47 Quotes & Sayings By Jennifer Echols

Jennifer Echols is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel, 'Where She Went,' and the highly acclaimed 'This Is Where I Leave You' and 'The Thing About Jellyfish.' Her work has been featured in Granta, The Paris Review, O Magazine, and elsewhere. Jennifer lives in New York with her husband and two young boys.

It's one thing to think you're worthless, and quite another...
1
It's one thing to think you're worthless, and quite another for somebody else to tell you that you are. Jennifer Echols
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I love you.” I stared stupidly at him. Was he joking again, reciting another line from my story? I didn’t remember writing this. He leaned in and kissed me. I didn’t respond for a few seconds. My mind lagged behind what my body was feeling.“ Say it, ” he whispered against my lips. “I know this is hard for you. Tell me.”“ I love you.” Hearing my own words, I gasped at the rush of emotion. He put his hands on either side of my jaw and took my mouth with his. Jennifer Echols
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Why are you pretending to write, when I already know you're just doing that to intimidate me? Jennifer Echols
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Dad" I pleaded, "this is so [cuss word you never, ever say in front of your mother] ridiculous. Jennifer Echols
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You’ve gone far away to a place with no horses and very little grass, and you’re studying how to write a story with a happy ending. If you can write that ending for yourself, maybe you can come back. Jennifer Echols
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I turned to the clarinets. They were a resourceful lot. Jennifer Echols
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Seeing him jogging at the park had cracked the window so I could peek into his soul. Seeing him with his friends threw the window wide Jennifer Echols
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I continued to move my fingers across his skin exactly as I had before, but I needed to make a decision. I had reached for him, but I could back out of it by trailing my fingers down his arm and settling my hand in his, like I wanted us to be friends. I didn't want us to be friends. Ever so slowly, I slid my hand up his sleeve, across his shoulder, and up his neck to cradle his jaw, prickly with stubble. . Jennifer Echols
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You should never start something when you haven't finished the last thing. People feel used that way. Jennifer Echols
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Yes, I was good at reading people. I studied them so I could put them in my novels. Jennifer Echols
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And you’re beautiful. You’d have to work pretty hard to mess that up. Jennifer Echols
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You're a beautiful girl If you show the slightest interest in Alec, he'll want to go out with you. I know I would. Jennifer Echols
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Deana Carter sings about it. Lady Antebellum sings about it. Eric Church. Gosh, not just country artists. Katy Perry. Everybody has a song about it because everybody's been through it. You find that person at eighteen and you lose yourself. And the tragedy is, it's the person who's completely opposed to everything you've ever wanted. You bond with that person, and that person breaks your heart. I'm that tragedy for you, and you're mine. . Jennifer Echols
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It’s going to be a pretty day to fly. Jennifer Echols
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Oh, God, " Lori said without looking at me, "what are they thinking, leaving the two of us alone out here on the dock together? We might TALK or something."" That would be awful, " I said. "I might give you a hickey." She laughed, still watching for Cameron's start instead of looking at me. "Just by talking to me?"" I can talk really dirty. You'd be surprised. Jennifer Echols
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A smaller rocket cut across the sky, trailing smoke. It exploded in a red heart." Awwwww! " said the crowd." Upside down, " said Sean.The heart was, indeed, upside down. It grew and grew, upside down, until it's lights trailed and faded. A bigger rocket exploded in bright golden sparks, and then came another red heart." Upside down, " said all the boys. Three explosions layered on top of one another, gold, blue, pink. Then still another red heart exploded, growing and growing before it faded." Upside down, " said everyone in the boat but me. My own heart expanded for Adam.I whispered, "I know what he meant. . Jennifer Echols
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Your confidence in me is heartwarming. Makes me want to return all the money I stole from the little old ladies and kick the heroin. Jennifer Echols
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Adam ” Lori called loudly enough for me to hear her but not so loud that her voice would carry up to my mom in the marina office- or to her dad who might be listening from their screened porch facing the water. “I came over to get some tips from the boys about teaching Tammy and Rachel to board. Of course I did not come over here to see you. How could you think such a thing That would be disobedient.” I held up the wax. “For my own disobedience I have to buff the boat. Then I’m going for a jog.” She tilted her head. Probably her eyes widened but I couldn’t see them behind her sunglasses. I hated not being able to see her eyes. She asked “In this heat?” I didn’t mind jogging in the heat. The heat was a big friendly animal that liked to wrestle and only occasionally sat on me until I lost my breath. Anyway she was missing the point. I repeated carefully ”I am GOING for a JOG.” “I HEARD you the FIRST time ” she said. “It’s late afternoon in the middle of June. It’s ninety-five degrees out here.” “He means he’s GOING for a JOG” Rachel and Tammy said at the same time. “He’s GOING for a JOG.”Lori still didn’t get it. Normally her blondeness was one of the things I loved about her. At the moment not so much. Exasperated Cameron told her “Adam wants you to go for a jog too.” She said “Oh ” “If you two airheads have to hook up secretly for very long ” Sean said “you’re not going to make it. Jennifer Echols
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Let's go, " I said." Go where?"" On Lori's date with Parker."Now he looked at me over the nerdy spectacles he wore for reading." I wasn't aware it was a double date. And you're not my type. Jennifer Echols
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Her dad turned to me. "You. Follow Me.""Woof, " I said. Jennifer Echols
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Think like a middle-aged man with OCD, a dead wife, and a teenage daughter. Think like a woman with three teenage sons who once ran a golf cart into the side of their granddad's house."" Cameron and Sean shouldn't have let me drive, " Adam said in his own defense. "I was seven."" You shouldn't have ASKED to drive. You were seven. Jennifer Echols
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Stay away from her."" Okay."" Keep your hands off her."" I'll try." He scowled at me." I will, " I said. Jennifer Echols
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Son, " he said, "you monkeyed up. Jennifer Echols
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I need to explain all this to Adam in private. I can't get McGillicuddy to explain it to him. Something will be lost in translation."" Well, excuse me that I can't look at him all googly-eyed, " my brother said." And he's liable to punch you, " I said. Jennifer Echols
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What did Kevin Ye get arrested for anyway? Didn't he steal a car?" "He stole the driver's ed car." I laughed. Then I saw how Adam was looking at me. "He gave it back." "They MAKE you give stuff back, Lori, after they arrest you for stealing it. Jennifer Echols
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I'm not stalking her, " I insisted." I'm making sure she's safe. Besides, how could you stalk Lori McGillicuddy?She'd see you and come out to your truck and say, "Hi, I'm Lori. Are you my stalker? It's so neat to meet you! While you're stuck here watching my every move, can I bring you anything? Sweet tea? Jennifer Echols
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He sighed, then said, "So basically, you're stalking her."" I am NOT stalking her." I insisted." That's where you come in. If I followed her by myself, someone who did not understand the situation and did not realize that I am so responsible-" Mc Gillicuddy snorted."- might mistake what I am doing for stalking. However, her big brother is with me. Therefore we are protecting her. Jennifer Echols
28
Stubble or what?" Eyes still closed he chuckled. "I'm not shaving until our parents let us date again." He kissed my cheek. "What if it takes.. a.. while?" I asked struggling to talk. He'd made his way down to my neck. His tongue circled there slowly. "There are only six or seven weeks until August football practice starts right?" "Hm." His mouth moved up my neck toward my ear. Oh. "Will you be able to stuff your beard into your helmet?" I croaked. In answer he put his lips on my ear. I forgot the next joke I'd planned to make and lost myself in Adam. Jennifer Echols
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You make terrible, terrible plans." "Hey, " I protested. "One of my plans caught you didn't it?" "Yeah, but you meant to catch Sean." He took his hand off my shoulder. I waved his concerns away, along with a cloud of gnats that had found us in the forest. "You're getting lost in the details. Keep the big picture in mind. Jennifer Echols
30
Adam thinks that you two are in an argument." My body zinged into alert mode. My mind didn't know what Mrs. Vader meant, but my body already did. Even Sean glanced over at her with a cautious look." He does?" I asked faintly." A bad one, " she confirmed." How could we be in a bad argument without me even knowing about it? Jennifer Echols
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Better you than Cameron " McGillicuddy grumbled. "I know where Cameron's been." Sean snorted. Cameron said "I already told you I did NOT come on to Lori. Jennifer Echols
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Even though Sean still held my head down I was the only one who thought to ask" Who's driving the boat?" Over the motor I heard girls screaming at us the instant before we crashed. Jennifer Echols
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Oof! " Adam caught me all right, with the side of his head. I could tell by the feel of his skull on my foot as I kicked him. He grabbed me the best he could anyway, and we half landed, half fell in the pine needles. He lay facedown on the ground. I flopped him over on his back to make sure he was alive. If he had a concussion, we'd have to call the ambulance, which meant we'd get caught and he'd get sent to military school. On the bright side, maybe the military school would not take him if he had brain damage." I'm so sorry."" Worth it, " he grunted. He rolled onto his feet like a ninja and grabbed my hand. "Hurry, before they release the hounds. Jennifer Echols
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Taking his hand I said "Fank woo."" Hm " he laughed with his mouth closed. Jennifer Echols
35
I feel like I've been through a lot in the past couple of years, But I've kept pretty stable. That's because I channel that emotion into performance. I can handle emotion as long as it's only a song. It works for me, and I don't want to change it. I don't have anything left for writing. Jennifer Echols
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If you're putting that energy into performance, " he said, "you're also getting it back out again, right? You're giving so you can receive." He spread his arms wide. "If you were writing songs with it, you'd be holed up in your room in the middle of the night, scribbling them in a notebook and feeling self-important. You'd think you were getting it out, but really you'd be keeping it inside and quiet. You'd take what upset you and turn it into art, and now it would fester, because you think other people ought to share your outrage at what happened to you. . Jennifer Echols
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He grinned at me and whispered, “I’m going to kiss you now. It’ll be a big one, so don’t hit me. Jennifer Echols
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This was about to go very bad, because Adam was going to cry. “I miss you, ” he said, and his voice broke. Jennifer Echols
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Can you put your hands on my crot Jennifer Echols
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Boys don’t gossip.”“ Pah! You don’t know us as well as you think.” This was a disturbing prospect. Jennifer Echols
41
I wanted to remind you that you do not allow me to deliver boats, as I have been known to crash them. Jennifer Echols
42
Oh.” My dad actually looked sheepish. “It’s one o’clock in the morning and I was going to tell you to shut the monkey up and go to bed. I didn’t realise what was going on in here.”“ What’s going on in here?” Cameron asked suspiciously.“ Maturity.” My dad backed out of the room and closed the door. Jennifer Echols
43
Who’s driving the boat?” Over the motor, I heard girls screaming at us the instant before we crashed. Jennifer Echols
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I had shaved my beard for her-a huge disappointment, because I’d enjoyed my three weeks looking like a bank robber. Jennifer Echols
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But first I had to get through the ironing. It took a lot of patience. I had none. It took forever, and then I had to press the whole shirt again to get out the creases I’d pressed into it. Jennifer Echols
46
They’re taking us to the room to change. Do you think we’ll have time for a quickie? Because we never got around to doing it against the wall.” He blinked at her. She thought he hadn’t heard her. Finally he smiled, slowly at first, his grin becoming broader as she slid her hand onto his thigh. “We will always make time for a quickie, ” he said. “And that is a wedding vow. Jennifer Echols