“when you're a kid, they tell you that it's what's on the inside that counts. Looks don't matter . But that's not true. Guys like Phoebus in The Hunchback, or Dorian, or the old Kyle Kingsbur...”

“It's easier to fake it. When you fake it for sixteen years, it becomes part of you, something you don't think about.”

“What happened to romance? sappy soppy longhand love letters.”

“I love you, I thought. But I didn’t say it. It was not that I feared she would laugh in my face. She was far too kind for that. My fear was a greater one— that she won’t say it back.”