The Game You Played Quotes

“Sometimes it seemed like I was the one expected to soldier on while everyone else had a licence to fall apart.”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“Nan would come to my new house, too. Getting her there would be like breaking in a wild horse, but once she’d settled into country life, she’d surely love it. Not that she’d ever admit it.”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“was a weird thing, weight-guilt. You felt you had to go around apologising for every extra kilo you were carrying or for every loss of a kilo that made people think you were one step closer to becoming anorexic. Your body belonged to other people.”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“It’s hard to put things behind us when they’re following us everywhere. Sometimes we need to stop and turn around and face those things.”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“No. They think they do, but they can never love a man the way in which a man loves a woman. His love is simple and complete. He loves her softness, her weaknesses, her beauty. But she can only love him up to a point, depending on what he provides for her. When he stops providing what she needs, she’s gone.”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“Days gilded with golden sunshine and Instagram filters. A Facebook mashup of images that showed the pearls but not the oyster shells. That”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“Every part of her mind was held in compartments. Some compartments were securely locked. Some compartments were open, but only sometimes. You could knock on a door and maybe, just maybe, Phoebe would let you in. It”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“me. “Well, I know one thing about my twins. They’re not going to be models. I already tried them out for catalogue work. Within the first ten minutes, Orianthe informed me that she doesn’t like to do boring things and that modelling’s boring. And she’s not going to let her brother do boring things either.” I laughed. The cries of the twins pealed down the hallway as they bounded inside and called Jessie’s name. They must have discovered she was home. “Hey, where’s the pup?” I asked Pria. “Can I see him? Jessie said he’s growing big.” Immediately, Pria rolled her eyes and made a low disparaging sound. “I sent Buster out with the dog walker as soon as I knew Kate was coming over with the kids. He’d knock them flying. Wish I’d never bought him, to tell you the truth. After the break-in, I wanted a watchdog, but I should have paid more attention to the breed. He’s damned strong—even though he’s only nine months old. And he snaps. To tell you the truth, I’m a bit scared of the mutt. I’m having a dog trainer try to rein him in, but if that doesn’t work, he’s gone.” “What a shame,” I said. “Jess told me she’d like to walk the dog sometimes, but that’s not sounding good.” “Nope. The only thing I got right about him is his name. Because Buster has busted everything from doors to shoes.” She shook her head, a sorry smile on her face. The sound of the three children playing became too much. Tommy had once run through this house, too. I stayed for a while longer then made an excuse to leave.     29.                 PHOEBE   Tuesday night   STORM CLOUDS PUSHED INTO THE SKY, making the day darken a good hour before the incoming night. The heavy atmosphere pressed down on me. I opened the window of my bedroom upstairs at Nan’s house, letting the chill air stream in. I could only just catch a glimpse of the water from here. An enormous cruise liner dominated the harbour, staining the water red and blue with its lights. Maybe my small step in seeing Pria and Kate earlier had helped my frame of mind, but I didn’t feel it yet. I was back at square one. I began pacing the room, feeling unhinged. Things were all so in between. Dr Moran hadn’t succeeded in jogging my memory about the letters. She’d said she didn’t think it was possible to do all that I’d done in sleepwalking sessions and so the memory should still be in my mind somewhere. True sleepwalkers rarely remembered their dreams. Not remembering any of it was the most disturbing thing of all. It wasn’t the first time I’d forgotten things. With the binge drinking and the trauma of losing Tommy, there were gaps in my memory. But not a fucking chasm. And forgetting the writing of three notes and delivering them was a fucking chasm. Nan called me for dinner, and we ate the pumpkin soup together. I’d tried watching one of her sitcoms with her after that, but I gave up halfway through. I headed back upstairs. Surprisingly, I was tired enough to sleep. I crawled into bed and let myself drift off. I woke just before four thirty in the morning. The temperature had plummeted—I guessed it was below ten degrees. I’d been dreaming. The dream had been of the last day that Sass, Luke, Pria, Kate,”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“They’d cut their wrists first or take a bottle of pills, or—” “Are”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“A Facebook mashup of images that showed the pearls but not the oyster shells. That”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“Luke made up stuff like that about everyone, only usually not quite so insulting.”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“Every day brought another feast of headlines, like seven-course meals, neatly styled on plates. We were all fat on the suffering of others. I”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played

“YELLOW LIGHT PEERED IN THROUGH THE blinds, investigating me, querying why I still occupied my bed.”
― Anni Taylor, The Game You Played