Leanne Hall > Quotes

“There’s a pause so yawning I can’t help but think about what it would be like to lean in and kiss her, but if I’m getting the signals wrong then I’m about to destroy the best run we’ve had all evening. It’s been at least ten minutes since I’ve done or said anything stupid.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“They envy your youth. You two are like exotic creatures from the land of the young.’
I’ve never understood all that these-are-the-best-years-of-your-life crap. If this is as good as it gets then I might as well quit now. Let me get to the shimmery oasis of adulthood.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“People grow couches and bikes and concrete in their front gardens instead of roses.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“We’re going bowling?’ I can’t keep the disappointment of of my voice. Bowling is not badass.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“We're all here to take care of ourselves, and ourselves only. This is how I look at it: if a gunman rampaged through the flats, I'd barricade Mum and me in our place and forget about anyone else on our floor. If the gunman broke into our flat then I'm not entirely sure I'd take a bullet for Mum, or vice versa. When it comes down to it, we're all on our own. Once you realise that, life becomes simpler.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“Let's not live like we're scared. It's such a waste to be scared.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“Sometimes you have to let the world end, so you can build a new one.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“I howl at the roof like a hotted-up bomb doing donuts, full of screeches. I howl like an air-raid siren, my arms stretched out wide. Howls are like songs. They can't be summoned; they just happen. They come from a place that I barely understand. And then something else climbs to the surface, something black and jagged, something from the deep. Imagine all your worse feelings surfacing. Imagine coughing up razor blades. Imagine not being able to stop the pain from coming out, and not knowing when it's going to end.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“I imagine crossing Grey Street in the daytime. Would night fall over me gently like a velvety curtain? Or would the day turn dark in the blink of my eye? I don't really need the sunrise to know that Shyness is different. It's like there is a thin layer of static over everything that stops me from seeing what's really going on. People here scuttle around like they're scared of their own shadows.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“If I could retrieve my words I would, grab them out of the sky and hide them where they can't be seen.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“Sometimes stupid is all we've got.”
― Leanne Hall

“Hey,’ Wildgirl says, ‘let me into your backpack. I’ve got a light on my keys that I totally forgot about.’
I turn my back to her and feel her fumbling with the zip of my pack. It’s a lot lighter now.
‘I’m glad you hung on to your bag. I would have had to kick your ass if you lost all my stuff.’
I probably wouldn’t mind that, although if I were given a choice, I’d opt for another kiss. It’s the first time I’ve been so close to someone since I’ve changed. Kissing felt better than I remembered, but it also felt like it was something I had to be careful about. It never felt that way before.”
― Leanne Hall, This Is Shyness

“We were just two stars in the endless night sky, as dazzling and dwarfed and stupendous and insignificant as that made us.”
― Leanne Hall

“You're good for me," I say. "The light to my shade."
"Then you're the night to my day. A person needs both, you know.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“I want to be wherever you are.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“Time is up for my little caravan kingdom. It's time for a window that does not look into concrete.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“If women hold up half the sky, then why are we so disposable?”
― Leanne Hall, The Gaps

“It's unfortunate that the more annoyed she gets, the prettier she looks.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“I see every fallen body on the cover of a crime novel, and I can't help thinking that everyone wants their teenage girls ruined”
― Leanne Hall, The Gaps

“You can try to distract me with your kisses, sir, but I will come through with the goods in the end.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“I should change my job title to Retail Psychologist and get some impressive letter after my name.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“You need to wear this." Amelia holds up a chunky silver necklace studded with gemstones.

I can't help scrunching up my face. It's one fugly piece of bling.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“Blake peers around Amelia's shoulder. "He looks like Sleeping Beauty."
"Don't ever say that to his face," says Wolfboy."Actually, do. If he wakes up, promise me you'll say that to his face.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“It's like when I first saw you at the Diabetic. I went up to you, but really you made the first move."
"Shut up!" She remains unconvinced. "How?"
I don't answer. I sit still. Then I look at her slyly out of the corner of my eye, before looking away. I look at her again, for longer this time, then drop my eyes. For my final look I stare, and bat my eyelashes provocatively.
I must do a good job because Nia laughs. It feels goo to know I can do that.
"You look like such a dufus in those glasses! It's not sexy at all!" She puts her hand to her reddening face. "Oh. Did I really do that?"
"It worked, didn't it?”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“You're polite and sensitive, and you always try to do the right thing by people. And according to my friend Kara - you remember the blonde woman from last night? - you wear a pair of jeans very well.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“It's never nice to admit we don't know our friends as well as we thought we did.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“Whatever fantasy I had in my head of what Wolfboy looks like, it's now clear I haven't been fantasising hard enough, not nearly.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“The colour is terrible on her. She could have been dead for ten days. In the water.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“I'm glad we're sitting here now. Even if it does smell like a grandma convention.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night

“Henny Penny," says Lupe. "Do you know this story?"
I shake my head. Conversations with her can turn cryptic in the blink of an eye.
"She thinks the sky is falling. Do you see my meaning?"
"Not really."
"Sometimes you have to let the world end, so you can build a new one.”
― Leanne Hall, Queen of the Night