9
" The halls had long since expelled the energetic swarm of youthful humanity, and the din of lockers and laughter had long since settled into stillness. It was his least favorite time of the day. He could lose himself in their conversations, lurk behind them as they ran, as they danced, as they embraced one another. He could sit in on many a lecture, solve the most challenging equations, recite the first chapter of a Tale of Two Cities word for word, and as long as life filled the halls, he could pretend he lived among them. But when they were gone he was utterly and completely alone. Alone as he had been day after day, year after year, decade after decade. There was a time he had descended into madness - but time had brought him out again. What good is being crazy if there is no one who can deem you insane? Or for that matter - care whether you are normal? Insanity was exhausting and futile. So was pain. For a time, the despair was so great that he begged for oblivion. But time had taken even that from him. Now he simply wished to feel anything at all. And so he continued on, waiting for redemption. "
― Amy Harmon , Slow Dance in Purgatory (Purgatory, #1)
16
" So what made you think he was a ghost?” Maggie interrupted.
“The next time I saw him it was five years later, and he hadn’t aged at all. Then a few years passed, and I saw him again. He looked exactly the same, same blue jeans and white shirt, same everything right down to the 50s hair do with the duck butt in the back. Pardon the language, Miss Honeycutt.” Gus gave a sheepish grin. “I just didn’t know what else to call it.
“I’m well aware of what a duck’s butt is Gus,” Aunt Irene said primly.
"A duck's butt?" Shad hooted. Rising from his seat he squatted down and waddled around the table, shaking his skinny butt wildly. "That's what this move is called, Maggie, a duck's butt."
"Shadrach, sit down." Gus smiled to soften the reprimand.
Maggie tried not to laugh and ended up snorting instead. Aunt Irene looked at her sharply, and Maggie quickly changed the subject. "
― Amy Harmon , Slow Dance in Purgatory (Purgatory, #1)
17
" They finished the experiment and the attached quiz in silence. As the class came to a close, and the students filed out, Maggie hung back, waiting for the room to empty. When Mr. Marshall saw that she remained behind, he scampered out, as if fearful that the whole embarrassing episode would repeat itself.
Johnny sank down on a stool and looked at her stonily. He knew she was going to scold him, apparently.
“You can’t defend me from the whole cruel world,” she said softly.
“True. But I can defend you in my tiny corner of it.”
“My knight.”
“My lady.”
Maggie smiled at his rejoinder. “Just…please… be careful. What if people start to talk?”
“About what? Ghosts? I’m not worried about that, Maggie.”
“Please don’t do that again. I almost felt bad for that awful little man.”
“That awful little man has been pulling stuff like that for decades, and his father pulled similar stuff for decades before him.” Johnny stood and captured her hands in his. “I can’t stand by while people are cruel to you. I can’t watch you suffer and do nothing. Don’t ask me to.” His expression was fierce and unyielding. They locked gazes for several long seconds. Maggie surrendered first.
“Will you kiss me, please?” Maggie whispered, lifting her hands to clasp them against the nape of his neck and pulling his glorious face to hers.
“Someone could walk in.” His mouth hovered just above hers, his breath tickling her parted lips.
“I don’t care.”
And at that moment, neither did he. "
― Amy Harmon , Slow Dance in Purgatory (Purgatory, #1)
20
" Margaret O'Bannon, what in the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. are you doing?" Shad invoked the name of Martin Luther King only when he was truly bowled over. Thankfully, his mouth also went in to hyper drive.
"Wait….you saw him, didn't you? You saw the ghost? Can you see him now? Is he nearby?" Shad went into Ninja stance, his basketball forgotten, bouncing forlornly down the hall. "What did he look like, Mags? Can you see through him? Did he float?" Shad did a couple lunges and karate chops to the left and then the right. Then he glanced in terror up at the ceiling, as if the ghost of Johnny Kinross were waiting to drop over him like a net.
"Shad...calm down!" Maggie tried to interrupt Shad's blithering tirade, but he was moving down the hallway in Ninja squat, arms still high and poised for an attack by a ghost… or anyone with a black belt. Retrieving his basketball, Maggie followed behind him, trying to convince him that Johnny Kinross wasn't going to drag him off. "
― Amy Harmon , Slow Dance in Purgatory (Purgatory, #1)
