Jessica Sorensen

“I like the sober Callie, the one that I can talk to. The one that is so sweet it's fucking adorable. The one that trembles use from the feel of my breath. The one that I want to kiss and touch so fucking badly it drives me crazy. The one that makes me feel things...”

“Okay, I'll take the pink one with the torn ear.'The guy behind the counter scratches his neck. "Are you being serious?"Her face is stoic. 'Absolutely. I never kid about teddy bears.”

“That okay. I'll go find somewhere else to sleep."Her fingers wrap around my arm. "You don't have to go anywhere. I feel safe with you.”

“Don't be sorry, Callie,' he says with a heavy-hearted sigh. 'You have your own sad story.”

“I often wonder what drives people to do things. Whether it's put into their minds at birth, or if it is learned as they grow. Maybe it's even forced upon them by circumstances that are out of their hands. Does anyone have control over their lives or are we all helpless?”

“The vertical lines that run down his forearms are the most disturbing, thick and jagged as if someone took a razor to his skin. I wish I could run my fingers along them and remove the pain and memories that are attached to them.”

“I fall down and my palms split open against the gravel. Injuries on the outside are easy to endure and I get up without hesitation.”

“Liar's such a strong word. I prefer to think of it as me omitting some of the details" - Alex”

“Rage washes through me like a fucking wave crashing against the shore. I want to kill Caleb. Beat him to death in the most painful ways.”

“I stare at him, listening to my heart thump inside my chest, to the wind sing, to the sound of someone breaking somewhere in the world.”

“It hurts to be around life. People don't understand how close death is, right over their shoulders, around the block, at the end of a street. It's everywhere.”

“Always ask for the truth. Just make sure the time is right.”

“Because people fear those who are different. And fear can make people do stupid things.”

“Isn't everyone hiding something?”

“You've always had a good grasp on what's right and wrong. You just have a hard time admitting that sometimes you choose the wrong.”

“Once a blooming red rose, full of streaming life in its veins.Now a wilting black petal rupturing with death and pain.”

“I thought I’d saved Kayden that night at the pool house, but I was wrong. I just bought him time until the next windstorm swept through.”

“At least tell me you won? And that the scratches and dings were totally worth it." "Of course. They're always worth it," he says with a hidden meaning that only the two of us could ever understand.”

“I won't let that night ruin you forever." But it did, it broke me into a million pieces and blew them away in the wind, like crumbled leaves.”

“It's what's buried deep inside that frightens me because it's broken, like a shattered mirror.”

“You're crazy if you think that you can run off and change your identity. This unfeeling, preppy girl thing you got going on," he motions his hand at my tank top, white frilly skirt, and curly hair, "is nothing but bull shit. You can't just change who you are on the outside and expect it to change who you are on the inside.”

“I pause, examining her eyes, and then move forward with caution. “So if I kissed you right now, I wouldn’t be taking advantage of you?” “No, but I might be taking advantage of you. Your breath smells about as bad as the bottle.” She fans her nose with a smile. “Trust me. You can take advantage of me and I won’t mind, even when I sober up.” I press my lips to hers, feeling my heart thump in my chest as her breath catches. It grows silent as we lie with our foreheads touching and our breaths mingling. I place my hand on her hip, shutting my eyes, feeling the intensity of the moment like an open wound.”

“I don't believe that. I don't believe that there are bad things about you. Only things that you think are bad.”

“So I let my shame own me, kill me, wilt me away into a thousand dead flakes, knowing if I kept it all in, she would never have to learn the dirtiness that was forever inside me--the bad, the ugly, the twisted. She could go on living her life happy, just like she deserved.”

“He stops rocking the cage. "Oh, come on, Callie. It won't be fun if we don't rock it. In fact, the more we rock it, the better it'll feel." His voice drops to a deep whisper. "We can rock it nice and slow or really, really fast."..."Do I have your permission to rock away and give you the ride of your life?" Why does it feel like he's secretly talking dirty to me? "Yeah, go ahead, rock it nice and hard," I say without thinking, then bite down on my lip as the dirty section of my brain catches up with me. Honestly, I didn't even know that side existed.”

“You really need stitches," she tells me."Or you're going to have a scar." I try not to laugh. Stitches aren't going to help. They fix skin, cuts, wounds, heal stuff on the outside. Everything broken with me is on the inside. "I can handle scars, especially one's on the outside.”

“I just let the pain take over, allowing it to numb the pain of being left behind.”

“I walk out the door with a heavy feeling in my heart as another secret falls on top of it.”

“Just because it's broken doesn't mean it loses its importance. And I figured I'd give it to you one day when you realized it was okay to make mistakes.”

“You can't just change who you are on the outside and expect it to change who you are on the inside.”

“I love you, Ella May and nothing will ever change that. You can push me away -run away – and I will still love you.”

“When it all comes down to it, it’s just me and her against the world. Always has been.”

“Kayden: Yeah, but you're a girl.Me: Oh, I forgot for a sec. Thanx for reminding me.Kayden: I haven't forgotten at all. In fact, it's all I think about all the time.Me: That I'm a girl??Kayden: That ur a girl I very badly want to touch right now”

“Okay, I'm going to be completely honest here." I take a deep breath, because what I'm about to say is very real and more honest than I've ever been. "I don't want to be away from you for that long.”

“I'm with you because I want to be with you.”

“It was an earthshattering kiss, one that stole breaths, stopped hearts, and scared the shit out of me because it surfaced feelings I’d never felt before, ones that rendered me helpless.”

“I look into his eyes, no longer afraid what's in them, but afriad I'll lose what they carry.”

“Its's just that... this is the realest thing I've had in a long time and it scares me a bit.”

“I brush her hair back from her forehead. "You need to stop worrying about everything that can't be controlled." She signs and leans away from my hand, "That's just it, though. It's all I can think about anymore. It's like this fixation I have no control over which makes no sense because Im fixated on controlling the uncontrollable." She's breathing wildly. Shit. I need to calm her down.”

“I've been at the place where it seems like the only way left is down.”

“Seize the day, take hold of it, and make it whatever you want.”

“You can push me away-run away-and I will still love you”

“Stay here, baby" he whispers, like he can read my thoughts. "Trust me, okay? Don't run”

“And I don't want you to be anywhere but here”

“You think that just because you left, it would change how I feel? Well, guess what? You're wrong. I can't help how I feel. I'm still in-”

“I've missed you, Ella May”

“Please don't go. I just got you back”

“Come with me somewhere. Please. I've been waiting eight months to talk to you”

“There are no accusations with writing, no judgment, no shame, only freedom.”

“I've never walked home wearing just a pink robe and a pair of slippers.”