Chapter 1
Her eyes meet mine for a second. "I hate you," [Rachel] mouths silently. (1.11)
Chapter 3
It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you ha...
Chapter 4
"Welcome to the only class that will teach you how to survive […]. Welcome to Art." (4.3)
Chapter 6
My room belongs to an alien. It is a postcard of who I was in the fifth grade. It is a demented phase when I thought that roses should cover everything and pink was a great color. (6.6)
Chapter 9
Rachelle blows a candy cigarette smoke ring at my face. Blows me off. I have been dropped like a hot Pop Tart on a cold kitchen floor. (9.14)
Chapter 10
My goal is to go home and take a nap. (10.10)
Chapter 11
I steal a pad of Hairwoman's late passes. I feel much, much better. (11.7)
Chapter 12
"My brother got arrested at that party. He got fired because of the arrest. I can't believe you did that. Asshole." (12.10)
Chapter 13
When the pep rally ends, I am accidentally knocked down three rows of bleachers. (13.5)
Chapter 15
"How can you say this? Why does everyone have that attitude? I don't understand any of this. If we want to be in the musical, then they should just let us. We could just stand on-stage or something...
Chapter 16
Deprived of Victim, Mom and Dad holler at each other. I turn up the music to drown out the noise. (16.9)
Chapter 21
Siobhan: "She's creepy. What's wrong with her lips? It looks like she's got a disease or something." (21.17)
Chapter 22
IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I'd throw up. (22.2)
Chapter 24
Sometimes my mouth relaxes around Heather, if we're alone. Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze. What is wrong with me? (24.3)
Chapter 27
He says a million things without saying a word. I make a note to study David Petrakis. I have never heard a more eloquent silence. (27.24)
Chapter 30
An apple tree growing from an apple seed growing in an apple. I show the little plantseed to Ms. Keen. She gives me extra credit, David roles his eyes. Biology is so cool. (30.12)
Chapter 33
How can I talk to them about that night? How can I start? (33.10)
Chapter 35
They offer me a deal. If I volunteer to teach Basketball Pole how to swish a foul shot, I will get an automatic A in gym. I shrug my shoulders and they grin. I couldn't say no. I couldn't say...
Chapter 36
Maybe I'll be an artist when I grow up. (36.7)
Chapter 38
I have to slice open her belly. She doesn't say a word. She is already dead. A scream starts in my gut – I can feel the cut, smell the dirt, leaves in my hair. (38.4)
Chapter 42
"Freshmeat." That's what IT whispers. (42.3)
Chapter 43
I open a paperclip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this. A whimper, a peep? I draw little windowcracks of blood, etc...
Chapter 44
[Andy] twirls my ponytail in his fingers. […] I mumble something idiotic and run for the bathroom. I heave lunch into the toilet, then wash my face with the ice water that comes out of the Hot fa...
Chapter 45
Mr. Freeman steps back, as if he has just seen something new in his own picture. He slices the canvas with my chisel, ruining it with a long, ripping sound that makes the entire class gasp. (45.6)
Chapter 47
BunnyRabbit bolts, leaving fast tracks in the snow. Getaway, getaway, getaway. Why didn't I run like this before when I was a one-piece talking girl? (47.14)
Chapter 48
I should probably tell someone, just tell someone. Get it over with. Let it out, blurt it out. (48.8)
Chapter 49
"How do you know what he meant to say. I mean, did he leave another book called 'Symbolism in My Books'? If he didn't then you could just be making all of this up." (49.11)
Chapter 51
They swallow her whole and she never looks back at me. Not once. (51.21)
Chapter 53
It was the friendship necklace I had given Heather in a fit of insanity around Christmas. Stupid stupid stupid. How stupid could I be? I hear a cracking inside me, my ribs are collapsing in on my l...
Chapter 54
I stumble down the hall […] till I find my very own door and slop inside and throw the lock, not even bothering to turn on the lights, just falling falling a mile downhill to the bottom of my bro...
Chapter 55
"I don't know where you picked up that slacker attitude, but you certainly didn't learn it at home. Probably from the bad influences up here. (55.22)
Chapter 56
"You're a good kid. I think you have a lot to say. I'd like to hear it." (56.16)
Chapter 57
"You're imagination is paralyzed" [Mr. Freeman] declares. "You need to take a trip. […] You need to visit the mind of the great one." (57.1)
Chapter 59
Jeans that fit, that's a good start. I have to stay away from the closet, go to all my classes. I will make myself normal. Forget the rest of it. (59.8)
Chapter 63
I'm definitely back at Rachel's, crimping my hair and gluing on fake nails, and he smells like beer and mean and he hurts me hurts me hurts me and gets upand zips his jeansand smiles. (63.15-17)
Chapter 64
"We have your location. Officers are on the way? Are you hurt? Are you being threatened" Someone grabbed the phone from my hands and listened. A scream – the cops were coming. […] Rachel's face...
Chapter 69
She is not any part of a pretend Rachelle-chick. I can only see third grade Rachel who liked barbeque potato chips and who braided pink […] thread into my hair that I wore for months until my mom...
Chapter 70
"Andy Evans will use you. He is not what he pretends to be. I heard he attacked a ninth grader. Be very, very careful." (70.6)
Chapter 73
I guess I'll answer if [David] calls. But if he touches me I'll explode, so a date is out of the question. No touching. (73.14)
Chapter 76
Mom calls me to remind me to drink lots of fluids. I say "Thank you," even though it hurts my throat. It's nice of her to call me. (76.1)
Chapter 77
Dad: "That's a lot of work."Me: Dad: "I'll get some leaf bags from the store" (77.6-8)
Chapter 84
Someone touches my arm gently. "Melinda?" It's Ivy. "Can you take the late bus? I want to show you something." (84.2)
Chapter 85
It's like smelling the perfect Christmas feast and having the door slammed in your face, leaving you there in the cold. (85.1)
Chapter 87
I reach in and wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evans neck. […] I push just hard enough to raise one drop of blood. […] I want to insert the glass all the way throu...
Chapter 88
"NNNOOO!!!" (88.16)
Chapter 89
(We wonder if the book that the school board banned was Angelou's autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in which Angelou describes being sexually abused.)I look at my homely sketch. It d...