James Anderson Quotes

“Doll Hands is a serial killer. My pants were getting tight over a serial killer. Kenji is going to love this.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“What makes you think I have any leverage over her?”
“Because she’s been saying your name in her dreams.”
A shock of pleasure moves through me. Automatic endorphin rush. “What? Really?”
“No.”
“Wow, okay, fuck you.” Warner actually smiles. It’s one of his rare grins, dimples appearing and disappearing just to mess with your head. He goes from murderer to boy next door to murderer in two seconds flat. “Look how disappointed you are,” he says softly. “How delighted you were when you thought a minion of The Reestablishment, sent here to kill you and your entire family, was having inappropriate dreams about you.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“I'm living Kenji's dream right now," I whisper, still petting the bird's head. "Except for all the blood, I'm basically a fairy-tale prince. All I need is a musical number and a fairy godmother.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“Hate that Warner is probably right, that profanity is probably a failure of the mind, that only idiots need to rely on foul language to express themselves properly-or whatever stupid shit he said to Adam that one time.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“In my dreams I am safe; I have a strong hand to hold; a door to lock against the dark; a trusted ear into which I whisper my fears. In my dreams I am patient and kind; I have room in my heart for more pain than my own. I am not afraid to smile at strangers. I have never witnessed death.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“I should've know for sure it was a trap a few beats earlier, when they sent a gorgeous murder into my cell to distract me with her gorgeousness.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“Stand down,” he shouts, his voice booming. “Stop the vehicle immediately.” James pops his bloodied head out the open door. “What’d you say?”
“I said stop-” James leans farther out the door, revealing a sophisticated automatic rifle. “I was just kidding, dumbass,” he calls back. “I heard what you said.” James opens fire.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“People don't really send letters anymore," he says to the rodent, ripping open the envelope. "Not unless they want to say something really-" James's eyebrows fly upward, the words dying in his throat as he unsheathes the shimmery card from its sleeve. I watch, paralyzed, as his eyes move across the page. He lifts his head sharply, scowling at the squirrel as he says- "Who the fuck is Sebastian? She's really getting married? The serial killer is getting married next week to some douchebag named Sebastian Alastair von Douchebag the Fourth? The hot ones are always taken." James mutters to the squirrel”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“I know that she's right-handed? She recently discovered she doesn't like tomatoes? Direct sunlight sometimes makes her sneeze?”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“When there's something you want but can't have, you can be patient or creative. Choose a path.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“I've never been on one of these things before." My seatmate seems unimpressed, but he's been dead for at least twenty minuets now, so no surprise there. Earlier I found a roll of mints, some kind of diet milkshake, and two chocolate bars taped together with a note that read 'You're better than this' in the glove box. I jam the remaining half of the chocolate bar into my mouth now, chewing thoughtfully. I glance at Jeff. "You were to hard on yourself, man. You didn't eat the chocolate and now look at you-you're dead." I rip open the second chocolate bar, take a huge bite, then inspect the label on the diet milkshake. "What is this shit, Jeff? Why were you drinking this garbage?”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“He's faster than I am; stronger; smiling as he dodges my imperfect shot. Blood is now smeared across his face, streaked through his hair. His clothes drip as he walks, his boots leaving red footprints along the white floors. He's wounded in several places but this fact doesn't seem to bother him. In fact he seems delighted. There's no one left to kill but me. The inmate winks at me. "Looks like we're finally alone, beautiful" I fire again.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“The question of the next generation will not be one of how to liberate the masses, but rather, how to make them love their servitude.
- Aldous Huxley”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“Stand down,” he shouts, his voice booming. “Stop the vehicle immediately.” James pops his bloodied head out the open door. “What’d you say?”
“I said stop-” James leans farther out the door, revealing a sophisticated automatic
rifle. “I was just kidding, dumbass,” he calls back. “I heard what you said.” James opens fire.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“She’s so fucking beautiful.
I’d never seen her in normal clothes, and now I wish I never had. She looks even more ethereal in these soft colors and fabrics. Her platinum hair is in a long, messy braid, and she keeps batting loose strands away from her face. Her cheeks are pinker. Her skin and eyes are brighter, more alive. She’s sitting in bed in white socks, knees pulled up to her chin, and she’s both effortlessly stunning and deeply unaware of the havoc she’s wreaking on my nervous system. She doesn’t look capable of hurting a dust mote.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“Then, with a force that takes my breath away, I finally understand. In a moment of pure, undiluted panic, I finally understand. This is why I keep making mistakes around him— This is what’s wrong with me— This is why I can’t seem to die and stay dead, why my skin keeps burning, my heart keeps racing, my head keeps spinning—
He is what’s wrong with me.
After so many years being dead inside, James makes me feel alive.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“I keep going: “But there are other ways to connect with people.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know,” I say, popping a piece of lettuce into my mouth. “Like, just paying attention. I pay attention to you.”
She turns pink. Almost all of her turns pink. It’s fucking adorable. I want to die.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“At once, my body flushes with heat.
It’s automatic, instinctive, and unprecedented. I’m not this kind of person. I have never physically reacted to another human being before, and right now I feel as if someone has flipped a switch inside of me, flooding my veins with light. It’s so foreign a sensation I have the sudden desire to examine it, to search inside myself for the cause and kill it.
James is standing by the exit.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“This is not a level playing field.
It doesn’t come naturally to me to orchestrate the downfall of vulnerable women. I liked it better when she was actively trying to murder me. I liked it better before I made her cry. Hell, I could’ve sworn she used to talk more. And she never used to look at me like this, like a cat when it’s comfortable. Softly blinking, sleepy eyes. I don’t like it. It’s freaking me out. I need her to try to stab me or something, and soon. Really soon.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me

“For as long as I can remember, every psychological evaluation and aptitude test agreed: The child appears to be dead inside.
There was something wrong with me, something broken, some meaningful reason why I never laughed the way other children did, never smiled at strangers. Why I never cried when they sliced me open over and over and over again, trying to feed my mind to a machine.
I would not be a scientist or a doctor. Not a mother or a soldier. I would grow up to be an efficient killer. An excellent asset to the regime. At the height of The Reestablishment’s power, I never imagined my skills would be so enthusiastically desired, but now that we lack the robust military of a bygone era, mercenaries are more important than ever. Spies, assassins, executioners. We’ve been forced to downsize our kill capacity, designing missions with surgical precision and efficiency.
This is all my life is worth. And I decided long ago to sacrifice my dead body so that Clara might live.
“By the way,” says James, interrupting my reverie. “If you’re going to pretend to go through the motions, you need to work on the details. You carry that notebook around but you never carry a pen. You're not fooling anyone."
I don't know what prompts me to say it. I'm not sure I'm thinking at all when I
say, softly-
"I've been fooling people all my life. You're the only one paying attention.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Watch Me