Home > Author > Christina Collins
1 " It all comes down to the first thing you think of when you wake up. That first image or idea before the filtering of conscious thought takes over, while you’re still in between. Whatever you think of, that’s the reason you get up in the first place. That’s the reason you get out of bed, into your clothes, into your shoes, and out the door. "
― Christina Collins , After Zero
2 " Sometimes when we feel lost, the universe sends a little help. Something or someone to guide us on our path.” She chuckles, her eyes gleaming. “And that can come in the most unexpected form. "
3 " It’s amazing how few words a person can get by with. "
4 " But here at school, my voice was a ticking bomb, each tick sending me closer to ruin. If things went on this way, I’d make enemies of everyone. "
5 " The middle boy wearing glasses—Stewey?—looks down at a book in his lap. “No reading at the table,” Mr. Karney says. "
6 " Sweetie, public school’s for people who want to be just like everyone else.” Mrs. Karney reaches over and taps Lucy’s nose. “You’re special. "
7 " I started talking to some of her classmates. They said she hasn’t spoken here at all for a week.” “At all?” “And in the months before that, she averaged a few words a day. Only when spoken to. Now, I understand she was homeschooled before she came here…” “So?” “Well, some would say home learners miss out on proper social development, and— "
8 " I get through a whole poem without anyone trying to talk to me. Two poems. Two and a half. Why didn’t I think of this before? Read a book – such a simple solution…. I return to the page where I left off. But my eyes slide upward. Faces look at me funny – funnier than usual. No one else in the cafeteria is reading. The point of the book was to draw attention away from me, to show that I’m busy, unavailable, otherwise engaged. But it’s backfiring. "
9 " Once people form an impression of you, that’s who you are. "
10 " The nice thing about zero marks is that your mind has no words to cling to, to shudder at, to regret, to replay over and over in your head. But now these five words will replay over and over for the rest of the day, the rest of the night. "
11 " But I already know what it’s like to work harder than others to do something that comes easily to them. "
12 " Sometimes when we feel lost, the universe sends a little help. Miss Looping’s words float on the air. Something or someone to guide us on our path. And that can come in the most unexpected form. "
