Em (Diversify Your Shelf)

“A blast of music echoing down the corridors was his only reply. Alec and Raphael both winced. Raphael glanced up at him.
“This is the worst party I’ve ever been to,” he said. “And I hate parties. People keep asking me whether I have extra superpowers, and I tell them they are thinking of Simon, whom I dislike.”
“That’s a little harsh,” said Alec.
“You have to be harsh with fledglings or they do not learn,” said Raphael sternly. “Besides, his jokes are stupid.”
“They’re not all gold,” Alec admitted.
“How do you know him?” Raphael snapped his fingers. “Wait, I remember. He’s friends with your annoying blond parabatai, right?”
He was, though Simon would probably be surprised to hear it. Alec was very familiar with how Jace behaved when he wanted to be your friend. He didn’t act friendly, which would have been too easy. Instead he just spent a lot of time in your presence until you got used to him being there, which he was clearly now doing with regard to Simon. When Jace and Alec were little, Jace had done a lot of hostile hanging around him, hoping to be noticed and loved. Alec honestly preferred it to awkward getting-to-know-you conversations.
“Right. Plus, Simon is sort of dating my sister, Isabelle,” said Alec.
“That can’t be,” said Raphael. “Isabelle can do better.”
“Er, do you know my sister?” Alec asked.
“She threatened me with a candelabra once, but we don’t really chat,” said Raphael. “Which means we have my ideal relationship.” He gave Alec a cold glare. “It’s the relationship I wish I had with all Shadowhunters.”
Alec was about to give up and walk away.”
― Cassandra Clare, The Red Scrolls of Magic

“Her tolerance for fools had always been slight, and she was losing the little she had.”
― Tamora Pierce, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man

“When terrible things have happened to you, sometimes the promise of something good can be just as frightening.”
― Margaret Rogerson, Sorcery of Thorns

“Didn’t they realize that the only way to change things was to act?”
― Tamora Pierce, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man