The Secret Hour Quotes
"The halls of Bixby High School were always hideously bright on the first day of school."
"For Rex summer vacation was a place to hide, and every year this day gave him the sinking feeling of having just been discovered."
"Maybe it was because the daylight world meant so little to him now."
"She seemed to exist just out of the reach of focus, like music played from a copy of a copy of an old cassette tape."
"Without his glasses, the world was a blender full of meaningless color."
"Her accent sounded midwestern, crisper than Rex’s Oklahoma drawl."
"He’d never catch up with the new girl now. Maybe he’d imagined her."
"The other faces in the crowded hall were clear in the bright sunlight, but hers wouldn’t resolve no matter how hard he stared."
"All summer he had dreaded another year of awful lunches, hiding from the blazing skylights here in the dimmest corner."
"It was after noon, and her Focus hadn’t faded. It was permanent."
"Moving had been annoying in all kinds of unexpected ways."
"The windows and skylight glowed, but the light seemed to come from everywhere, blue and cold."
"The air outside sparkled, shimmering like a snow globe full of glitter."
"The whole street shimmered with the shapes of splashes, like a garden of ice flowers."
"She wondered if this wasn’t Dess’s way of hassling the new girl."
"But her feet were cold, she realized, her shoes soaking."
"As if being unemployed in Bixby had started him watching the Weather Channel."
"The whole state as flat as a piece of paper."
"The feel of the sheets, the sound of her breathing, the slowly building body warmth inside the covers were all exactly right."
"It’s just that Bixby is really… psychosomatic. The kind of place that gives you strange dreams."
"Your mind has the power to make you sick. That’s Bixby all over: psychosomatic."
"She wasn’t really psychic, just psychosomatic."
"I’m not going to worry about it. That makes sense."
"Sleep stole up on her so quietly that dreaming seemed to collide with consciousness."
"She must have been more tired than she’d realized."
"The whole experience seemed absolutely real."
"Midnight. It’s 12 a.m. Since the world changed color, this has all happened in a single moment."
"There aren’t really twenty-four hours in the day, Jessica. There are twenty-five."
"For this one hour a day the whole world was their private clubhouse."
"It’s okay, Jessica. It’s just me," a voice called through the gap.
"I think we’re lucky to have a whole world to ourselves. To play in, explore, do whatever we want. Why mess it up with some big purpose?"
"Gravity stops when time does," Jonathan said. "Time has to pass for something to fall."
"Not Superman fly," Jonathan said. "But I can jump a long way and fall any distance."
"Her heart still pounded, but she wasn’t scared anymore. The featherlight feeling had returned so quickly, like a wave of relief when some horrible test was over."
"The pale blue streets glinted like rivers beneath them as they crashed through high, wind-borne columns of autumn leaves."
"Jonathan must see the world completely differently from everyone else."
"Okay, fear of heights still in working order."
"Wouldn’t mind some brass knuckles made of that stuff."
"It’s time you learned a little lesson about the perils of breaking curfew."
"I’ve never been arrested, Dad, only detained and transported to parental custody."
"I thought it was weird how early you went to bed."
"You’re sure Jonathan didn’t take you anywhere in a car?"
"I don’t mind going out in the secret hour, but I’m not leaving this house during regular time."
"The question isn’t, ‘Where did they all come from?’ The question is, ‘Why did they all wake up?’"
"The darklings were already there, and we’ve tangled with them before."
"The heavy darkling action could be related to you coming to Bixby."
"Everything’s been messed up since then, really."
"Just show me the midnight-impaired persons, and I’ll get it done."
"It all seems totally rigged, like we’re stuck with each other."
"Needing help. Getting stuck with other people."
"But we can’t sit on top of this sign forever, Jonathan."
"It’s different, yeah. Except for the wind, which is pretty much just like Chicago."
"You’re really cold, aren’t you? You want my coat?"
"Jessica, you idiot!" The sun rose in the east; why wouldn’t the dark moon?
"I’m such a wimp," Jessica spat through clenched teeth.
"Great, I’m the North Pole now," she muttered.
"You’re in big trouble, psychokitty," she said, holding the necklace high.
"If she hadn’t come back at all, he would think she had disappeared into thin air."
"Normal might suck, but it’s better than dying for her."
"Fire on tap," Dess said. "You’re a darkling’s worst nightmare!"
"I better get going. St. Claire’s boys are on the lookout for me these days. Do you want me to take you home?"