Colorblind

by Siera Maley

It’d be nice to have some evidence that we control our own destinies, I think.

I didn’t want to befriend a cute girl months from death. That sounded like a tragic Nicholas Sparks novel waiting to happen….

Life would go on with or without Chloe Stephens, after all. It waited for no one. It never had.

“Have fun. Be back before dinnertime.” “She could be a serial killer. Or the bait for a serial killer.” “Then I will miss you dearly. Goodbye, Harper.”

“I watched a lot of Spongebob Squarepants as a kid. Must be why I have this strange urge to live in a pineapple under the sea.”

“You can totally tell a lot about a person by the ice cream they like.”

“That was my advice. It doesn’t mean not taking it makes you wrong. I get it, okay? I get it better than anyone. Sometimes your head and your heart don’t say the same thing.”

“It’s not your fault you like her,” he murmured. “Sometimes that stuff can’t be helped. It happens. Against our better judgment.”

I had to keep her safe. Had to keep Chloe safe. Had to keep Mom safe…

“-that if I hit on you relentlessly enough, you’ll crack eventually. See, when guys do it, it’s creepy and gross, but I’m female and adorable and you actually like hanging out with me, so it’s okay.”

“Life’s all about mistakes. And it’s way too short to just wait around instead of cutting through the bullshit.”

Have you ever considered the fact that maybe the goal of life isn’t to get through it as painlessly as possible?”

“That’s so manipulative.” I pondered the idea. “I like it. You sure you want to sacrifice a night in this amazing bed, though?”

“Chocolate allergy,” I reminded her, and she groaned even as the words left my lips. “How do you live?” “Like Voldemort. A half-life. A cursed life.”

I just want to be happy. Ignoring things makes me happy. Ignorance is bliss, right?”

If you want to be happy, it’s pretty simple: you do things that make you happy. If you don’t want to be unhappy, you’re cool with that safe, neutral, boring zone where nothing good or bad happens.”

we can’t be the peak of all intelligent life in the universe, because that would be really sad. People are stupid.”