this lullaby by Sarah Dessen Created by: Sarah Jackson

1. this lullaby by Sarah Dessen Created by: Sarah Jackson

2. “You know, he’s still talking about you.” “Who is?” “Dexter.” Of course. Just my luck. He’s not just in a band, he’s in that band. “Why?” I said. “He doesn’t even know me.” “Doesn’t matter,” he said, shrugging. “You’re officially a challenge. “He’ll never give up now.” Page 52 • This was a conflict for Remy because she didn’t like Dexter and didn’t want someone constantly trying to always be with her. Now that Dexter is not giving up, Remy’s summer isn’t going to go as she planned her last summer before she goes to college would be.

3. ‘I don’t know how long it was before I saw her. One minute I was arguing with the bartender and the next I turned my head and caught a glimpse of her in the mirror behind the bar. Her hair was flat, her face a little sweaty. She looked drunk, but I would have known her anywhere. It was everybody else who always liked to think she was gone for good. I wiped off my face, ran my fingers through my hair, trying to give it some life. She stared back at me as I did this, knowing as well as I that these were just smoke and mirrors, little tricks. And the sick thing? In a way, I was almost happy to see her. The worst part of me, out in the flesh. Blinking back at me in the dim light daring me to call her a name other than my own. Truth be told, I used to be worse. Much worse.’ Page 101

4. “After so many years of only thinking these things, saying them out loud felt so strange, as if now they were officially real. My cold, hard heart exposed. finally, for what it truly was. Fair warning, I thought. I should have told you from the start. I will let you down. ‘I know why your saying this,” he said finally, ‘but you’re missing out. You know, when it works, love is pretty amazing. It’s not overrated. There’s a reason for all those songs.’ I looked down at my hands. ‘They’re just songs, Dexter. They don’t mean anything.’” Page 225

5. “Remy, as long as I’ve known you, you always thought you had it all figured out. And then something happened this summer that made you wonder if you were right after all. I think you always believed in love, deep down.” “I did not,” I said firmly. Page 325

6. “Bendo was crowded already. The band hadn’t come on yet, but the bar was two deep and the air was full of smoke, thick and mixed with the smell of sweat.” ‘I’ll get a table,’ “Jess called out to me, and I nodded, heading for the bar with Chloe behind me. We pushed through the crowd, dodging people, until we got a decent spot by the beer taps.” Page 32-33

7. “Joie was located in a glorified strip mall called Mayor’s Village. It was all concrete, right on the highway, but there were some nice landscaped trees and a fountain to make it look more upscale. To our right was Mayor’s Market, which sold expensive organic food. There was also Jump Java, the coffee place, as well as a video store, a bank, and a one-hour photo.” Page 48

8. ‘There was a window to my left, along the sill of which there was what appeared to be a series of snow globes. A chair across the room was covered with clothes, and there was a bunch of CDs stacked in piles beside the door.’ ‘First off: the time. No clock, but I could see what looked like a tangled phone cord poking out from under the bed, half buried under a couple of shirts. This place was a mess.’ Page 110-111

9. ‘My mother was glamorous long before she has reason to be. She’d always been small and wiry, full of energy and prone to dramatic outbursts: she liked to wear lots of bangle bracelets that clanked as she waved her arms around, sweeping the air as she talked. Even when she taught at the community college and most of her students were half asleep after working full days, she dressed for class, with full makeup and perfume and her trademark swishy outfits in bright colors. She kept her hair dyed jet black now that it was graying, and wore it in a short blunt cut with thick bangs cut straight across.’ Page 56

10. After all, Paul met just about every criteria on my guy list. He was tall. Good-looking. Had no annoying personal habits. Was older than me but not by more than three years. Was a decent dresser but didn’t shop more than I did. Fell within the acceptable limits in terms of personal hygiene (i.e., aftershave and cologne yes, mousse and fake tan, no). Was smart enough to carry on good conversation but not an eggbert. But the big whammy, the tipping point, was that he was leaving at the end of the summer and we’d already established that we would part as friends and go our separate ways.’ ‘ …and had no problem with any of the terms that so many before him had stumbled over.’ Page 271

11. ‘But for now, I scooted closer, until we were touching. Knee to knee, arm to arm, forehead to forehead. I leaned into her for once, instead of away, appreciating the pull I felt there, something almost magnetic that held us to each other. I knew it would always be there, no matter how much of the world I put between us. That strong sense of what we shared, good and bad, that led us to here, where my own story began.’ Page 316