Read With Ashley discussion

“I really don’t wanna go.”

~ Part One: Rufus

“It’ll have to be a secret, though, but I have the cure to death in my pants.”

~ Part One: Mateo

lol

“I lived through my funeral, but I wish I was already dead.”

~ Part One: Rufus

“The way he says my name is a little more comforting than the way I imagined”

~ Part One: Mateo

“No matter how we choose to live, we both die at the end.”

~ Part One: Mateo

“... but because the biggest crime of all tonight was not being able to hug his best friend goodbye.”

~ Part Two: Malcolm Anthony

“... damn, Mateo’s grimness is already rubbing off on me.”

~ Part Two: Rufus

“It isn’t fair. I don’t want to leave without hearing his voice.”

~ Part Two: Mateo

“Leaving means dying,”

~ Part Two: Mateo

“... hitting it because I made a new dope friend and we don’t even have a full day together.”

~Part Three: Rufus

“Vin is pissed the beautiful woman with the colorful hair ignored him, pissed he never got married, pissed he was rejected by every woman on Necro this morning, pissed at his former coach who got in the way of his dreams, pissed at these two boys with a bike who are getting in the way of the destruction he’s going to leave behind.”

~ Part Three: Vin Pearce

“Vin is going to die where he was made. And he’s not dying alone.”

~ Part Three: Vin Pearce

“... I’ve never been more scared in my life of what’s gonna go down later.”

~ Part Three: Rufus

“This isn’t some dream and we won’t wake up from this.”

~ Part Three: Rufus

“Death-Cast did not call Deirdre Clayton because she isn’t dying today, but she’s going to prove them wrong.”

~ Part Three: Deirdre Clayton

“Deirdre looks down, ready to fly, when two boys on a bike turn the corner—they resemble the boys from earlier.”

~ Part Three: Deirdre Clayton

“That kiss bothers him, huh. I guess my gut was right.”

~ Part Three: Rufus

Does Rufus think Mateo is gay/bi?

“I lift my legs higher, throwing my legs around his midriff.”

~ Part Three: Rufus

“I know what he’s really asking, but I don’t take the bait. He’s gotta make a move himself, I’m not robbing him of that moment, it’s too big.”

~ Part Three: Rufus

He knows

“He shifts, his body leaning against mine”

~ Part Three: Mateo

“I almost wish we weren’t so creative in this moment, because these fake memories of friendship feel incredible.”

~ Part Three: Mateo

“She returns to the surface, laughing, and it looks like the lifeguards are scolding her, but she doesn’t care. How could anyone on a day like today?”

~ Part Three: Mateo

“I know you’re paying attention, but look at him”

~ Part Three: Rufus

4th wall has been broken

“He avoids looking my way—which I find funny—unlike Lidia, in nothing but her bra and jeans, who’s looking me up and down.”

~ Part Three: Rufus

“I grab Mateo’s hand and lock my fingers in his. He turns to me with flushed cheeks and grabs Lidia’s hand.”

~ Part Three: Rufus

“We don’t bring up the hand-holding or anything like that, but hopefully he gets where I’m coming from now in case he had any doubts.”

~ Part Three: Rufus

“Peck wants Rufus dead, of course. But he wants to deliver the killing blow.”

~ Part Three: Patrick “Peck” Gavin

“But then Rufus catches up to me and pats my shoulder and the burn is different, like when he grabbed my hand back at the Travel Arena.”

~ Part Four: Mateo

“I drag him offstage, and once we’re behind the curtain, I look him in the eyes and he smiles like he knows what’s about to go down. And he’s not wrong.”

~ Part Four: Mateo

"I kiss the guy who brought me to life on the day we’re going to die."

~ Part Four: Mateo

“The car jerks and Howie closes his eyes, a deep sinking in his chest, like every time he’s been on a roller coaster, scaling higher and higher, past the point of no return, and he’s falling at incredible speed. Except Howie knows he’s not safe.”

~ Part Four: Howie Maldonado

“If Death wanted her, Death had two shots.”

~ Part Four: Delilah Grey

“Dance with me.”
I thought we were dancing already. “Am I doing it wrong?”
“You’re great. I meant a slow dance.”

~ Part Four: Mateo

“Something is wrong,”

~ Part Four: Mateo

“He gets up and jumps and jumps, turning to the window quickly as if some freak bounce accident will launch him out there like a catapult.”

~ Part Four: Rufus

“Good, because I might not have my glasses,” I say. “Not sure if they’ll ascend with me.”

~ Part Four: Mateo

“But because we’re about to die, I want to say it as many times as I want—I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.”

~ Part Four: Mateo

“When I switch on the burner, my chest sinks with regret. Even when you know death is coming, the blaze of it all is still sudden.”

~ Part Four: Mateo

“Mateo Torrez definitely saved me.”

~ Part Four: Rufus

“I cross the street without an arm to hold me back.”

~ Part Four: Rufus

NOOOOOOOOOOOO