Quote 7
I thought back about standing in his arms and how right it had felt. I'd fallen hard for Amy's hero. "You know, I came to town with every intention of hating you, Jake West…"
The palm of his unwrapped hand pressed against my cheek. The warmth of it felt soothing, and I closed my eyes. My lips parted as his mouth covered mine with a soft deep kiss. It had been an emotional few days, and the feel of his lips on mine brought tears to my eyes. He gazed down at me with worry in his dark blues eyes. "Dani, I'm sorry—"
I took his hand from my cheek and kissed his palm. "Don't be. I needed that kiss." I reached up and pushed his long hair behind his ear. Amy knew extraordinary when she saw it. (32.52-54)
Finally these two crazy kids let each other know how they feel. Dani's tried to stay away, and Jake's kept his distance, too, but these two are like little magnets and they can't help but be drawn to each other.
Quote 8
"Death." I finished for him. "It's alright if you say the word Mr. Dermott, I know she died."
He looked slightly embarrassed. "It's just that it's always hard to talk about a student's death."
"Did she say anything to you in any of your meetings where she was thinking about suicide?"
His face blanched as he stared at me across his desk. "If she had, I assure you I would have mentioned it to her grandmother." He sounded defensive.
"I'm not accusing you of any negligence, Mr. Dermott. I'm just trying to find out what happened to my cousin. And if she did kill herself, I want to know why. She was always a happy person."
His shoulders relaxed some. "The police declared it a suicide, Dani. I know that can be hard to accept. She had a lot to deal with emotionally. Her mother died, she had an aging grandmother as her only family, and she was very concerned about her weight." (24.27-32)
Dani just isn't buying the fact that Amy went looking for death. Of course, Mr. Dermott is interested in pushing this theory for his own reasons. He's clearly given it a lot of practice and come up with a laundry list of reasons why Amy might have driven over that cliff. Heck, maybe he's even rationalized that night by telling himself that her little detour was intentional.
Quote 9
"Amy left me her diary. She was afraid to die young like her mother. She was afraid to die. She talks about it in her diary. That's why I know she didn't commit suicide." My voice wavered now. He shot me a look of sympathy as if I had no idea what I was talking about, and it angered me enough to jump up from the chair […] "My cousin was too damn smart to go dramatic and suicidal about a guy, any guy, even Jake West." (32.25)
Dani knows the truth about Amy, she just can't prove it. Amy just wasn't the kind of person to get so wrapped up in what other people thought of her that she'd decide to end it all. Amy didn't go looking for death—she was actually afraid of it.