Home > Work > Dead Beautiful (Dead Beautiful, #1)
21 " Why do we bury our dead?” His nose was dented in at the bridge like a sphinx; the cause of which I could only imagine had been a freak archaeological accident.I thought about my parents. They had requested in their will that they be buried side by side in a tiny cemetery a few miles from our house. “Because it’s respectful?”He shook his head. “That’s true, but that’s not the reason we do it.”But that was the reason we buried people, wasn’t it? After gazing at him in confusion, I raised my hand, determined to get the right answer. “Because leaving people out in the open is unsanitary.”Mr. B. shook his head and scratched the stubble on his neck.I glared at him, annoyed at his ignorance and certain that my responses were correct. “Because it’s the best way to dispose of a body?”Mr. B. laughed. “Oh, but that’s not true. Think of all the creative ways mass murderers have dealt with body disposal. Surely eating someone would be more practical than the coffin, the ceremony, the tombstone.”Eleanor grimaced at the morbid image, and the mention of mass murderers seemed to wake the rest of the class up. Still, no one had an answer. I’d heard Mr. B. was a quack, but this was just insulting. How dare he presume that I didn’t know what burials meant? I’d watched them bury my parents, hadn’t I? “Because that’s just what we do,” I blurted out. “We bury people when they die. Why does there have to be a reason for everything?”“Exactly!” Mr. B. grabbed the pencil from behind his ear and began gesticulating with it. “We’ve forgotten why we bury people.“Imagine you’re living in ancient times. Your father dies. Would you randomly decide to put him inside a six-sided wooden box, nail it shut, then bury it six feet below the earth? These decisions aren’t arbitrary, people. Why a six-sided box? And why six feet below the earth? And why a box in the first place? And why did every society throughout history create a specific, ritualistic way of disposing of their dead?”No one answered.But just as Mr. B. was about to continue, there was a knock on the door. Everyone turned to see Mrs. Lynch poke her head in. “Professor Bliss, the headmistress would like to see Brett Steyers in her office. As a matter of urgency.”Professor Bliss nodded, and Brett grabbed his bag and stood up, his chair scraping against the floor as he left.After the door closed, Mr. B. drew a terrible picture of a mummy on the board, which looked more like a hairy stick figure. “The Egyptians used to remove the brains of their dead before mummification. Now, why on earth would they do that?”There was a vacant silence.“Think, people! There must be a reason. Why the brain? What were they trying to preserve?”When no one answered, he answered his own question.“The mind!” he said, exasperated. “The soul!”As much as I had planned on paying attention and participating in class, I spent the majority of the period passing notes with Eleanor. For all of his enthusiasm, Professor Bliss was repetitive and obsessed with death and immortality. When he faced the board to draw the hieroglyphic symbol for Ra, I read the note Eleanor had written me. Who is cuter?A. Professor BlissB. Brett SteyersC. Dante BerlinD. The mummyI laughed. My hand wavered between B and C for the briefest moment. I wasn’t sure if you could really call Dante cute. Devastatingly handsome and mysterious would be the more appropriate description. Instead I circled option D. Next to it I wrote Obviously! and tossed it onto her desk when no one was looking. "
― Yvonne Woon , Dead Beautiful (Dead Beautiful, #1)
22 " Absentmindedly, I started doodling in the margins of my paper.Renee, I wrote in cursive, and then again in bubble letters and then in the loopy handwriting of the mystery note. I drew a tiny picture of the moon above the lake. And then stick figures of people swimming in it. And then for some reason, I wrote Dante. First in print, and then in large, wavy letters, and then in all caps. Dante. Dante. DANTE. I had just finished writing, when I heard someone say my name.“Renee.”I shook myself out of my daze to discover that Mr. B. and the entire class were staring at me.“Earth to Renee. The most primitive tombs. What were they called?” he repeated.I glanced at my notes for the answer, but they were covered in doodles.“Dante,” I blurted out, reading the first word I saw. Immediately my face went red. “No, sorry, I meant . . . I meant dolmen.”I winced, hoping I was right so that I would be saved from further embarrassment. Thankfully, Dante wasn’t in my class.Mr. B. smiled. “Correct,” he said, returning to the board. He drew a diagram of a stonelike lean-to, which I recognized from the reading. I took notes and kept my head down for the rest of class. "
23 " I... was impulsive and skinny, and wished that I could be more like a character in a novel, so I would finally stop blurting out the wrong things at the wrong time. "
24 " Oh, come on. Haven't you seen him?" Eleanor exclaimed.It's because he's tall, isn't it? Tall and has long hair." Even Nathaniel's crude description made me want to see Dante again. Unfortunately, he never came to dinner, probably because he lived off campus."He's really smart," I murmured."And confident," Eleanor added."It's like he's older than everyone else," I said "Like he knows what he want and isn't afraid of taking it.""What she's saying is that he's manly." Eleanor grinned. "
25 " ... In love, everyone does things that hurt the other person, so there really is no "Right" and "Wrong". You just have to decide what you're willing to forgive "
26 " Grandfather : Death is nothing to be afraid of.Renee : It's not death I'm afraid of.Grandfather: What is it, then?Renee : LIFE "
27 " Never only exists in you head. Anything is possible .. "
28 " Dante: Evergreens aren't supposed to dieRenee: Everything Dies .. "