How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"It's true, though," I said. "There is absolutely nothing between us." I said it with enough misery in my face, I suppose, that she believed me. "I have to go," I said. (32.14)
At first, Agnès doesn't believe one word Pearl says about Amiel—she can tell that something is going on between those two, even if no one will admit it—but eventually she gives up. Pearl, on the other hand, lies to herself to make the situation go away.
Quote #8
It crossed my mind to say, He saw you kissing my uncle. Or, He wanted to stop you from breaking up his parents' marriage. I should have said these things, I think now, but I didn't, which made me wonder if I was losing my compulsive honesty now that I spent most of my time leading a secret life. (37.36)
Pearl thinks about what she'd like to say to Mary Beth, but doesn't go through with it. We're more interested in the way that she describes her romance with Amiel as a "secret life." She's so used to lying now that she doesn't even know how to be completely honest with people anymore.
Quote #9
My ability to lie was like my ability to speak Spanish. I didn't have the speed, the fluency, or the verb tenses. "I just, yeah, I had to." (44.41)
On the phone to her mom, Pearl knows she isn't lying very well. And you know what? She doesn't really care. She's already made her choice to go to the woods after Amiel, and she figures her mom will just have to deal with it.