The Love Haters

by Katherine Center

Some of them came from just being a girl in a world that is appallingly mean to girls. Do any of us escape unscathed?

strong relationships had to create a culture of appreciation.

A whole book, and that was all I’d retained: People in good relationships had to appreciate each other—say thank you, give compliments, notice what their partner was getting right—in ways that created a cushion of warmth and kindness that eased everything else.

“No. I collect pennies from 1965. Only pennies. Only 1965. The year my mom was born.” “Are they valuable?” “They are to me.” “How many do you have?” Hutch shrugged. “A jarful or so. I haven’t counted in a while. I just like finding them, you know? It’s like my mom’s saying hi.” “Huh,” I said. “I thought you just really loved pennies.” “Naw,” Hutch said. “I just really loved my mom.”

Every time you have to be brave, you get to be a little braver next time.

“I’m saying that when I’m not with you, I’m thinking about you. And waiting to see you again. And we’ve spent all day, every day together for weeks now—and it already feels like it’ll never be enough.”

The funny thing about the internet is that it’s basically a collective hallucination. If you don’t join in, it doesn’t exist. I mean, it does … but in another very real way, it doesn’t.

Dammit. All those years of school, and I didn’t know anything that could save my life.