Daisy > Daisy's Quotes

“Keys meant Neil had explicit permission to be here and do what he liked. They meant he belonged.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Foxhole Court

“He'd come to the Foxhole Court every inch a lie, but his friends made him into someone real.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“Let Riko be King," Kevin said, with the exaggerated enunciation of the thoroughly sloshed. "Most coveted, most protected. He'll sacrifice every piece he has to protect his throne. Whatever. Me?" Kevin gestured again, meaning to indicate himself but too drunk to get his hand higher than his waist. "I'm going to be the deadliest piece on the board.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“Why don't you like girls?"
Nicky looked startled by the interruption, but he rallied quickly and made a face. "They're so soft."
Neil thought about Renee's bruised knuckles, Dan's fierce spirit, and Allison holding her ground on the court a week after Seth's death. He thought about his mother standing unflinching in the face of his father's violent anger and her ruthlessly leaving bodies in their wake. He felt compelled to say, "Some of the strongest people I've known are women."
"What? Oh, no," Nicky hurried to say. "I mean literally soft. Too many curves, see? I feel like my hands would slide right off. It's totally not my thing. I like…" He drew a box with his fingers as he searched for words. "Erik. Erik's perfect. He's a total outdoors junkie, rock climbing and hiking and mountain biking, all that awful bug-infested fresh-air stuff. But oh my god, you should see what it does to his body. He's like this, all hard edges." He drew another box. "He's stronger than I am, and I like that. I feel like I could lean on him all day and he wouldn't break a sweat.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“With that, Andrew caught Neil's face in his hands and leaned in.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“Did you have any plans to do anything?" Matt finally thought to ask Neil. "Besides the obvious, I mean." Neil wasn't sure if Matt meant Exy or Andrew.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“It's always been 'go'. It's always been 'lie' and 'hide' and 'disappear'. I've never belonged anywhere or had the right to call anything my own. But Coach gave me keys to the court, and you told me to stay. You gave me a key and called it home. I haven't had a home since my parents died.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“It was Nathaniel's fault Andrew's self-control was in shreds, but it was also for his sake. Andrew's bottomless rage would never hurt Nathaniel, and that made all the difference in the world.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“What the hell was that?" "Coach?" "Don't you dare 'Coach?' me, you malfunctioning retard." "No, but really," Nicky said, looking wide-eyed at Neil. "What happened?" "Neil hit Riko," Matt said. "It was beautiful.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“I don't want to be a Raven. I don't want to be Nathaniel. I want to be Neil Josten. I want to be a Fox.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“And I am nothing... And as you've always said, you want nothing.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“He was content to watch and imagine. Lonely, too, but there was nothing he could do about that.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“It’s not the world that’s cruel. It’s the people in it.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Foxhole Court

“As he listened to them, Neil realised he was happy. It was such an unexpected and unfamiliar feeling he lost track of the conversation for a minute.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“You never explained the change of heart."
"Maybe I got tired of seeing Kevin bend. Or maybe it was the zombies. A few weeks back you and Renee argued contingency plans for a zombie apocalypse. She said she'd focus on survivors. You said you'd go back for some of us. Five of us. You weren't counting Abby or Coach. Since you trust Renee to handle the rest of the team, I'm guessing the last spot is for Dobson. I didn't say anything then because I knew I'd look out for only me when the world went to hell. I don't want to be that person anymore. I want to go back for you.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“You have a problem," Andrew said, "wherein you only invest your time and energy into worthless pursuits." "This," Neil flicked his finger to indicate the two of them, "isn't worthless." "There is no 'this'. This is nothing." "And I am nothing," Neil prompted. When Andrew gestured confirmation, Neil said, "And as you've always said, you want nothing.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“It went against everything Neil knew to give in, but he'd chosen this path. He'd chosen Andrew.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Foxhole Court

“The only one I'm interested in is you.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“I'm sorry."
"Say it again and I will kill you.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“Renee says the upperclassmen are betting on your sexuality."
"It's a waste of time and money. They'll all lose. I've said all year I don't swing and I meant it. Kissing you doesn't make me look at any of them differently. The only one I'm interested in is you.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“Make them love you, make them hate you, I don't care. Just make them look at you.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Foxhole Court

“Neil wanted to tell them death was no reason to hold back, but he found their humanity interesting.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“The Foxhole Court was the only home he needed; the Foxes were his family. He didn't want any of this to have a hold on him anymore. How sad, how strange, how stupid, that he could run so far and still end up back here in the end.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“Sometimes I think this job is going to kill me," Abby said. "Seeing what people have done, what people continue to do, to my Foxes. I wish I could protect you, but I'm always too late. All I can do is patch you up afterward and hope for the best. I'm sorry, Neil. We should have been there for you.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men

“You can't cut down someone who's already in the gutter.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“Look. Shit happened. Shit's going to keep happening. You don't need me to tell your life isn't fair. You're here because you know it isn't. Life doesn't care what we want out of it; it's up to us to fight for what we want with everything we've got. Seth wanted us to win. He wanted us to make it past the fourth match. I think we owe it to him to perform. Let's show the world what we've got. Let's make this our year.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“I have a bit of an attitude problem.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Foxhole Court

“Neil's grief was a knife spinning circles in his stomach, tearing him to shreds from the inside out until he could barely breathe.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“It's about family. Not necessarily the one we were born with, but the one we choose. This one. The people we trust to be part of our lives. The people we care about.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Raven King

“You're crazy," Neil said to Andrew in an undertone. "This is news to no one," Andrew said.”
― Nora Sakavic, The King's Men