All That You Are (All That You Are, #1)

by Elicia Roper

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to anyone who has ever felt that they are not good enough. I want you to know that you are enough. A thousand times enough, and you will find someone who will love you, all of you, for all that you are.

ATHENA IS ABSOLUTELY stunning. When she smiles, there is this glow about her.

Okay, so I might have a teensy-weensy problem. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a book hoarder... but I do love books.

I’m in love with the mustard yellow armchair. It reminds me of the golden sun as it sets.

Caiden looks surprised by my reaction. “Why are you looking at me like that?” “You’re singing that was...” I shake my head. “Unbelievably great. Your voice is incredible.”

“Dear Athena, you have been my best friend. No one ever treated me this way like how you treat me and don’t care about my age. People other than you care about my age. If they see I am younger, they won’t include me. But you included me in everything, so I want to give you a token of my appreciation.” - From Isabella

She is only 11 years old. The same age as Isabella.

I SNUGGLE UP UNDER the covers, delighted to finally get the chance to curl up in my bed and enjoy reading again. Reading is one of the few times I feel completely at peace. I am free from inconvenient thoughts and feelings in a world other than my own.

Never mind the fact that he already has two parents that love him.

ATHENA INSISTED ON making me dinner since every time she comes over, I always cook. I told her that she didn’t have to feel obligated or anything, but she would not take no for an answer.

I don’t want her to leave.

I refuse to cry. In moments like these, I know exactly what I need. In desperate need of fresh air, I leave the car at home and go for a walk.

“I want to hate him.” I laugh a little, bitterness in my tone when I say, “I want to hate him so bad.”

“But I can’t... I just can’t... because... he’s the one I love the most.”

With anger seeping through my veins, I fling open the wooden cupboard door, sending the rest of my finished pottery pieces hurling onto the floor—shards of broken ceramic spew out all over the ground. Hot red blood trickles down my arm to my legs; I am desensitized to the pain.

Those words set me off, and I explode, yelling that she’s not fine and needs to take better care of herself.

Without me saying so, she always knows exactly how I feel.

“Hold on a second. Do I not get a say in the matter?” “What—”

“I wasn’t finished.”

“Don’t. I’m sick of your excuses. If you don’t want to be with me, just say so. Don’t just hide behind... your illness. I’m sorry, but if this is the kind of person you are, then good rid...

I’m not a child. I’m an adult; I would have been able to handle it.

I can’t believe Josiah is scared of Alex. This is too good.

“Forgiveness doesn’t mean that you condone the wrong action.” Mom puts a hand on mine. “Forgiveness is to release yourself from the prison you are in. It’s to stop the person who hurt you from continuing to hurt you.”

All I want is to be okay.

I will do whatever it takes to win back Athena’s heart. But there’s something I need to do first.

All of a sudden, I felt scared. Scared of letting my walls down... Letting someone in again means I have to be vulnerable, and just thinking about that scares me.

I shake my head, thinking that this guy is really something. Caiden just doesn’t give up, does he?

“No one’s life is exactly as we pictured it to be... I feel like we hold ourselves to such unrealistically high standards, only to punish ourselves for not being able to reach them. Of course, we can’t reach them since they were unattainable in the first place.”

“I wish you could see yourself the way that I see you. You are inspiring.”

“Do you want to die? Do you have a death wish?

you have a big heart, so when you love someone, you give them all of you, and it hurts if they don’t do the same.”

The thing about broken hearts is, unlike a broken bone, it doesn’t get the time and attention it needs to heal. It goes undetected by the naked eye, so no one really knows the pain you are feeling on the inside.

Real life is tragic and miserable—we don’t always get what we want in the end.

A car accident... That explains Caiden’s car sickness. I stupidly thought he had motion sickness, but that wasn’t the case... It was so much more than that. He was traumatized.

Her chocolate brown eyes meet mine, making my chest fill with warmth. I pull her close, softly kiss her cheeks, and then, finally, her lips. “I promise.”

My mom is... superhuman.