Look But Don't Touch

by Olivia Hayle

I sent a quick text to Minna after lunch with a sunglass emoji. Ada: If I played it any cooler I’d be frozen solid. Minna: Damn, ice queen. Make him cold enough to long for your warmth. Ada: Wow. You could probably write smut, you know? Minna: Please. As if I don’t already.

want you to wrap this around the chopsticks, at the base.” I handed him a small rubber band. He stared at it blankly. “What you mean is, I’m going to start with training wheels?” “Precisely. Which is why I think you’d prefer not to be in public.” "You make my ego sound so fragile," he teased.

“I haven’t been able to think about anything else but you, not since the storage room,” I murmured. “Me neither. It’s been bad for my productivity.” He smoothed my hair back, moved closer, and then he was kissing me.

It’s an odd thing, when a storm has passed, leaving the weather once again calm. But it’s wrecked everything in its path. Moved things around, rearranged trees and rocks and fences until the landscape is the same but the features forever altered.

Anything that’s easy isn’t worth doing.”

Sometimes you had to hurt in order to heal. It would undoubtedly be painful.

you had to reach out and take what you wanted. The world would never give you anything.