Quote 1
Dani was staring up at me. It was obvious she was assessing how much of my confession was the truth. But it was all true. "You were her romantic hero."
I looked away. "They only exist in books."
"I think she discovered that the hard way." Her voice cracked as she spoke. (17.35-37)
Jake is kind of right here. Amy was looking for an idealized form of love that she couldn't ever find in the real world. But is that the reason she killed herself? Was it death by romance novels?
Quote 2
We stepped inside the pipe. The air inside was thick with the smell of moss. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light but once they did my mouth dropped open. The sides of the tunnel were painted with a collage of pictures. They were from Amy's brush. I would have recognized her art anywhere.
Now Jake released my hand, and I moved closer to the pictures. Familiar faces stared back at me including Grammie, Amy's mom, and Amy herself. There was a picture of two little girls feeding ducks. That was us. We used to walk down to the city park with old bread to feed the birds. In the center was a picture of Jake on his horse. "This is incredible." A whisper of my voice echoed back at me. "How did you find this?
"One day I was feeling particularly sorry for myself, and I came down to the bus to be alone. Amy walked by with a bucket of paints. She didn't know I was there. After she left, I followed the path she'd taken and found this."
I fingered the colors on the metal walls of the pipe. This was the place she'd talked about in her diary. A place where she could paint to her heart's content and no one would bother her. "It feels like someone has gone over the paint with a clear coat of varnish. Like they were trying to protect it." I glanced up at Jake. He was staring shyly at his feet.
"It was you."
"Just thought it was cool enough to preserve," he said quietly. He smiled and lifted his gaze to the paintings. "After all, she did make me look pretty awesome sitting on that horse."
I smiled. "She sure did." I walked the length of the pipe. She'd been about ten feet from covering the entire surface with art. (20.14-20)
Amy's secret painting place is pretty amazing. Again Dani really envies Amy's ability to use art to capture all the happiest moments in her life. Jake hasn't told anyone about this place until now. He's kept it a secret and even preserved Amy's paintings so that anyone who stumbles on this little hideaway can enjoy her talents.
Quote 3
I pulled the first tire up and rolled it away. Then the second. We both stared at the revealed picture. The rest of the pictures were brightly colored images of people, animals, and flowers. This picture was painted in black, white, and red. It was a mouth taking a bite from the palm of a hand. Blood sprayed from the hand.
Dani sank to her knees and looked closer at the rather disturbing picture. "Why would she draw this? It's so horrid. I never saw her draw anything like it before."
"Yeah, I've got to say that is pretty bizarre for an Amy painting."
Dani touched the edges of the paint. The strokes looked heavy and thick as if they'd been dashed off in anger. (27.57-60)
Art doesn't only help Amy hold onto happy times, it helps her express some really scary moments. Here her style is different because her mood is different, but the message is clear—something really messed up happened and Amy just had to paint about it.