Quotes From Cosmo--Part 1

(The book, not the character . . . necessarily).

I've seen a few blog posts on a few different blogs where the blogger shares a few of her favorite quotes from the book they're writing. I thought I'd try it out by posting one short excerpt from each chapter I have (so far), but since I don't want to overload you with quotes, I'll split them into two parts. Let me know what you think! :D

“Do you think Dad’ll help us out?”
Mom’s eyes widened. The coins in her hand rattled because her whole body was shaking with grief. She clenched her fists and held them in her lap.
“No, Cosmo. No, I don’t think he will.”
I nodded again. I had already known the answer.

--Cosmo, Chapter 1, page 6

I’ve always liked the sky. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s my name: Cosmo Moonshine. Maybe it’s my natural nerdiness. Or maybe it’s because there’s a secret out there that none of us know about, waiting to be unlocked and revealed by the right person.
Maybe that person is me.
Maybe it’s not.
I don’t know.
What I do know is that a fourteen-year-old girl living with her single mom in New York City has no choice but to keep her dreams to herself. You can’t just go up to your mom and announce that you want to go to college and study astronomy when we can barely afford a hot meal each day.

-- Cosmo, Chapter 2, page 7

I was writing a new novel called Halley’s Comet. It was about a girl named Halley who loved astronomy. One day her dad goes to war and becomes MIA. Later in the book she sees a comet and wishes that her dad would come home. The next week her dad shows up to her school and surprises her. Then they live happily ever after.
The end.
I write a lot of books about astronomy and girls with loving dads that are there for them.
Sigh.
People say to write what you know.
I do that.
But I also like to write about things I don’t know.
Like loving dads.
Focus, Cosmo, focus.

--Cosmo, Chapter 3, page 11

I smiled at the girl as she plopped down into the seat on my right.
“So do you like it here?” Celeste whispered to me. “I just got here a couple days ago.”
“It’s—a nice school,” I said hesitantly. “My classmates can be—er—well, they’re not the nicest bunch.”
Celeste snickered.
“It can’t be any worse than Colorado. I’ve had to be transferred to different schools fourteen times for bullying problems.”
“Fourteen times?” I whispered in a high-pitched voice. “Holy . . .”
“Yup,” Celeste said, leaning back in her chair. “You guys seem like saints so far, compared to my old classmates.”
“So they were demons?” I asked, my lips twitching into a smirk.
Celeste laughed.
“No, they were Satan’s right-hand men.” Celeste frowned a little. “Come to think of it, they were pretty much Satan themselves.”

--Cosmo, Chapter 4, page 19

“I guess we’re in the same boat now,” Celeste said.
“Not really. You’re parents aren’t divorced. Let’s think positive.”
“You’re right. I guess we’re in the same ocean now.”
I raised my eyebrows at her.
“You know,” Celeste said. “Not quite in the same boat, but in the general area, like the ocean.”
“The ocean’s a lot bigger than a general area.”
“Okay, we’re in the same lake now.”
“You’ve crossed into the ‘weird zone.’”
“Sorry.”

--Cosmo, Chapter 5, page 31

“It’s called Halley’s Comet. It’s about a girl named Halley whose dad goes MIA in a war. She sees a comet and wishes that her dad would come home and—well, I won’t give it away. You said you wanted to read it, right?”
“Yup.” Celeste sat down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling again. I finished typing. “Did you base Halley off of yourself?”
I froze just as I was about to hit the ‘save’ button.
“Why would you say that?”
Celeste shrugged.
“I don’t know. Didn’t your dad run out on you?”
“Yeah . . .”
“Well, Halley’s dad goes MIA. Your dad disappeared on you. Halley wishes on a comet that her dad would come home. I bet you wish your dad would come home.”
“No,” I said, my voice shaking a little. “I don’t want him to come back. Ever.”

--Cosmo, Chapter 6, page 35

Celeste's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of her sockets. Her eyebrows disappeared into her hair.

"Can I describe it? You can't describe Harry Potter. It's indescribable. It's magical. It's phenomenal. It's--it's salt."

I turned my laugh into a cough.

"I'm sorry, it's what?"

"It's salt." Celeste sat up straight, her head cocked to the left and up as if she were staring at this marvelous, new piece of genius. "How do you describe salt? You can't. It's salt. It's salty. Salt is the word you use to describe other foods. Other foods don't describe salt. Harry Potter is the salt of the book world. If someone asks you, 'can you describe this book?' you can respond, 'it's like Harry Potter.' But if someone asks you, 'can you describe Harry Potter,' you reply, 'I can't. It's like salt.'"
--Cosmo, Chapter 7, page 40

“What does it mean?” Vanessa asked.
“It’s the Chinese symbol for fashion. The guy who did it said that he wasn’t technically supposed to give it to me, because it wasn’t one of the official designs, but I paid him a little extra.”
Click! Samantha blinked spots out of her eyes as Celeste took a picture of her with her phone.
“What the—” she said.
Celeste grinned, showing off all of her teeth and sat back down.
“I’m gonna look it [the tattoo] up,” Celeste whispered. “Just you wait. I bet she’s really walking around with a Chinese symbol that means, ‘emu’ or something weird like that.”

--Cosmo, Chapter 8, page 47

Mr. Johnson raised his eyebrows at us as we walked back to our tent.
"Uh, Cosmo? Why are you soaking wet?"
"Oh, we hit her with a water balloon," Samantha chirped, her curly brown hair bouncing. Vanessa nodded so fast, her face was a blur. "It's just a little inside joke. No biggie. Right, Cosmo?"
Samantha turned her head so only Celeste and I could see her face. She gave me a piercing look that clearly said, agree with me or I'll make your life a living hell.



--Cosmo, Chapter 9, page 52

Celeste didn't ask me any questions. She just sat there next to me on my bed for hours while I cried, holding my hand. I got up to blow my nose in the bathroom and when I came back, there was something written on Celeste's hand.

Only in the darkness can you see the stars.

"I can't see any stars at the moment," I said quietly. Celeste gave me another hug.
"Maybe the city lights are blocking them out."
"I wish they wouldn't."
"Give it time. Maybe by then you'll see the moon."


--Cosmo, Chapter 10, page 58

"So," Celeste started slowly, hesitantly. "Are you coming to the big Christmas Eve dance?"
I swallowed and looked at her.
"What dance?"
Celeste goggled at me.
"You haven't seen the posters? They're practically wallpapering the whole school!"
She motioned to the cafeteria which--after looking more closely at the walls--was decorated with brightly colored posters showing a cartoon boy and girl dancing. Underneath it said:

Christmas Eve dance in the gym on Christmas Eve, 8 o'clock. Make sure you grab a date and have something nice to wear!

"Ohhh," I said. "That dance."
"Are you going?"
I shrugged.
"I don't have a date and I'm not counting on one. Why, did someone ask you?"
Celeste almost spewed her juice box across the table and started laughing.
"Me? Get a date in this school? Did you hit your head on a rock this morning or are you just that idealistic?"

--Cosmo, Chapter 11, page 63

I went to the Customer's Service section and waited in line. A little old lady called me up to the counter.
"Hi," I said breathlessly. "I was just in your women's section. I was looking for a scarf--a green one--but I didn't see it. Do you have some in the back?"
The lady stared at me.
"You're going to have to give me a little more to go on."
"Um, it was a green scarf, it was hanging in the women's section--"
"What brand name was it?"
"I have no idea. It was cheap, just five dollars--"
"Was it on clearance?"
"No."
The woman sighed and typed something into the computer muttering, "Driving me crazy . . . no memory whatsoever . . . less brains than a chimpanzee . . ."

--Cosmo, Chapter 12, page 67

Mr. Smitherson handed me a brownie.
"Looking for this?"
"You betcha." I bit into the brownie. "Whoa."
"Good or bad?" Mr. Smitherson wrung his hands together, looking nervous. "Good or bad?"
"Geez, dad, let her breathe!" Celeste took another brownie and shoved it into her mouth.
"Good," I said. "Very good."
"Take another one." Mr. Smitherson cut another brownie and gave it to me. "What do you think now?"
"It's even better the second time." I finished off the brownie and licked the crumbs off of my thumb. "I think this one's a keeper."
"It's definitely an improvement over the mint brownies," Celeste said, laughing. "Remember those?"
"The bottle said, 'Vanilla Extract!'" Mr. Smitherson waved a bottle in her face. "I swear I didn't put any mint in!"
"Yes you did. You grabbed the wrong bottle."
"All right, but what about that time I let you bake? Huh?"
"How was I supposed to know that aluminum foil was flammable?"
"You called the fire fighters."
"Our oven was on fire!"
"There's a fire extinguisher under the sink."
"I would've known that if you would let me near the sink!"
"There's a reason why I don't anymore."

--Cosmo, Chapter 13, page 87

"Ha. Nice try. Not telling."
"Pleeeease."
"Nope. Part of Christmas is the surprise of the presents."
I gave her a stern look.
"And patience."
"I don't have any. Maybe you can get me some of that for Christmas."
"Patience is too expensive these days."
"You got that right. Prices have been skyrocketing!"
"Maybe I'll buy some kindness for Samantha. She'd hate that."

--Cosmo, Chapter 14, page 97

 I stood next to her, fiddling with my dress and looking around.
 "You know," Celeste said, still dancing. "You look even stranger when you aren't dancing at a dance."
"I don't want people staring at me."
"They're not concerned about what you're doing." Celeste twirled around in a circle, letting her dress billow up around her. "They're busy having fun."
I looked around. Everyone was dancing, minus the few outcasts that we're drinking punch or nibbling on cookies. No one was looking at me, including Celeste.
"Let loose," Celeste said. "Kick your shoes off."
She looked at the ground.
"Actually, I don't recommend that last part. I'm not sure what's touched this floor."
"I envy you." I wrinkled my nose at her. "I know exactly who's puked on this floor."
"Oh, gross!" Celeste recoiled, looking at the floor.
"You're standing where Michael Fishbein walked around barefoot."
"Who's Michael Fishbein?"
"A freshman with a bad case of warts."
"I might just puke."
"I'll make a note of where you're standing so I can warn future students."

--Cosmo, Chapter 14, page 100

(I couldn't resist putting both of these up from Chapter 14).

The silence between us was starting to weigh on me, adding to my uncomfortable state of mind. I didn’t want things to be awkward between us, but I didn’t want to talk about it either.
“I’m not mad at you. Really, I’m not. Why would I be?”
“Because I dragged you to this stupid dance. I’m sorry you had a miserable time.”
“No, I had a great time. And it wasn’t stupid. I really just wished it had ended on a happier note.”
“We can make it end on a happier note.”
I lifted my head from the window. My breath had fogged up the glass.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we could go do something. Fun. We could go bowling or catch a movie or go ice skating.”
“Ice skating? Celeste, I don’t have ice skates or the money to rent some.”
“I have money.”
I drew a heart on the window with my finger.
“I really don’t want you to spend more money on me. I don’t want to be a mooch.”
“You’re not a mooch.”
I rested my head back against the window.
“I’m tired of being poor.”
The statement was just something I wanted to let out. Something that I meant to just say to myself. But Celeste put her arm around my shoulder and said, “I know.”


--Cosmo, Chapter 15, page 109

Part 2 coming soon. :)

Which quote was your favorite? Leave a comment! :D

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