Fall Shook Up

by Piper Sheldon

Hot Girl Anxiety shouldn’t sound like the sudden need to use the restroom.

“We pay fake tribute to pretend lives that nobody has and then bully ourselves for not living up to those expectations.”

“It’s like I feel simultaneously too soft and too hard for this world. I can’t let people in but somehow still manage to feel hurt by them all the time,” I said.

lifted his chin in a sort of acknowledgment before awkwardly looking away. We were basically besties.

Give me incredible wit or intense specified knowledge of one area of study, a skill set nobody else has, and I’m gone. Competence kink suited me.

We’re just a messy little collection of cells and matter given a conscience, and perhaps we’re doing okay with the chaos of the fact.

“You carry an entire universe in you. Every time you speak, I’m excited to hear what you’ll say. You make me feel things in a way that I haven’t felt in years. You make me see the world in a different and exciting way.”

He swallowed audibly, squeezing my hand once before releasing me. Move over, Mr. Darcy and the hand flex. We had a new contender in town.

“I’ve wanted this for some time. I’ve wanted you. And I know that once I let go of this restraint, this thirst won’t be easily quenched. When I want something, I want it with my entire being. I don’t really half-ass anything in my life. When I finally have you, it’s going to be fully. Repeatedly. Ruthlessly.”

“Do they burn out? Or do they change their chemical makeup to something else? Fires demolish, but they also provide life, warmth, comfort, and protection.”

“There’s a bravery to that sort of blind feeling. It’s easier to rationalize and compartmentalize rather than feel.”

This life I want to make with you is as important to me as it was to my mom. All I want is to stretch these days into years and make memories with you.”