instant. It was her eyes. Despite the thick makeup, they were still dark-rimmed, haunted, and sad. Most of all, though, they were familiar. (12.163)
Annabel and Emily are connected in the worst way possible—through the trauma that they share. Looking at Emily in her sadness and devastation though, Annabel can recognize her own pain.
Quote #6
I could see her face reflected in the window over the sink, and I kept watching it closely, the way I always did when she got upset, worried I might see something besides her features that I recognized. (13.5)
Annabel's used to monitoring her mother for signs of depression and sadness, but she doesn't take the same care with herself. She wants to protect her mother more than she wants to make herself feel better and heal.
Quote #7
Nothing, however, stuck with me more than the memory of stepping into that dark room and what I found there, and how the light then took that nightmare and made it real. (13.195)
Poor Annabel—she can't shake the unpleasant thoughts from her mind. No matter how hard she tries, the memory of what happened that night at the party follows her everyday, clouding all her experiences.
Quote #8
Occasionally before or after school, I'd catch a glimpse of him, towering over everyone else as he cut across a pathway or disappeared around a corner. Sometimes when I saw him, all I wanted to do was tell him everything. (15.62)
She may be used to being alone, but Annabel still feels pangs of loneliness whenever she sees Owen around the school. He's the only person who's been able to lead her out of the darkness and see a life after her rape.
Quote #9
Cry. Really cry, the way I hadn't in years, the kind of full-out sobbing that hits you like a wave, pulling you under. Suddenly the tears were just coming, sobs climbing up my throat, my shoulders shaking. (16.21)
Annabel hasn't handled her grief well since the day she was raped, but once Emily expresses that she knows what happened to her, Annabel can finally acknowledge what happened as well. Her pain has been validated.
Quote #10
As he said this, I felt something in my stomach. It wasn't the clenching sickness I was used to, though. More of a slow simmer. "I don't like that either," I said. "But—" (18.56)
Maybe Annabel thought that Owen wouldn't care if she disappeared from his life, but he does. She's not the only one who's suffering; he's been hurt and bewildered by her absence as well.