Naughts And Crosses Quotes

“Every time I came back from Sephy’s, I flinched at the sight of the shack that was meant to be my home. Why couldn’t my family live in a house like Sephy’s! Why didn’t any naught I knew of live in a house like Sephy’s? Looking at our rundown hovel, I could feel the usual burning, churning sensation begin to rise up inside me. My stomach tightened, my eyes began to narrow... So I forced myself to look away.”

“My head snapped up at the sound of my mother’s voice. Mother came hurtling down the steps, her expression dour and fierce - as always. She’d obviously not had as many glasses of wine today as she normally did, otherwise wouldn’t be in such a bad mood. I turned back where Callum had been, but he was already out of sight -which was just as well. Mother grabbed my arm with bony fingers that bit like pincers.”

“Yes. It was quite quiet really....′ Meggie replied, confused. She looked from Mr. to Mrs. Hadley and back again. Mrs. Hadley was watching her intently. What was going on? The temperature in the garden had dropped by several degrees and despite his smiles. Mr Hadley was obviously furious at something -or someone. Meggie swallowed hard. Had she done something wrong. She didn’t think so, but God only knew that being around Crosses was like walking on eggshells.”

“I wriggled my toes, enjoying the feel of the warm sand trickling like fine baby powder between them. Digging my feet even deeper into the dry, yellow-white sand, I tilted back my head. It was such a beautiful August afternoon.”

Meggie’s smile wavered only slightly. She looked out across the vast lawn at Callum and Sephy. Her son and her employer’s daughter. They were good friends playing together. Real good friends. No barriers. No boundaries. Not yet anyway. It was a typical early summer’s day, light and bright and, in the Hadley household anyway, not a cloud in their sky.”

“Callum was the one person in the world I could tell anything and everything to without having to think twice about it. So why did I now feel so...out of step? Like he was leaving me behind? He suddenly seemed so much older, not just in years but in the things he knew and had experienced. His eyes were a lot older than fifteen.”

“I sat down at my place around the table y looked away from Mum. Dad wasn’t bothered about me -or anything else, for that matter. He was totally focused on his food. Jude, my seventeen-year-old brother, grinned knowingly at me. He’s a really irritating toad. I looked away from him as well. ‘He was with his dagger friend’ Jude smirked. ”

“My sister looks like me- the same brown hair, eyes the same shade of gray... She is aways with the fairies, as my grandma used to say. She wasn’t always that way. Three years ago something happened that changed her. An accident. And just like that the sister I knew was gone. Now she doesn’t go out, doesn’t talk much, doesn’t think much as far as I can tell. She just is.”

Sephy Hadley and Callum McGregor are two young people in love. But Sephy is a Cross, the daughter of a government minister, and Callum is a Nought. In their world, Crosses and Noughts cannot be friends. Must they become enemies? Or is there hope for them - and for their unhappy country?

“What was she afraid of?” Maggie sighed. No matter how hard she tried. Sarah insisted on keeping her distance. Meggie turned back to watch the children. Life was so simple for them. Their biggest worry was what they’d get for their birthdays. Their biggest grumble was the time they had to go to bed. Maybe things would be different for them....”