Cara Lynn Shultz

“I cocked my fist back, remembering what Brendan had taught me. "Don't aim for your target. You'll have more of an impact that way." I was aiming for China.”

“Whoever lived in that apartment had a security gate, blinds that were closed and curtains drawn. It's probably darker in there than it is in Hollister.”

“Emma, but--" he began, and I shushed him. "No Emma buts except for the one I sit on.”

“I wasn’t exactly a stranger to feeling like a princess—if you meant the princess in the first half of the fairy tale. Cinderella as a scullery maid. Snow White with the wicked stepmother. But I wasn’t used to what life was like after you meet the prince, after the slipper fits, after the kiss wakes you from your slumber. It would take some getting used to.”

“My eyes are not worthy to look upon your face, yet they will not rest until they see you again.”

“The U.S. Postal Service should hire him for an ad campaign. If he were at the mailbox every time you sent a letter, no one would use email ever again.”

“It's hard to take someone seriously when they leave you a note saying, 'Your ugly.' My ugly what? The idiot didn't even know the difference between your and you're.”

“She just shook her head and pulled out a small bottle of some random pop star's signature perfume, spritzing me with the sickly-sweet smell. "Oh, come on Ash, that smells like a unicorn fart," I cried, recoiling at the overpowering, candylike smell.”

“What I was hungry for was sitting nonchalantly next to me on the couch.”

“I go running in the park all the time. I guess I never looked up.”

“Want to start a fairy-tale romance with me? BTW it might be doomed, k?”

“Oh, come on, Ash, that smells like a unicorn fart.”

“I got lost in my doodles, and started daydreaming.”

“Do I look like a freaking fairy - tale princess to you?”

“What's a girl to do when meeting The One means she's cursed to die a horrible death?”

“The lightbulb is gone," she said awed. "Emma, you said, 'Lights, begone' and you literally made the lights be gone.""How do I get them back?" I asked, panicked. "What's the opposite of begone? Regone?”

“Well I'll be honest...sometimes it's really hard-""I know." I smirked, feeling saucy. "I can tell. I'm pretty much straddling you right now.""Really hard to stop, smart-ass," Brendan emphasized, giving me a playful squeeze before cocking an eyebrow at me.”

“I couldn't help it: Brendan was abs-olutely pec-tacular, horrible puns intended and very accurate.”

“This guy had more lines than loose-leaf.”

“She was so cold, she probably farted ice cubes.”

“- I was a tired mess. My eyes didn't just have bags - they had five-piece luggage sets.”

“I longed to know what it felt like to have one person eclipse everything bad in your life - be a place of pure joy.”