If I Was Your Girl

by Meredith Russo

“You can have anything,” she said, “once you admit you deserve it.”

I thought of that poor girl pretending to be a boy who tried to kill herself and I wanted her to see this, to feel this, so she could understand that one day she might not just be okay with her body but that she would be able to feel things, beautiful things, inside of it.

Being a girl in this world means being afraid. That fear’ll keep you safe. It’ll keep you alive.”