Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor & Park
52 quotes
"You think I'm cute?" He said thinkly, pulling on her hand.She was glad he couldn't see her face. "I think you're..."Beautiful. Breathtaking. Like the person in a Greek myth who makes one of the gods stop caring about being a god."
"He leaned against her, pressing his shoulder into hers. "Don't be mad at me," he said, sighing. "It makes me crazy.""I'm never mad at you," she said."Right.""I'm not.""You must just be mad near me a lot."
"He'd stopped trying to bring her back. She only came back when she felt like it anyway, in dreams and lies and broken-down déjà vu."
"There was something about the music on that tape. It felt different. Like, it set her lungs and her stomach on edge. There was something exciting about it, and something nervous. It made Eleanor feel like everything, like the world, wasn't what she'd thought it was. And that was a good thing. That was the greatest thing."
"Everytime, he breaks your heart. And everytime, he expects me to pick up the pieces."
"The world turned itself into a better place around him."
"Park stood up when she got to their row, and as soon as she sat down, he took her hand and kissed it. It happened so fast, she didn't have time to die of ecstasy or embarrassment."
"... Whenever Eleanor felt nervous or scared, she told herself to be happy instead. (It didn’t really make her feel better, but it kept her from feeling worse …)"
"Maybe I'm some sort of perverted cartoon-sexual."
"Eleanor hated it when her mom acted like that. Relentlessly submissive. It was humiliatng to be in the same room."
"Because all her feelings for him – hot and beautiful in her heart – turned to gobbledygook in her mouth."
"Eleanor let his words hit her full on."
"And in those moments, Park thought about pulling back from her."Not breaking up with her. That phrase didn't even seem to apply here. Just . . . erasing away. Recovering the six inches between them"
"He took the necklace out of the box and carefully fastened it around her neck. Just like he'd imagined himself doing when he bought it. That might even be why he bought it - so he'd have this moment, under her hair. He ran his fingertips along the chain and settled the pendant on her throat."
"I'm sorry about yesterday," she said.He hung on to his straps and shrugged. "Yesterday happens."
"You don’t care what anyone thinks about you,’ he said.‘That’s crazy,’ she said. ‘I care what everyone thinks about me.’‘I can’t tell,’ he said. ‘You just seem like yourself, no matter what’s happening around you. My grandmother would say you’re comfortable in your own skin."
"Eleanor had never thought about killing herself – ever – but she thought a lot about stopping."
"He was hers. To have and hold. Not forever, maybe--not forever, for sure--and not figuratively. But literally. And now. Now, he was hers. And he wanted her to touch him. He was like a cat who pushes its head under your hands."
"I'm interested. It's like you've got all these weird barriers set up, like you only want me to have access to this tiny part of you…"
"If he were to look up at her now, he’d know exactly how stupid she was. She couldfeel her face go soft and gummy. If Park were to look up at her now, he’d know everything."
"Because being assaulted with maxi pads is a great way to win friends and influence people."
"How could it be possible that there were that many nerve endings all in one place?"
"I can’t help but think,’ Park would say during taekwando. ‘I can’t turn off my brain."
"He's mad at me.""For what?""For not being like him."Eleanor looked dubious. "Has he been mad at you for the last sixteen years?""Basically."
"He was probably being so quiet because he was trying not to say it out loud."