Isabelle > Isabelle's Quotes

“Just shut up and start sucking each other's faces already," Vida grumbled, leaning awkwardly against the stump. She would never admit it aloud, but I knew the burns on her back her eating her alive with pain. "I'm trying to make up for the sleep I lost when you started screeching at each other like cats in heat."
"Miss Vida," Liam said, "has anyone ever told you that you are positively the whipped cream on the sundae of life?"
She glared at him. "Anyone ever told you your head is shaped like a pencil?"
"That is physically impossible," Chubs groused. "He'd be--"
"Actually," Liam began, "Cole once did try to-- What?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Chub said, "apparently the middle of my sentence interrupted the beginning of yours. Do continue."
"I'm going to guess you probably don't want to hear about the time he pushed my head through the neighbours fence..."
"Was there a lot of blood?" Vida asked, suddenly interested. "Did you lose an ear?"
Liam held his hands up next to his ears, indicating both were firmly attached to his skull.
"Then, no" she said. "No one wants to hear your boring-ass story.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“And people like you are the reason we have middle fingers.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“Then he was stepping back, away, letting distance flood between us again. His voice was low, rough. "Give 'em hell, darlin'."

"And for the love of God, bitch, don't get stabbed this time!" Vida added.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“Give 'em hell, darlin”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“Sometimes you're the one speeding along in a panic, doing too much, not paying attention, wrecking things you don't mean to. And sometimes life just happens to you, and you can't dodge it. It crashes into you because it wants to see what you're made of.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“Never, never, never. I am never going to forget you.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“Did you know...you make me so happy that sometimes I actually forget to breath? I'll be looking at you, and my chest will get so tight...and it's like, the only thought in my head is how much I want to reach over and kiss you.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“I grabbed Liam's arm as he passed me on his way to the tunnel door, kissing his cheek. "See you later tonight."
He stepped down into the tunnel, shouldering a backpack Cole had left for him there. When I turned to say good-bye to the other Stewart, he'd stooped, turned his cheek toward me, and was waiting. I flicked it with my finger, making him laugh again.
"You're impossible," I informed him.
"It's all part of my charm," he said, shifting the heavy bag on his shoulder. "Take care of things, Boss."
"Take care of him." I said, pointedly.
He gave one last mock salute before shutting the door to the tunnel. I waited until the sound of his and the others' steps faded completely before locking the door after him.”
― Alexandra Bracken, In the Afterlight

“You want to hear the rules?"
My heart jackhammered as I nodded. That same hand slid around my hip, up under my shirt, and felt warm and perfect against my lower back. I closed my eyes as his lips just barely brushed mine. His touch made me feel brave. It pushed the uncertainty back until it couldn't reach me. "The first one is you can't think too hard about it. The second is you say when you want to stop. The third is you do whatever feels good to you. The fourth is-"
"-you stop talking," I said, blindly reaching back to pull the door shut, "and kiss me?”
― Alexandra Bracken, In the Afterlight

“Ugh.” Cole rolled his eyes, gave a small laugh. “In a move straight out of Lee’s playbook, I rolled over in bed this morning and hit the dresser. Already killing it this morning.”
― Alexandra Bracken, In the Afterlight

“I hesitate, hand on my seat belt buckle. I know I need to get going somewhere,
but—well, what’s the harm in scoping the area out? Making sure it’s as safe as Remy
seems to think it is?
“All right, Remy,” I say, opening the door.
“Remy,” he shoots back. “Jesus, you can’t even remember my name? The sewers
weren’t kind to you, were they?”
“Wait—what?” I ask, shutting the door, locking it. No one’s taking my Lucy.
He just looks exasperated, which just makes me confused.
“You called me Ruby,” Remy said, indignantly.
I stare at him. There’s a flutter of something wild, panicked in my chest I don’t understand and I don’t particularly want to examine. I’m tired and when I’m tired my tongue gets lazy. “Sorry. Tired. Idiot.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Rising Dark: A Darkest Minds Collection

“He's so busy looking inside people to find the good that he misses the knife they're holding in their hand.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“It feels like we should do something," he said. "Like, send her off on a barge out to sea and set her on fire. Let her go out in a blaze of glory."
Chubs raised an eyebrow. "It's a minivan, not a Viking.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“I hugged him without any kind of fear or self-consciousness, fiercely, with a rush of emotion that almost brought tears to my eyes.
"I could kiss you!" Chubs cried.
"Please don't!" I gasp out, feeling his arms tighten around my ribs to the point of cracking them.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“That is physically impossible," Chubs groused. "He'd be--"
"Actually," Liam began, "Cole once did try to--What?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Chubs said, "apparently the middle of my sentence interrupted the beginning of yours. Do continue.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“Yep, she called to me from the parking lot of abandoned cars. The sun was shining though her windows like a beacon of hope."

Chubs groaned. "Why are you so weird?"

"Because my weird has to be able to cancel out your weird, Lady Cross-stitch.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“Miss Vida" Liam said "has anyone never told you that you are positively the whipped cream on the sundae of life?"
She glared at him."Anyone ever told you your head is shaped like a pencil?"
"That is physically impossible," Chubs groused."He'd be__"
"Actually Liam began, "Cole once did try to__ What?"
"Oh,I'm sorry," Chubs said, "apparently the middle of my sentence interrupted the beginning of yours. Do continue.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“So thought crossed my mind," Liam said suddenly.
"That must've been a lonely journey," Chubs said flipping the pages of his book.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“What?" he whispered. "What are you smiling about?"
My fingers brushed against his hair, trying to smooth it down. I realized what I was doing a full minute after Liam had closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. Embarrassment flared up my chest, but he grabbed my hand before I could pull back and tucked it under his chin.
"Nope," he whispered, when I tried to tug it away. "Mine now."
Dangerous. This is dangerous. The warning was fleeting, banished to the back corners of my mind, where it wouldn't interrupt how good it felt to touch him - how right.
"I'm going to need it back eventually," I said, letting him run it along the stubble on his chin.
"Too bad."
"...crackers..." a voice breathed out behind us, "yessss..."
Both of us turned, watching as Chubs twisted around in his seat and settled back down, still fast asleep.
I pressed a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. Liam rolled his eyes, smiling.
"He dreams about food," he said. "A lot."
"At least they're good dreams."
"Yeah," Liam agreed. "I guess he's lucky.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“Yes, well”—he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose delicately—“the burner phone we had accidentally fell out of the car, and someone accidentally backed over it. Because someone was in a rush after she accidentally alerted some skip tracers we were nearby when she accidentally used her abilities to move a light pole out of the road after she had accidentally backed into it.”
“Someone better shut their mouth before I accidentally slam my fist into their teeth.” She punched his shoulder, and it was almost...playful.
“Shut his mouth, fist into his teeth.”
“Really? A grammar lesson?”
― Alexandra Bracken, In the Afterlight

“I felt the familiar warm tingling at the center of my chest and had just enough time to gasp as some invisible hand yanked me forward, smacking my forehead against the dashboard with enough force to stun me dumb.
Chubs slammed on the brakes, forcing my seat belt to do its job and lock against my chest. I was thrown back into my seat, an explosion of colors bursting in my vision.
"Oh, hell no!" Chubs roared, slamming a hand against the steering wheel. "That's it! We don not use our abilities on one another, goddammit! Behave yourself!”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“I'll teach you later, but for now I just need someone to watch the signs for me. Come on up to the copilot chair."
I jerked a thumb in the direction of Chubs.
Liam only shook his head. "Are you kidding me? Yesterday he thought a mailbox was a clown."
I unbuckle my seat belt with a sigh. As I climbed over Chubs's outstretched legs to the front, I glanced over my shoulder, my eyes going to his too-small glasses. " Is his eyesight really that bad?"
"Worse," Liam said. "So, right after we got the hell out of Caledonia, we broke into this house to spend the night, right? I woke up in the middle of the night hearing the most awful noise, like a cow dying or something. I followed the wailing, clutching some kid's baseball bat, thinking I was going to have to beat someone's head in for us to make a clean getaway. then I saw what was sitting at the bottom of a drained pool."
"No way," I said.
"Way," he confirmed. "Hawkeye had gone out to relieve himself and had somehow missed the giant gaping hole in the ground. Twisted his ankle and couldn't climb out of the deep end.
I tried so hard not to laugh, but it was impossible. The mental image was just too damn good.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“Are you driving this slow because you have no idea where we're going, or because you're hoping we jump out of the car & put ourselves out of our misery?”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“Let me tell you what I think about your fucking rules," he said, his voice dripping with venom as he pushed past Liam. "You sit up in your room and you pretend like you want what's best for everyone, but you don't do any of the work yourself. I can't tell if you're just a spoiled little shit, or if you're too worried about getting your pretty princess hands dirty, but it sucks. You are fucking awful, and you sure as hell don't have me fooled... You talk about us all being equals, like we're one big rainbow of peace and all that bullshit, but you never once believed that yourself, did you? You won't let anyone contact their parents, and you don't care about the kids that are still trapped in camps your father set up. You wouldn't even listen when the Watch kids brought it up. So what I want to know is, why can't we leave?... What's the point of this place, other than for you to get off on how great you are and toy with people and their feelings?”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds

“Also, screw you—maybe you can be all stealthy and break into their building to get the woman out, but I can get
us there and back safely. I did this for months and never got a second glance from anyone, including PSFs.”

“Probably because your ugly-ass face blinded them on the first look,” she muttered.”
― Alexandra Bracken, In the Afterlight

“I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd be up for hearing about the one-eyed chick," Vida said with a shrug.
"You are atually the worst person I have ever met," Chubs said.
"And people like you are the reason we have middle fingers.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“Joseph Lister?" Liam said suddenly, cutting through the silence. "Really? Him?"
Chubs stiffened beside me. "That man was a hero. He pioneered research on the origins of infections and sterilization."
Liam stared hard at the faux leather cover of just Chubs's skip-tracer ID, carefully choosing his next words. "You couldn't have chosen something cooler? Someone who is maybe not an old dead white guy?"
"His work led to the reduction of post operative infections and safer surgical practices," Chubs insisted. "Who would you have picked? Captain America?"
"Steve Rogers is a perfectly legit name." Liam pass the ID back to him. " This is all...very Boba Fett of you. I'm not sure what to say, Chubsie.”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“You had day-of-the-week underwear growing up, didn't you?”
― Alexandra Bracken Never Fade

“Oh, thank god. I saw you both on the ground & I thought you killed each other”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade

“I flew in on a cloud and came blitzing down from the heavens like a bolt of lightning on this kid”
― Alexandra Bracken, Never Fade