More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“The world is not very helpful to a smart girl,” says Ms. Voss. “More often it will try to force you inside a box. But I urge you not to listen.”
I’m also not going to bring up how the most interesting thing that happens to me from day to day is my personal game of guessing her outfit.
But I swear there must be something in the water, because his hair looks so soft and when he’s designing something he gets this kind of squinty, concentrate-y look on his face and he smells like clean laundry and summer and I hate it. I hate all of it.
Teo: you’re dangerous, bel canto
“Like...you’re new, you know? You’re this new color I didn’t know existed and now I see it everywhere and I’m like, thank god I can see it now. Such a bummer if I never did.”
Omg I love this so much!
“I thought you’d wear the bird jeans.”
“Nothing, I just...” He suppresses a laugh. “You’re all...spicy.”
He nudges me and I realize I missed the smell of him. Laundry detergent and boy.
he wraps one arm around me as he lifts the controller victoriously into the air.
“Welcome to robotics, Bel Canto,” Teo shouts to me over the sound of our teammates cheering, so close I can almost taste the triumph from his lips.
It’s probably really stupid how much it unravels me to look at her right then, but I’ve never seen eyes that make me think about the mysteries of the universe the way hers do. It’s like walking through the redwoods. Like feeling the earth beneath your feet while knowing there are things flying free above you, and things living and breathing below you, and for a moment you just feel connected to everything. Like there’s some sort of unstoppable tide of existence and you’re part of it, even for just a second.
And finally, for the first time in nearly an hour, Teo Luna smiles.
“Your face looks fine. I just meant you looked upset. Or something.”
I don’t tell her that actually, I think I’ve been starving for whatever this exact feeling is.
Because I think about her all the time. Because she surprises me, because she makes me laugh, and because this, whatever it is with her, is the only thing I ever do that’s easy. Because wherever I am, I want her close by.
I should have kissed her while I had the chance.
Unfortunately for me, sleeplessness suits him. His hair is soft and messy and his eyes are a little tormented and shadowed. (God, I need help.)
They definitely don’t mean the version whose Spotify is currently paused on Taylor Swift’s entire discography so he can learn all the words that make her smile, even when she doesn’t want to. Especially then.
“Bel?” Teo calls after me. I turn. “Yeah?” “I miss you,” he mumbles into his pillow.
Jamie and Lora are sitting with Ms. Voss, who holds up a glittery sign in my direction. WHO RUN THE WORLD?
“I see you, Maier,” he calls to me, lifting a fist in triumph. No—in solidarity. I see you.
“I miss you,” I say, getting the whole thing out this time. “I miss you so much. I will absolutely go to prom with you, I’ll go anywhere with you—”
Teo Luna and I are made of a strong foundation. What he and I have together is the best thing we’ve ever built.
