How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"I've already disappointed her enough."
I reached over and put my hand on her arm. I understood about disappointing people. "Friends forgive each other." (8.67-68)
During this conversation with Mary, Nikki tries to reassure her that people who are close to you will forgive you. But… will they? Once we meet Mary/Meredith's mom later in the story, we get the sense that she's kind of cold and distant and is probably not that interested in forgiving her errant daughter. Nikki seems to need this hope for herself, though.
Quote #5
Could he still love me, despite what he did in the past? (15.27)
When Nikki has this thought about Jack, she finally verbalizes the source of so much angst. She feels that Jack wronged her by giving the impression that he'd hooked up with Lacey at football camp, and yet she still cares about him and craves his affection. So is this really more about Nikki forgiving Jack, or Nikki forgiving herself for running off to the Everneath before Jack could explain himself?
Quote #6
"We have no plans to appeal. At this point, the only way my family will move forward is if we forgive—"
I threw my backpack at him. Without warning. I hit him in the face before I even realized it'd left my hands. (21.41-42)
Nikki is devastated when they get the news that the drunk driver who killed her mom is being released. But it's worse when she overhears her dad on the phone talking to the press, saying all this stuff about forgiveness. Has Nikki forgiven her mom's killer? Nope. Now she also has to grapple with whether to forgive her dad for forgiving the dude. Whew. Keeping track of who needs to forgive whom is kind of exhausting.