Internet: What do you want for your birthday?
Virtual Cole: to stay young forever

Cole texted me:
Actually I want you

Now, I was a fan of the simple pleasures in life: grilled cheese sandwiches without black flecks on the crust, jeans that didn't pinch the better parts of me, an inch of vodka, ten to twelve hours of sleep. - Cole St Clair, Forever.

I felt a tickle on my skin; it took me a moment to realize that Cole was driving his die-cast Mustang up my arm. He was laughing to himself, hushed and infectious, as if there was still any reason to be quiet. He turned the car around at my shoulder and headed back down to my hand, the wheels skidding a bit when he laughed.
I thought it was the truest thing I'd ever heard from Cole St. Clair.

Mein Herz pumpte flüssiges Sonnenlicht.

Era come il sole sulle palpebre e il profumo del mare in bocca quando succhi l'aria tra i denti.

You want to talk? Fine. Talk. Tell me something you've never told anybody else.'

I thought for a moment. 'Turtles have the second-largest brains of any animal on the planet.'

It took Isabel only a second to process this. 'No, they don't.'

'I know that's why I've never told anybody that before.