Gallant

by V.E. Schwab

The girls say love, but what they really mean is want. To be wanted, beyond the walls of this house.

I am so happy. I am so scared. The two, it turns out, can walk together, hand in hand.

When people see tears, they stop listening to your hands or your words or anything else you have to say. And it doesn’t matter if the tears are angry or sad, frightened or frustrated. All they see is a girl crying.

Tired can be a kind of sick, Edgar said, if it lasts long enough.