Bananapants

by Penny Reid

“She sees red flags as red carpets. Until some morally gray man in a three-piece suit finds her in the rain and gives her an umbrella, she’ll never be satisfied. We’re counting on you.”

Ava wanted me to be her first. I wanted to be her forever. I would put her wants ahead of mine. Not because I owed her, but because I wanted to.

“Desmond, as someone who loves you and knows you, I want to make sure you hear these words, because I never want you to doubt your own value, or what you bring to the table. You are not less than. You are, and always have been, greater than.”

Heartbreak would be worth it, if heartbreak meant I could have him now.

“And don’t forget: I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” — Notting Hill (1999)

“It’s all smoke and mirrors and pretending, honey,” she went on. “Everyone is in various stages of falling apart. All the time.” Stepping forward, she cupped my cheeks between her palms, like she used to do when I was little. “Some people are just better than others with their smoke and mirrors, and how often and how well they lie to others. And to themselves.”