quotes by Claudia Gray

"The silence between us stretched out, but it wasn't awkward. Sometimes there are people you can be quiet with, and you never feel the need to fill the gap with meaningless chit-chat. I'd only become that close to a couple people in my hometown, and I'd always thought it took years. Lucas and I were already there. "
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

""You're alive, Bianca. You still can't appreciate what it means, to be alive. It's better than being a vampire - better than anything else in the world. I remember a little of waht being alive was like, and if I could touch that again, even for a day, it would be worth anything in the world. Even dying again, forever. All the centuries I've known and all the marvels I've seen don't compare to being alive."
~from Evernight, by "
— Claudia Gray

"Thunder rumbled. My heart beat faster. I turned away from Evernight for the last time and looked back at the flower as it trembled upon its branch. A single petal was torn away by the wind. Pushing my hands through the thorns, I felt lashes of pain across my skin, but i kept going determined.
But when my fingertip touched the flower, it instantly darkened, withering and drying as each petal turned black. "
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

""Self-knowledge is better than self-control any day," Raquel said firmly. "And I know myself well enough to know how I act around cookies.""
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

"It’s funny—when people call you “shy,” they usually smile. Like it’s cute, some funny little habit you’ll
grow out of when you’re older, like the gaps in your grin when your baby teeth fall out. If they knew
how it felt—really being shy, not just unsure at first—they wouldn’t smile. Not if they knew how the
feeling knots up your stomach or makes your palms sweat or robs you of the ability to say anything that
makes sense. It’s not cute at all."
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

""Everyone is lonely, we have to remember that life is to be lived one day at a time. You cannot worry about the past or future. Happiness is in the now." "
— Claudia Gray

""Back when I was five, I thought my mom was being mean to me, so I decided to run away. Carried my slingshot with me because I was a big strong man, you see. Could take care of myself. I believe I also took a flashlight and a package of Oreos."
Despite my embarrassement, I couldn't help smiling. "I think you packed better than I did."
"I swaggered out of the house where we were staying and took myself all the way to...the far corner of the backyard. There I made my stand. Stayed out there all day, until it started to reain. I hadn't thought about taking an umbrella."
"The best laid plans." I sighed.
"I know. It's tragic. I cam back in, all wet and my stomach aching from eating about twenty Oreo, and my mom--who is a smart lady even is she drives me nuts--well, she acted like nothing happened." Lucas shrugged. "
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

"He’d protect me and shelter me forever. But I was beginning to realize that being sheltered came at a price."
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"I was the only one who knew the whole truth about Lucas--who he really was, and what we felt for each other. The truth was all I had left of him, and I would have to carry it alone."
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

"Vic knelt by Lucas's side. "You look like crap, by the way." "Thanks for breaking it to me gently." Lucas took a deep breath, then groaned."
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

"Lucas seemed to have realized our prediciment at the same moment I had. "I haven't got my credit card with me. Kinda left in a hurry. We just spent the only cash I had in my pocket." Too-bright signs from the few open stores made mee squint. "We'd have been better off with a slingshot and Oreos.""
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

"“You’re going to tell me that last night shouldn’t have happened.”
“No. I’m glad it happened. For too long, I’ve been telling myself that I could spend all this time with yo and flirt with you and not have it mean anything. It does mean something. You mean something to me. But I’m not in love with you.”

"
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"I apologized to her once for spending less time with her, but she blew it off. "You're in love. That makes you actually kind of boring to people who aren't in love. You know, the sane ones.""
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

" Huging my pillow to my chest, I told myself, At least soon you won't have so much time to miss him. Soon school will start again, and then you'll be busier.
Wait. Am I reduced to HOPING for school to start?
Somehow, I have discovered a whole new level of pathetic."
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"""How did you learn all this?"
Vic sighed. "See, while you spend all your time making out with Balthazar, and Raquel stays holed up with her art projects, and Ranulf's off studying his Norse myths again, i do something else. Something crazy. Something strange. I call it 'talking to other people.' Through this miraculous process, I am sometimes able to learn facts about two or three other human beings in a single day. Scientists plan to study my method.""
~Vic"
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"The worst was relizing that I’d lost him for nothing because he’d been rght about all of it-- vampires, my parents, everything.
He’d told me my parents lied. I yelled at him for it. He forgave me. He told me vampires were killers. I told him they weren’t, even after one stalked Raquel. He told me Charity was dangerous. I didn’t listen, and she killed Courtney. He told me vampires were treacherous, and did I get the message? Not until my illusions had been destroyed by my parents’ confession.

"
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

""Suspicion," he said. "Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He's a genius." "Starring Cary Grant." When Lucas gave me a look, I added, "You have your priorities, I have mine.""
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

""Do you question my authority? I am the headmistress of Evernight!" It was Balthazar who answered her by casually slinging his crossbow back upon his shoulder so that it just happened to be aimed straight at Mrs. Bethany. He wasn't threatening her, exactly, but it was very clear that he wasn't going to back down. As she jerked upright in shock, Balthazar drawled, "School's out.""
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

"It was as if something snapped in two deep inside me. My parents-- the people I’d loved the most in the world, the ones I’d always told all my secrets to, the ones I’d wanted to hide with far away from the rest of the world. They had lied, and I couldn’t imagine why. It couldn’t possibly matter why.

"
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"“I’m going, and don’t you dare try to stop me.”
I ran through the door, willing myself to make it downstairs before I started to cry."
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"Lucas had told me only one lie, ever; he kept the secret of black Cross because it wasn’t his secret to tell. In every other way, he’d been honest with me and shared the hard truths nobody else thought I deserved to hear.

"
— Claudia Gray

"I know we only talked once-"

"But it meant something to you." Our eyes met for only an instant. "It meant something to me, too. I just didn't realize - Well, I thought it was only me."
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

""I'm not dating Balthazar. I'm pretend dating him. Which involves some not pretend hand-holding. And maybe some not pretend kissing. But it's all actually pretend, see?
I groaned. My explanations were making my head hurt already.""
— Claudia Gray

"“Tell me why.” My voice shook. “Tell me right now.”

"
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"But nothing was a important as escaping Evernight or the ‘destiny’ my parents and teachers had decided for me. I had only one chance to be free and to be with the guy I loved. I intended to take it.
"
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

""That buy is totally cracked out," Vic said one day, as we walked past Balthazar in the great hall.
"I don't think he's on alything."
"I didn't mean, for real. If he was cracked out for real, he'd probably be having more fun, right?" Vic shrugged. "Balty looks like he's not having any fun. He looks like he never had any. Like he wouldn't know fun if it started dancing around yelling 'I'm fun' in his face.""
— Claudia Gray

"
Every single day was just a box on the calendar that I could put a red X through; each one brought me closer to Lucas and to liberty.

"
— Claudia Gray

"The first rule of Evernight is that any vampire who seeks sanctuary must be given a place."

-Charity

"
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"I guess it's hard, being apart all the time."
"It really is. If Lucas were still here, everything would be different."
Vic's smile turned smug. "Yeah, I'd have a roommate who could beat me at chess instead of the other way around."
Ranulf never looked up from the chessboard. "I hear your insults and plan to silence them with my victory."
"Keep dreaming," Vic called."
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"Everyone is lonely," Ranulf said, but he smiled. "We have to remember that life is to be lived one day at a time. You cannot worry about past or future. Happiness is in the now."

Raquel laughed. "Vic has totally brainwashed you."
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"There are people who enjoy meeting strangers, who can strike up conversations and make friends quickly, but I'd never been one of those people. Anything but. It's funny- when people call you "shy", they usually smile. Like it's cute, some funny little habit you'll grow out of when you're older, like the gaps in your grin when your baby teeth fall out. If they knew how it felt -really being shy, not just unsure at first- they wouldn't smile. Not if they knew how the feeling knots up your stomach or makes your palms sweat or robs you of the ability to say anything that makes sense. It's not cute at all. "
— Claudia Gray (Evernight)

"Vic sighed. "See while you spend all your time making out with Balthazar, and Raquel stays holed up with her art projects, and Ranulf's off studying his Norse myths again, I do something else. Something crazy. Something strange. I call it 'talking to other people.' Through this miraculous process, I am sometimes able to learn facts about two or three other human beings in a single day. Scientists plan to study my method."
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"There's one way. Only one. Mine." Balthazar stepped closer, using every inch he had on Lucas, who was tall but not that tall. "Charity is a person. The same as you, the same as me."

"You and me aren't the same."

Balthazar cocked his head. "Then let's say the same as Bianca. Will that make you listen?"

"Bianca's no killer! She didn't have a choice about what she is."

"Guys, don't do this," I pleaded, but they paid no attention.

"A choice? You think we all get a choice?" Although Balthazar spoke softly, there was a roughness to his voice I'd never heard before. It sent chills down my spine. "Try being hunted down in the night. Try running as far and as fast as you can and finding out their faster. Try coming to in a stable, with your parents' dead bodies on the ground in front of you, your hands roped above your head and a dozen hungry vampires arguing with each other about who gets you next. See how much choice you have then."

Lucas just stared at him. Obviously he'd never imagined anything like that; neither had I.

Even more quietly, Balthazar continued, "Try watching your baby sister die, and then tell me that you wouldn't spend the rest of eternity trying to make up for it. When you've done all that, Lucas, then you can talk to me about choices. Until that time, tell me what I need to know and then shut your mouth."
— Claudia Gray (Stargazer)

"""I always kinda liked our attic ghost. When I was a kid, I used to go up there and read stories to it. Show it my new toys. It's just an old spirit stuck between the worlds, right? What's to be scared of?""
~Vic"
— Claudia Gray

"I didn’t tell him. He found out. Basically, he caught me coming in
after the last time you and I saw each other. But he won’t give us away,
Lucas. He’s even willing to help us see each other, as long as we help
him with Charity.”
“What, like, a fund-raiser or something?”
I’d forgotten he didn’t know her name. “The vampire girl in Amherst.”
“Wait—Charity? That’s her name? You were able to figure out who
she is.” He smiled so proudly that all the tension of the moment instantly
melted. “I fell in love with a genius."
— Claudia Gray