Damaged Goods (All Saints High, #4)

by L.J. Shen

“Someday, somewhere—anywhere, unfailingly, you’ll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.”

That’s the thing about losing someone—there are so many losses along the way that make up a big loss.

I clutch the tips of her fingers. She’s gravity. She’s oxygen. In this moment in time, she’s everything.

I want the world to stop, but it disrespectfully keeps on spinning and functioning like my life wasn’t just destroyed.

I’m a page torn out of a book. Out of place and floating aimlessly. All I have is the memory of once belonging.

She’s a blossoming flower, and I’m dirt, but that’s okay because the thing about flowers is they’re buried in dirt, so I know exactly how to cut her off.

“Romance is fleeting. Friendship is constant. I will always choose a good friend over a great boyfriend.” She shakes her head. “You’re my soul mate.” It is not the time to tell her I’m in love with her. It is not the time to tell her I want to be that hypothetical boyfriend. That she is becoming an ethereal weapon of self-destruction for me. That when I jack off, it’s to her image. That when she laughs, my chest feels funny. When she cries, I want to suck in her pain with a kiss and suffer on her behalf.