How does Sarah Dessen use imagery in The Truth About Forever?

Imagery:

"So while at home I was still fine-just-fine Macy, wiping up sink splatters immediately and ironing my clothes as soon as they got out of the dryer, the nights when I arrived home from catering, I was someone else, a girl with her hair mussed, a stained shirt, smelling of whatever had been spilled or smeared on me. It was like Cinderalla in reverse: if I was a princess for my daylight hours, at night I let myself and my coposure go, just until the stroke of midnight, when I turned back to princess again, just in time."

"Everyone had a forever, but given a choice, this would be mine. The one that began in this moment, with Wes, in a kiss that took my breath away, then gave it back - leaving me astounded, amazed, and most of all, alive."