A Bánh Mì for Two

by Trinity Nguyen

Are people lonely in Paris?

You can still respect someone and have a crush on them.”

“Plus, it’s a weird thing to ask. People act like English is the superior language. Like being able to speak it means you’re better than everyone or something.”

“It’s the first thing most foreigners ask! After making English the universal language, they act so surprised seeing fluent people in foreign countries. As if we weren’t forced to take English in school to graduate.”

The same words everyone keeps telling me. What are they sorry for?

I wish I could run away sometimes, too. But where would I go?

kissing girls is one of the top ten reasons to be alive.

I didn’t know the world could be so white.

Fighting is easy. Living is hard.

I guess in my head, I thought that if I didn’t come back, then maybe the memories of him would still be alive—that the last thing I’d remember about this place would be that I shared it with him.”

“What if I hurt the people I love? What if I never bloom?”

“What’s best for my mom isn’t always what’s best for me.”

don’t let your dad’s memory overshadow your own life.”

“It’s not your fault. You can’t live with this guilt for the rest of your life.”

To my cats, Obi Nguyen and Boba Nguyen. My little menaces who snuggled me warm as I wrote and rewrote this book.