Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss
30 quotes
"Soap?""School of America in Paris" he explains. "SOAP".Nice. My father sent me here to be cleansed."
"I'm sorry," he says."What? Why?""You're fixing everything I set down." He nods at my hands, which are readjusting the elephant. "It wasn't polite of me to come in and start touching your things.""Oh, it's okay," I say quickly, letting go of the figurine. "You can touch anything of mine you want." would be so bad."
"That guys. Sideburns. You like him?"My back squirms. "You've asked me that before.""What I meant was," he says, flustered. "Your feelings haven't changed? Since you've been"
"You ought to stop listening to stereotypes and start forming your own opinions."
"I have a rule.""Elaborate."The statue is still warm from the previous visitors. "I ask myself, if the worst happened—if I did get knocked up-would I be embarrassed to tell my child who his father was? If the answer is anywhere even remotely close to yes, then there's no way."He nods slowly. "That's a good rule."
"And then there's the other thing.The thing I'm trying to ignore. The thing I shouldn't want, the thing I can't have.And he's standing in front of me right now.So what do I wish for? Something I'm not sure I want? Someone I'm not sure I need? Or someone I know I can't have?Screw it. Let the fates d"
"He’s so close, yet so far away.” – Anna"
"I just can't fathom why anyone would stand on a ledge when there's a respectable amount of walking space right next to it."
"To: Anna Oliphant From: Étienne St. Clair Subject: So . . . Does that mean I can call you now?"
"Girl scouts didn't teach me what to do with emotionally unstable drunk boys."
"We've stopped in front of Notre-Dame again. I point at the familiar star and clear my throat. "Wanna make another wish?""You go first." He's watching me, puzzled, like he's trying to figure something out. He bites his thumbnail.This time I can't help it. All day long, I've thought about it. Him. Our s"
"We'll be together. We both got our Point Zéro wishes — each other. He said he wished for me every time. He was wishing for me when I entered the tower."
"A moment of reserve. "That was it? The whole story?""Yes. God, you're right. That was pants."I sidestep another aggressive couscous vendor. "Pants?""Rubbish. Crap. S"
"And then this — the moment he calls my name — is the real moment everything changes.He is no longer St. Clair, everyone's pal, everyone's f"
"I don't know. I don't really like old movies. The acting is so, 'Hey buddy, ol' pal. Let's go wear our hats and have a big misunderstanding"
"And we're finally home."
"How could I wish for it for so long, only to come back and find it gone. To be here, in my technical house, and discover that home is now someplace different."
"But that's not quite right either.I miss Paris, but it's not home. It's more like... I miss this. This warmth over the telephone. Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place? Bridgette used to be home to me. Maybe St. Clair is my new home.I mull this over as our voices grow tired and we stop talking. We just keep each other company. My breath. His breath. My breath. His breath.I could never tell him, but it's true.This is home. The two of us."
"I'm just as big a fool as the rest of them."
"I said you were beautiful. I slept in your bed!"
"I bought you love poetry! 'I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul.'" I blink at him. "Neruda. I starred the passage. God," he moans. "Why didn't you open it?"
"You're the most incredible girl I've ever known. You're gorgeous and smart, and you make me laugh like no-one else can. And I can talk to you. And I know after all this I don't deserve you, but what I'm trying to say is that I love you, Anna. Very Much."
"The directness of her question throws me. "I don't know. Sometimes I think there are only so many opportunities...to get together with someone. And we've both screwed up so many times"- my voice grows quiet - "that we've missed our chance.""Anna." Mer pauses. "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.""But—""But what? You love him, and he loves you, and you live in the most romantic city in the world."
"He closes his eyes.Our lips brush lightly."If you ask me to kiss you , I will," he says.His fingers stroke the inside of my wrists, and I burst into flames."Kiss me," I say.He does."
"Suddenly I register that St. Clair is shorter than Josh. Much shorter. It’s odd I didn’t notice earlier, but he doesn’t carry himself like a short guy. Most are shy or defensive, or some messed-up combination of the two, but St. Clair is confident and friendly and—"