How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
She had a high, breathless, amused voice that made everything she said sound a little forced, whether it was sincere or not. (4)
In the early paragraphs we are told repeatedly that Connie is "breathless" and "nervous." In addition to the quote above, we are told that her laugh is "high-pitched and nervous" (5), and when Connie and her friend run across the highway, they are "breathless with daring" (6). This suggests something vulnerable about Connie even before she meets Arnold Friend.
Quote #2
She drew her shoulders up and sucked in her breath with the pure pleasure of being alive, and just at that moment she happened to glance at a face just a few feet from hers. (7)
Just at the moment when Connie experiences the "pure pleasure of being alive," she meets Arnold Friend for the first time – although at this point he's just an anonymous but disturbing face. Life and death, pleasure and pain, are closely associated from the start.