Cora Carmack

“Take notes, boys! The ladies always love a man who can play an instrument!” Lindsay snorted, “Your instrument doesn’t even like girls, Rusty!” “Doesn’t mean they don’t like it!”

“No matter how close, you are always too far My eyes are drawn everywhere you are.I’m tired of the way we both pretend Tired of always wanting and never giving in I can feel it in my skin, see it in your grin We’re more. We always have been.Think of everything we’ve missed. Every touch and every kiss. Because we both insist. Resist.Hold your breath and close your eyes Distract yourself with other guysIt’s no surprise, your defeated sighs Aren’t you tired of the lies?Think of everything we’ve missed. Every touch and every kiss. Because we both insist. Resist.  No matter how close, you are always too far My eyes are drawn everywhere you are.I’m done. I won’t ignore. I won’t pretend or resist.I want more.”

“Oh, I burned it with my straightener.”“You burned your leg with your straightener? How long is your leg hair?”

“What was he doing in there? Was he just getting dressed reeeaaally slowly? Was he looking through my things? Was he trashing my place because I’d run out and left him there like the biggest jerk this side of Kanye West at the 2009 VMA’s?”

“I was going to be so terrible at this… the worst he’d ever had probably. And then he’d never want to see me again (and I really wanted to see him again). I’d probably be traumatized and never want to have sex again, which meant every relationship for the rest of my life would fail, and I would end up alone and miserable with nine cats and a ferret.”

“He stepped away from me to talk, and I leaned heavily against the wall beside his door. Clearly, I was not meant to have sex. This was God telling me that I was meant to be a nun. Get thee to a nunnery, and all that crap. I was so delirious I was confusing God and Shakespeare.”

“You’re lucky this is a big night for you, Bliss. Normally, nobody gets between me and my tequila.”

“SERIOUSLY? Is it because of Jesus? Are you, like, saving yourself for him?” Sex seemed simpler for Kelsey. She had the body of a Barbie and the sexually-charged brain of a teenage boy. “No, Kelsey,” I said. “It would be a little difficult to save myself for someone who died over two thousand years ago.”

“Garrick was panting when he replied, “You’re not forcing me to do anything. I just want you to be sure. You can say stop at anytime.” His lips pulled wide. “You don’t need to make up a new pet.”

“I had no one, but Hamlet. Who hated me with the fire of a thousand suns.”

“On a scale of one to bitchy, how hung-over are you?”

“Four. That’s the number of people who saw me hiding around the corner from my own apartment in just a skirt and a bra. Eleven. That’s the number of ant bites I got on my shoeless feet. Twenty-seven. That’s the number of times I was tempted to do myself physical harm because I am an IDIOT. One. That’s the number of times I tried not to cry, but failed.”

“It wasn’t until I’d walked halfway across the parking lot that I realized: 1. I wasn’t wearing shoes. A. Or a shirt. 2. I didn’t bring my keys                       A. Or anything really. 3. I’d just left a complete stranger in my apartment.                       A. Naked.Whoever said one-night stands were supposed to be simple with no strings attached had clearly never met the disaster that was me.”

“Are you waiting for an invitation?” I asked, eyeing him standing carefully outside my door. “Is this the part where you tell me you’re a vampire?” He chuckled. “No, I promise the paleness is only because I’m British.”

“Shakespeare. No one reads Shakespeare in a bar unless it’s a ploy to pick up girls. All I’m saying is you might have better luck up front.”

“What cat? Oh! MY CAT. The cat… that is mine. Oh, she’s... ” I had said it was a she, right? “She’s fine. All meowing and purring and other cat things.”

“Stop! Cats! Stop…”

“Sorry about that.""You didn't hear me complaining."I raised an eyebrow and said, "Forget about it. You will never see me in that skirt.""Never? Is that a challenge, love?""It's a promise.”

“Sex.I was going to have sex.With a boy.A hot boy.A hot BRITISH boy.Or maybe I was going to throw up.What if I threw up on the hot British boy?What if I threw up on the hot British boy DURING SEX?”

“Legs shaved?" I nodded"Other... things... shaved?""As much as they are ever going to be, yes, now move on." That was where I drew the line of this conversation.”

“I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.I wanted to crawl into a hole at the bottom of a ravine, then be buried under an avalanche, and then die.I wanted... to cry.”

“Let me get this straight… you didn’t have a cat? Did you get a cat just so that you wouldn’t have to tell me you were a virgin?”I pressed my lips together to keep them from trembling. I nodded. The look on his face was somewhere between shock and amusement. Hewas flabbergasted. That was the best word. His flabber had been thoroughly gasted.”

“You don’t want to finish our drinks?”He took my hand, and pressed his lips against the inside of my wrist. “I’m alreadyintoxicated.”

“—Yo sólo… entiendo lo que es querer algo, pero tratar y forzarte a realmente creer que no lo quieres. No significa que tenga que ser sobre el amor. Es sobre querer algo que no puedes tener o algo que no crees que te merezcas. Infierno, queremos los papeles que nuestros amigos tienen, aún cuando son nuestros amigos y deberíamos estar felices por ellos. Nos sentamos en el público y pensamos sobre cómo lo habríamos hecho. Queremos lo que no podemos tener. Es la naturaleza humana.”

“El teatro es de una vez en la vida...cada vez”

“Habló, y mis ojos se engancharon en sus labios. —Mi nombre es Garrick.¿Quién sabía que los nombres podían ser calientes también?”